The Underwater Soundscape of Maldives Resorts: The Impact of Underwater Speakers Playing Music on Marine Life

The first time I heard music underwater in the Maldives, I was floating face-down over a house reef at a resort in South Malé Atoll, mask pressed against the surface. It wasn’t the thrum of a passing dhoni or the crackle of shrimp. It was a bass line—muffled, rhythmic, unmistakably human. I lifted my head. The pool bar was 50 metres away, its submerged speakers pulsing a deep house set into the lagoon. The fish around me hadn’t scattered, but they weren’t behaving normally either. A school of fusiliers that had been circling a coral head was now hovering, motionless, as if listening. That moment, in late 2024, set me down a rabbit hole I hadn’t expected: the quiet proliferation of underwater sound systems at Maldivian resorts, and what the science—still thin but growing—says about their impact on the marine life those resorts sell.

In March 2025, the Maldives Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a draft regulation for public consultation that would, for the first time, impose noise limits on underwater speakers installed within 200 metres of any designated protected reef area. The move follows a 2023 study by the Maldives Marine Research Institute (MMRI) which found that ambient noise levels at six resorts with active underwater speakers exceeded natural reef soundscapes by 12 to 18 decibels during peak playback hours (4pm to 7pm, typically happy hour). For a country whose tourism GDP—USD 4.5 billion in 2024, per the Maldives Monetary Authority—rests almost entirely on the health of its coral ecosystems, this is not a trivial footnote. It is a regulatory signal that the underwater soundtrack of your next holiday may be changing.

The Rise of the Underwater Speaker

From Pool Gimmick to Reef Feature

Underwater speakers are not new. Japanese onsen resorts have used them since the 1990s, and the first commercial underwater speaker systems for swimming pools appeared in Europe around 2005. But the Maldives adoption curve has been steep. In 2019, perhaps five resorts had permanent underwater speaker installations. By mid-2024, according to a survey conducted by the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO), at least 38 of the country’s 170-plus operational resorts had installed them in pools, lagoons, or both. Another 22 had systems on order.

The primary driver is guest demand. “People want the underwater playlist experience,” a general manager at a resort in Baa Atoll told me, speaking on condition of anonymity because his property had not yet sought EPA approval for its system. “They’ve seen it on Instagram. They want to float with a cocktail and hear music. It’s become a differentiator.” At HKD 8,500 to HKD 25,000 per night for an overwater villa at the properties installing these systems, the ROI calculation is straightforward: if underwater speakers help fill a villa, they pay for themselves in a single booking.

The Two Dominant Systems

Two manufacturers account for roughly 80 percent of the Maldivian market. The first is AquaAudio, a US-based company whose “Reef Series” speakers are rated for continuous saltwater submersion and claim a frequency response of 40Hz to 18kHz—essentially full-range audio underwater. The second is SoundOcean, a European brand whose “Lagoon” system uses a different transducer technology that, according to its specifications, produces less low-frequency propagation. A SoundOcean unit installed at a resort in North Malé Atoll in early 2024 cost approximately USD 4,800 per speaker, including installation by a certified diver.

What neither manufacturer prominently advertises is the acoustic footprint. Sound travels roughly 4.3 times faster in water than in air—approximately 1,500 metres per second versus 343. A 50Hz bass note that you barely hear in the air at 20 metres can be detected by a fish’s lateral line system at over 100 metres underwater. The EPA’s draft regulation proposes a maximum of 85 decibels (reference 1 micropascal) at 10 metres from the speaker, measured during daytime hours only. No resort I spoke to had independently measured its own system before the regulation was proposed.

What the Science Actually Says

Fish Behaviour and Stress Response

The most cited paper in this space remains “Anthropogenic noise and the behaviour of coral reef fishes” (Simpson et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2016), which demonstrated that playback of motorboat noise at levels equivalent to a small outboard engine caused damselfish to become “hypervigilant”—reducing foraging by 40 percent and increasing shelter-seeking by 60 percent. A 2021 follow-up by the same team found that chronic noise exposure reduced the ability of juvenile clownfish to distinguish between predator and non-predator sounds.

But music is not motor noise. A 2023 study by the University of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences, funded in part by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council, tested the effects of recorded pop music (specifically, Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” and a track by Dua Lipa, chosen for their broad frequency range) on captive damselfish. The fish showed elevated cortisol levels after 30 minutes of playback, but the effect was significantly lower than for low-frequency continuous noise. The researchers hypothesised that the rhythmic variation in music may allow fish to habituate more quickly than to constant drone.

What this means for Maldivian resorts is unclear. No peer-reviewed study has yet been conducted specifically on the effects of underwater speaker music on coral reef fish in the Maldives. The MMRI’s 2023 survey was observational—it measured noise levels but did not test biological response. The EPA’s regulation is being written in a data vacuum, which is precisely why some resort operators are pushing back.

Coral Spawning and Acoustic Cues

A more concerning line of research involves coral reproduction. A 2018 paper in Scientific Reports (Vermeij et al.) found that coral larvae use acoustic cues to select settlement sites. Reefs with healthy soundscapes—snapping shrimp, fish calls, the general crackle of a living ecosystem—attract up to 40 percent more coral larvae than degraded, quiet reefs. If underwater speakers are masking those natural sounds during spawning windows, the long-term recruitment of coral on house reefs could be affected.

The Maldives’ major coral spawning events occur between March and May, with a secondary window in October-November, typically 4 to 6 nights after the full moon. These are precisely the months when resort occupancy peaks—and when underwater speakers are most likely to be playing. One marine biologist at a resort in Raa Atoll told me she has been tracking coral recruitment on her house reef since 2019. “We don’t have speakers here,” she said. “But I’ve seen the data from properties that do. It’s not conclusive yet, but the trend line is not good.”

The Regulatory Landscape

EPA Draft Regulation 2025-03

The draft regulation, published 12 March 2025, applies to all “permanent or semi-permanent underwater sound amplification devices” within the 200-metre protected zone of any designated Marine Protected Area (MPA) or “resort house reef” as defined under the Maldives Environmental Protection and Preservation Act. Key provisions:

• Maximum sound pressure level: 85 dB re 1µPa at 10 metres from the source
• Prohibited hours: 7pm to 7am local time (covering the major coral spawning period)
• Annual acoustic monitoring report required, submitted to EPA by 31 January each year
• Penalties: fines from MVR 50,000 (approximately HKD 25,000) for first offence, escalating to MVR 500,000 and possible suspension of resort operating licence for third offence within 12 months

The public consultation period closes 30 June 2025. The regulation is expected to take effect 1 January 2026.

Industry Response

The Resort Association of the Maldives (RAM) has submitted a preliminary response arguing that the 85 dB limit is “arbitrary and unsupported by Maldives-specific data.” RAM is proposing a two-year research period, funded by a levy on speaker installations, before any regulation takes effect. The EPA has not yet responded publicly, but sources within the ministry indicate that the regulation is likely to proceed, possibly with a phased implementation.

For Hong Kong travellers, the practical implication is straightforward: resorts advertising “underwater music experiences” as a feature may need to modify or remove those systems by 2026. If you are planning a Maldives trip for late 2025 or 2026 and this matters to you, ask the resort directly whether they have applied for an exemption or intend to comply.

What This Means for Your Next Trip

Choosing a Resort

If you are booking a Maldives resort for a milestone trip—honeymoon, anniversary, once-in-a-decade splurge—the presence or absence of underwater speakers is now a meaningful data point. Resorts that have invested heavily in these systems (typically the USD 1,500+ per night properties) are likely to defend them. Smaller, eco-certified properties are more likely to have skipped the trend entirely. Soneva Fushi, for example, has no underwater speakers in its lagoon or pool, and its marine biology team has publicly stated they do not plan to install them. At the other end of the spectrum, a resort in South Malé Atoll that I visited in February 2025 had speakers in both its main pool and its overwater villa plunge pools—the latter playing a curated playlist from 10am to sunset.

Timing Your Visit

If you want to experience a house reef during coral spawning, plan your trip for the week after a full moon in April or May. Avoid resorts with known speaker installations during these windows, or ask the resort to confirm that their systems will be turned off during spawning hours. The EPA regulation, once enacted, will mandate this, but until 2026 it is voluntary.

The Bigger Picture

The underwater speaker debate is a microcosm of a larger tension in Maldivian tourism: the conflict between guest experience and environmental preservation. Every resort I visited has a marine biologist on staff. Every resort also has a marketing department. The two do not always align. As a traveller, the most effective thing you can do is ask the question—and vote with your booking.

Three Takeaways

1. The Maldives EPA’s draft regulation on underwater speakers, likely to take effect in January 2026, will restrict playback to 85 dB maximum and prohibit use during coral spawning hours (7pm to 7am).
2. No Maldives-specific peer-reviewed study has yet measured the biological impact of underwater music on reef fish or coral larvae, but existing research from other regions suggests chronic exposure can alter fish behaviour and potentially reduce coral settlement.
3. If you are booking a resort for a trip during coral spawning season (April-May or October-November), ask directly whether the property uses underwater speakers and whether they will be turned off during spawning windows—and consider choosing a resort that does not install them at all.