Swimming with Mantas

The Maldives offers one of the best access to snorkeling or diving with mantas. Mantas roam in groups entering channels and even the shallower lagoons of island along the reef edge. A ten-minute boat ride from your island and you can be in the water in the presence of mantas, gracefully swimming around you as they feed on the abundant plankton that rushes into the atoll with the tides, sometimes coming so close to you and staring right at you through your mask to check you out

In Ari Atoll there are several areas that are popular with pelagic lovers. The sites offer the most predictable manta dives. Although they follow a seasonal migratory pattern, they are found in these sites year-round. During the northeast monsoon from November to April, there is a greater presence of mantas on the western side of the atoll and they move over to the eastern side during the southwest monsoon from May to October. 

The location and formation of Baa Atoll makes it one of the most exciting locations for manta lovers. Planktons is funneled in through the channels and into Hanifaru Bay in the atoll creating a concentration of plankton, attracting hundreds of manta rays during the southwest monsoon. Here you can observe what is known as cyclone feeding when over a hundred mantas congregate to feed in the plankton rich waters of the bay.