Swim with the world’s largest gathering of manta rays at Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru – if you are lucky
- The Baa Atoll reserve sees the world’s largest known gatherings of manta rays, and the Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru has a front-row seat
- The resort, which is home to the Manta Trust, organises encounters with the giant fish and coral reef replanting programmes, and also has a turtle rescue centre
My manta phone is in good working order, but it refuses to ring.
The Baa Atoll Unesco Biosphere Reserve, in the central western part of the Maldives, attracts the world’s largest known population of manta rays every year.
Like whale sharks and other fish, they follow the plankton-rich currents that are driven by the tides and the southwest monsoon.
Mantas often turn up in their hundreds to feed in the reserve: 2021 was a record year, with an estimated 7,248 sightings between May and November, and 207 individuals spotted for the first time were added to a database.
Observing the visiting rays are researchers from the Maldives Manta Conservation Programme (MMCP; previously known as the Maldivian Manta Ray Project), which was set up in 2005 at the Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru by Manta Trust, the world’s largest charity dedicated to the study of rays.
