Swim with Manta Rays while staying at Milaidhoo Island Maldives

Much more memorable than snorkelling and gazing down at fish and coral, swimming with manta rays adds a uniquely exciting moment to your holiday at Milaidhoo. Located in Baa Atoll, we offer escorted tours with our resident marine biologist so you can plunge into the sea to swim alongside these gentle giants of the ocean.

In spite of their huge size, fins flapping like wings and with a resemblance to Darth Vader lending a slightly alien appearance, Manta Rays are peaceful and pose no threat to humans. From June to November, is the Manta Ray season, the time when Manta Rays (M. alfredi) migrate in hundreds towards the BAA Atoll to feed in the plankton-rich waters at Hanifaru Bay, a UNESCO world biosphere reserve.

Although Manta Rays can be seen on the Great Barrier Reef, in the Galapagos, Micronesia and Hawaii, the largest Manta Ray feeding station in the world is in the Maldives at Hanifaru Bay, a protected Marine Reserve just 12-minutes by speedboat from Milaidhoo. In the Reserve, and at other natural feeding stations close to the resort, are some of the best places on the planet to see Manta Rays.

These gigantic rays (from 12 to 24 feet in size and weighing up to 3,500 pounds) are filter feeders and listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Visits to view and swim with them are coordinated with the Marine Reserve rangers and conducted by a qualified team from Milaidhoo’s Ocean Stories Aquatic Centre.

Accompanied by the resort’s resident marine biologist, you can go on a group trip or book a private excursion, including a picnic on a deserted sandbank after swimming with these stunning creatures.

On good days it’s possible to see up to 100 Mantas Rays and you don’t need special equipment or a Scuba diving licence, just a mask and a snorkel. To conserve the environment and avoid disturbing the Manta Rays, visits are carefully managed and limited to a small number of visitors every day.

You can book your group or private manta ray excursion through your island hosts while you are on the island. For further information, please email our reservatiosn team on [email protected] or call us on +960 660 0484