Manta rays are one of the Maldives’ main underwater highlights and swimming alongside these graceful, gentle creatures appears on may of our guests’ bucket lists. While there are manta rays sightings throughout the year, to have the very best chance of fulfilling your dream of snorkelling or scuba diving with them while staying at Kuredu Resort & Spa Maldives, it’s best to visit during the main manta season, from September to March.

In September the magnificent mantas arrive at the famous cleaning station at Fushivaru Thila to have their gills cleaned by the cleaner wrasses on the reef outcrop. With the start of the northeast monsoon in November, they can be mainly observed whilst feeding, normally at snorkel sites in the west of the atoll; main aggregation sites during these times are around Hurawalhi sandbank – Dream Island, Felivaru, and Dhanifaru. They usually stay around until February/March before heading to more plankton-rich atolls.

There are plenty of excursions to join such as ‘Manta Ray Search Boat Trips‘, scuba diving activities and full day sailing trips, where there will be a chance of seeing mantas but please do also bear in mind that these are wild creatures that do not adhere to our schedules so we cannot absolutely guarantee sightings. Our top tip is to spend as much time in the water snorkelling and diving as possible. Keep a close eye on the jetty too and if you spot guests returning from the boats flapping their arms they are using the unofficial international underwater sign for mantas! We hope you get many arm flapping moments in the upcoming manta season – book now and take advantage of our incredible special offers.