One of the great things about scuba diving in the Maldives is the opportunity to see a vast array of marine life. Macro photographers can find endless subjects on the reefs and those seeking the ‘big stuff’ will find it, there really is something for everyone. The rays of the Maldives are often the stars of the show and with huge mantas, a variety of sting rays and squadrons of eagle rays, divers looking for these graceful creatures will not be disappointed.
Reef Mantas
Reef Mantas have a wingspan of up to 4 metres and are easily recognisable due to their diamond body shape, large forward-facing mouth and a cephalic fin on each side which help channel the plankton into their huge mouths. Mantas can usually be seen at cleaning stations or at plankton-rich feeding grounds where they may be seen performing barrel rolls or swimming in a chain.
Eagle Rays
Eagle Rays are smaller than mantas and have a wingspan of about one metre. Their upper surface is usually black with small white spots and their long thin tail has spines at its base. A distinct head at the front is shaped perfectly for digging through the sand in search of prey. Eagle rays are often seen flying through the water in large numbers. If you spot a much larger (around 2.4 metres wingspan) and intricately patterned eagle ray, you may have been lucky enough to have witnessed an ornate eagle ray – quite a rare sighting!
Stingrays
Stingrays have a rounded, disc-shaped body, with the mouth on the underside – there is no distinct head. There are many different species of stingrays, all varying in size, shape, colour and tail shape but they are all usually found on the bottom where they search for food, rest and swim.
As part of Euro-Divers’ Maldives 50th Anniversary celebrations we have created an exciting program of ‘Special Weeks’ and mantas are featuring at our dive centres.
Our guests have already enjoyed Manta Week at Vilamendhoo, Dhigali and LUX* South Ari Atoll where they enjoyed diving and snorkelling with these graceful creatures and learning a lot more about them. If you missed those events and still have your 2022 holidays to look forward to, book a stay for any of these 3 weeks, with 5 resorts to choose from:
- 2nd – 8th March at Meeru Island Resort
- 14th – 20th September at Club Med Finolhu, Club Med Kani, and Kurumba Island Resort
- 5th – 11th December at Eriyadu
We hope you can join us, the mantas and the rest of the rays of the Maldives soon!
Everything started with my Open Water Course at Koh Tao, Thailand. I’m hooked with the first breath I took underwater – this magical and peaceful world with all these different colors and creatures made me forget about everything else. It felt like an addiction.
This time made me realize that I don’t want to keep diving only as a hobby. I wanted to become a Diving Instructor and make diving my profession.
I was working as an entertainer in one of the resorts in South Male atoll. The first time I tried diving I absolutely fell in love with it, so every day off I would go diving.
I was lucky enough to meet people from Euro-Divers who helped me complete my instructor course and employment later on.
That trip changed everything. Since 2014, I visited more than 50 countries in three continents.
2019, 2020, 2021 – still in Maldives, enjoying what I love the most.
Im sonnigen Süden (Ägypten) lernte ich im Urlaub die unglaubliche Unterwasserwelt bei einem Schnuppertauchgang kennen und lieben.
Anfangs arbeitete ich im Tauchcenter im Büro, mir wurde jedoch schnell klar, dass ich die Gäste nicht nur über Wasser sondern auch unter Wasser begleiten wollte. Somit machte ich die Divemaster Ausbildung.
I studied Hotel management and ended up working for several years in different Hotels/Resorts around Italians seaside where I spend my days off diving and achieving the Dive Master rating.
I choose to stay in Oman because of its unspoiled dive site, beaches and many undiscovered dive places! We do not have mass tourism here and the country itself is spectacular besides being the safest place to live in.
Bored and burnt out of the stressful life in Holland, I quit my job as Manager Back Office & Finance and I went to Curacao for holiday. On this tropical island I took my first breaths under water with Instructor Marc, who is still my buddy in life.
Diving keeps me grounded, relaxed and connected with Mother Nature (myself). It supports me to let go, to put things into perspective and it helps me to stay focused and balanced in my position as a manager.
But diving was not at all my purpose of the journey, in fact I was not even a diver yet, I became a diver after I got passionate in freediving in Egypt in 2012 while freediving with dolphin in the wild, eager to become a snorkeling guide, I did my life guard licence and then my PADI open water!
I love freediving but scuba diving is an all other story for me, learning scuba diving make you discover part of yourself you didn’t know, you learn to control things that you would have never imagined possible, I regularly see many of my students discovering how calm they can be underwater when in life they tend to be hyperactive and then in the other hand I see calm or introverted persons becoming excited and move like a torpedo underwater 🙂 so diving might not be for everyone but it is definitely to discover!
I decided after my hospitality studies to enter this fascinating new world. I have started my career in Club Med as Guest Service and had the opportunity to travel some of the famous destinations for diving or snorkeling.
I am the perfect example of someone who was scared of diving, the only advice I could give is to believe in yourself.
But since I was young, I knew I wanted to travel the world, to go on adventures, have fun and meet people from everywhere. Unfortunately, those jobs didn’t give me the opportunity to do it so after 5 years I decided to move to Thailand.
Scuba Diving is a sport of passion.
During this time, I wanted to try something new, so I started scuba diving and I will never forget my first underwater experience. I felt nervous at first but at the same time a lot of excitement.
Some people might think that diving is a difficult sport, but there are many ways to enjoy safe diving for any age or gender.
