Many tourists visiting the Maldives have ‘swimming with mantas’ on their bucket list and, as a world-renowned hotspot for these magnificent creatures, there’s a high chance of getting that all-important tick on the list.
Divers and snorkellers staying at Club Med Finolhu, Club Med Kani, Dhigali, Eriyadu, Kurumba, Meeru and Vilamendhoo have extremely good chances of unforgettable encounters and the Euro-Divers teams at the dive centres there are not only experts in finding the reefs that the mantas love to frequent, but also ensure that the encounters are respectful and sustainable – hugely important when spending time with endangered and protected creatures.
Although it may be tempting to try and get close to capture that most-loved Instagram-worthy shot, the manta will be spooked and disappear, shortening the encounter and making future experiences less likely; we must ensure that feeding, cleaning and mating behaviour is never disrupted. If we want future generations to be able to experience the magic of seeing mantas in the wild, we must take steps to ensure our encounters sustainable.
Please follow these guidelines when you encounter mantas:
- When beginning your dive or snorkel excursion, make sure that you slip into the water calmly and quietly and keep a moderate distance of 10 meters apart from nearby manta rays.
- Make sure your fins stay below the surface to avoid unnecessary noise and splashing.
- Stay still and allow the mantas to come to you. Passive interaction is always the best option. Do not chase the mantas.
- Never block a mantas route in the water, keep the natural water columns open so the manta rays can swim around you without any interference. To do this as a diver, keep low to the sea bed at all times. Snorkelers should stay on the surface.
- Divers should not position themselves on to of cleaning stations, stay low and to the side.
- Never reach out and touch a manta ray, this will remove their protective slime coating and cause harm.
We can’t wait to share magical Maldives manta experiences with you 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 Malé 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.
