Mantas and Maldives go together like scuba and diving and it’s always a magical experience to dive with these incredible creatures.

The day started off as many do at Hideaway – the sun shining brightly, crystal clear water, which means only one thing for divers: great visibility, and a buzz of activity at Meridis Dive Center as instructors Yuko and Kirsten prepared to leave on the morning 2-tank dive boat. Joining the morning adventure were divers Katy and husband Dietmar and Tanja with her husband Sasha.

Their first port of call was dive site Tropical Garden and even before they jumped in, the group saw dolphins at the surface – a good morning was bound to be in store! The dive itself was simply stunning, a myriad of fish awaited: a school of fusiliers darting about like fireworks, a big napoleon, a school of barracudas, hunting jackfish and even a baby shark.

The happy divers enjoyed a relaxing surface interval before their second dive, at Aquarium, and the Indian Ocean had something very special waiting for them below the surface… as soon as the divers jumped in and started to descend they glimpsed a manta ray! The dive got better and better as it progressed – the group headed to the cleaning station and were thrilled to see three more mantas and the grand finale was mantas gliding in from the blue water to congregate at the dive site – like a great big manta party.

These graceful giants of the ocean couldn’t have timed it better – it happened to be Katy’s birthday and although she is an experienced diver and has dived in the Maldives before, she hadn’t had the privilege of diving with mantas before. She was over the moon with her magical Maldives manta encounter gift.