Manta season is in full swing in the Maldives and Hideaway Beach Resort & Spa is blessed with being situated in a prime manta spotting location.

The channels surrounding the island bring in the nutrient-rich waters that the mantas love to feed in, and the higher concentration of nutrients at this time of year means more mantas! Dhonakulhi Channel is part of the house reef at Hideaway and at this time of year it is often full of mantas, gracefully gliding through the water with their mouths open wide to scoop up and filter their plankton feast. The site is accessible for divers and snorkelers so everyone gets to experience manta mania.

Divers and snorkelers will also delight in Aquarium, the nearby manta hot spot which has large coral blocks where the mantas come to get cleaned. The blocks are populated with cleaner wrasse, and manta rays queue up for their cleaning services. Mantas can be observed performing spectacular shows of barrel rolls and very close fly-pasts.

Those about to embark upon their journey to Hideaway should start practicing the arm flapping that only manta-mad divers and snorkelers know… they are going to need it! Not for diving of course, but for signaling to the world that they have seen manta rays.