InterContinental Maldives Maamunagau Resort is supporting conservation efforts with manta rays in the Maldives in partnership with The Manta Trust.
Sitting on the idyllic Southernmost tip of Raa Atoll, on the edge of a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve and within its own natural lagoon, InterContinental Maldives occupies an island with incredible proximity to a newly discovered juvenile manta feeding ground, the Maamunagau Lagoon. This lagoon provides a protective shelter to these incredible creatures and homes a large and healthy population – enabling the Manta Trust team the opportunity to learn/research more about these gentle giants including their natural habitats and migration behaviour (all without ever interfering).
The resort’s enviable position, Hanifaru Bay, is also a dedicated manta ray sanctuary and feeding station run in collaboration with the Manta Trust and Ocean Group to nurture a safe habitat and achieve global conservation for these endangered creatures. With the Manta Trust team living on site, InterContinental Maldives protects these animals’ natural habitats, offers guests educational workshops/research snorkelling trips with marine biologists, and arranges donation/adoption schemes for The Manta Trust. The resort also hosts regular ‘Manta Retreats’- with dates for the next one already confirmed for March 2024 – where guests can live the life of a marine biologist during the best time of the year for swimming with juvenile mantas.
Activities are designed to ensure the guests understand and respect the ocean’s most charismatic beings and include tracking mantras, evening talks about their natural environment / the importance of plankton, replanting coral – and certified divers can observe the natural manta ‘spa’.
Fact Box
Rates start from USD 991 ++ in an Overwater Sunrise Pool villa incl. breakfast for two.
For more information, visit maldives.intercontinental.com.