Despite their size, manta rays are gentle, magnificent creatures. They are a flattened type of fish with wide fins that look like wings and no bones. They are found in tropical waters such as the Maldives. In Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa, we offer a variety of excursions allowing you to hopefully spot, swim and photograph manta rays. Before heading out on this adventure, here are a few things you should know about manta rays.
Manta Rays, whose width exceeds 3 metres, are quite large. Female mantas are usually larger than their male counterparts. Manta rays have the biggest brains of all fish and do display some intelligent behaviour. They feed on plankton, which they filter through their gill-rakers.
Manta rays are peaceful and gentle creatures that do not pose any threats to humans. As they are very sensitive to disturbance, there are a few things to consider when swimming with mantas. Manta Trust advises swimmers to enter the water calmly and quietly, no closer than 10 metres away from the manta ray. Once in the water, keep your fins below the surface and avoid splashing as noise can scare away manta rays. Do not approach them any closer than 3 metres and always approach from the side, giving manta rays a clear path ahead. Finally, never touch a manta ray or chase after one.
As with most marine-life, we cannot predict their schedule. We do, however, have excursions that transport you to known manta spots where if you are lucky, you can see and swim with them. Join our Ocean Discovery or our Manta and Turtle excursions for great adventures. Should you happen to spot some manta rays and photograph them, tag #vilamendhoo in your posts so we can see too!
Happy adventures!
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