Manta ray encounters in the Maldives - an experience of a lifetime!

We enjoyed our first trip on board the Theia so much, it was time to return and enjoy the idyllic islands and world-class diving of the Maldives. Little did we know that this week was going to change our diving experiences and stories forever! 

We had another great trip on board Theia despite some rain in the latter part of the week due to cyclone Phailin which blasted India over 500 miles away.  We had nice, friendly company on the boat from Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Russia plus us four Brits. 

We did three dives a day, sometimes in quite strong currents.  We saw sharks on nearly every dive plus occasionally turtles, tuna, schools of jacks, whale sharks and mantas. Two wrecks were included in the dive programme and a couple of night dives. In the evenings the crew hung floodlights over the back of the boat which attracted large number of krill, which in turn attracted mantas to feed on them. This meant we were able to watch mantas while eating dinner. Judy was really thrilled by this since, as a non-diver, she never expected to see mantas especially just a couple of feet away.

The highlight of the trip came when we anchored in the North Ari Atoll in a very good place for mantas and we were able to do a night dive with them off the back of the boat. We spent over an hour with seven mantas swooping over us, two or three at a time and close enough to touch - at times we were having to duck as they skimmed our heads!  Expressions like "thrill of a lifetime" and "one for the bucket list" come to mind  but don't do justice to such an unforgettable experience with these majestic, gentle creatures.  Definitely an experience, the memory of which will remain with me forever.

This manta image was taken on a Canon IXUS 90 in ambient from floodlights from the boat and dive torches. (too much plankton in the water to use flash)

Image courtesy of Hank Sweet.

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