You are planning a trip to Hanifaru Bay? This is what you need to know:

• Hanifaru Bay is a Marine Protected Area in the Baa Atoll, Maldives
• The Baa Atoll is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
• Hanifaru Bay is open from 1.5. to 30.11, which is during the South West Monsoon.
• Opening hours are from 6 am to 6 pm local time.
• The best chance to encounter mantas are the days around Full Moon and New Moon.
• The best time of the day is around the high tide, this changes every day.
• There is no guarantee to encounter mantas.
• The mantas come to the bay due to its formation. This formation allows for plankton to accumulate in the bay. The mantas can smell the plankton and come to the bay to feed.
• Plankton is the food source for the mantas.
• The mantas are in the bay only for a certain time, not the whole day.
• We can only snorkel with the mantas, not scuba dive.
• We can visit Hanifaru Bay only every second day.
• We are allowed to snorkel 45 minutes in the bay.
• Maxium 5 boats or 80 snorkelers are allowed in the bay.
• If there are more boats or snorkelers, then we have to wait our turn in the waiting zone.
• There is no coral reef in Hanifaru Bay, only sandy bottom at around 20m. This means that if there are no mantas, there is nothing else to see. This also means that snorkelers have no reference point. There is nothing to look at and therefore sometimes snorkelers get seasick in the water
• There can be currents and waves in the bay.
• We have to use fins when we snorkel in Hanifaru Bay.
• We recommend snorkeling in Hanifaru Bay only to experienced snorkelers.
• Sometimes the boat must tie up in the waiting zone while we snorkel in the bay. In that case the boat is too far away for us to be able to return. We have to be in the water for 45 minutes until the boat comes to pick us up.
• We need to keep a distance of 3 meters to the mantas. The mantas sometimes come close to us.
• Mantas are not dangerous; they don’t have a stinger and they don’t have teeth.
  The best position is to lie flat on the waters’ surface. If we are vertical in the water and kick with our fins, there is the risk that we kick the mantas which we want to avoid at all cost.
• There will be 1 guide for 10 guests. Before departure the guide will give an extensive briefing about the mantas, the snorkeling and the safety in the bay.
  You need to book your trip at least 1 day in advance.
• We do not have a fixed time for the trip. We try and figure out the best time according to the tides and when the most mantas were in the bay the previous day.

What is not allowed:

• Flash photography
• Selfie sticks
• Scooter
• Touching the manta
• Freediving down right in front of the manta
• The Hanifaru Bay Rangers are in the bay and control the area, also with drones. If they see any infringements, they issue a fine

We also call this trip ‘Finding Manta’ as sometimes we have to search for them. It also happens sometimes that we do not find them, after all we need to remember that it is a rather big ocean and not a zoo. Fingers crossed when you join us on your trip to Hanifaru Bay that MAGIC happens.