Snippert: Mantas, the gentle wonders, at home in the lagoons surrounding Maamunagau island. The Manta Retreat is a one-stop shop for everything mantas and more.
Mantas, the gentle wonders, at home in the lagoons surrounding Maamunagau island. The Manta Retreat is a one-stop shop for everything mantas and more. Together with the on-island based Manta Trust team, we are launching the second Manta Retreat this March on Maamunagau island. While InterContinental Maldives is already known for being an all-year-round perfect location for snorkelling and swimming with mantas, we aim to enhance this guest experience with exclusive insights into the research surrounding these gentle giants. Participants in this year’s Manta Retreat can look forward to not only learning about our mantas but also the planktons, marine protection, and beautiful house reef surrounding our beautiful island, Maamunagau."The Manta Retreat is the perfect holiday programme for everyone passionate about marine life and our oceans. I am very excited to lead the retreat for the first time this year, and to help our participants to saturate their need for meeting mantas" says Farah Hamdan, the Manta Trust base leader at Maamunagau who has recently taken over the post from Jessica Haynes.
When is it happening?
The manta retreat will take place from 9th to 13th March 2023. This year's Manta Retreat falls into the Maamunagau Manta Season, where young manta rays are found in the resort's lagoon just a few minutes away from shore. "We can assume our lagoon to be a manta ray nursery. We still don't know where manta rays are born, but many juvenile manta rays hang around in our lagoon from December to April. This is a research haven for us, while we, of course, love to head out to Hanifaru Bay during the season as well to observe and research the massive aggregation of mantas there." explains Farah.Hanifaru Bay is a world-famous, manta ray feeding station. From June to October, large groups of manta rays can be found here, feeding on the plankton washed into the bay by the turning current. The bay is only a short boat ride away from InterContinental Maldives, to which excursions are also offered during the season.
How to book?
For more information, please visit https://maldives.intercontinental.com/sustainability/ or contact the reservations team with the booking code "Manta Retreat" at [email protected] or contact us on WhatsApp at +960 730 9300.We hope to welcome you this year to join our team at Maamunagau Island for the retreat unlike any other and a chance to flap away with our favorite gentle giants!
