Memories & mantas
As the speedboat approached the jetty of Four Seasons at Landaa Giraavaru, the seaplane at our backs bobbing on its moorings, a wave of excitement rushed over me as Scubazoo’s latest book project – Maldives: The Underwater Kingdom – was now officially underway. It had been over a year since my last visit to this resort tucked into the northeast corner of Baa atoll. The flight in over the turquoise lagoons and idyllic islands had my index finger rapidly pressing the shutter release button, but it was the bay of Hanifaru, now infamous for its mass whaleshark and manta ray feeding aggregations, that caught my eye. 26th August 2008 -I still remember the date – was the first time I dove Hanifaru. Jumping off the dhoni, two whalesharks crossed in front of me, both gulping down plankton like enormous hoovers. Now, stood on the jetty imagining encounters with some of the oceans greats and revisiting the many other great dive sites in the vicinity, I couldn’t get in the water quick enough.
Aerial view of Hanifaru
After a first evening of organizing camera gear and having a few beers with old friends, the following morning hadn’t supported my optimism with squally conditions driving across the atoll. Unperturbed, I set out with Guy Stevens, the marine biologist running the Maldivian Manta Ray Project, on his research dhoni. Unfortunately, the conditions affected the movements of the plankton and resulted in the first few days being fairly unsuccessful.
However, once the weather started to improve – Hanifaru started to deliver. The first good day had surprisingly excellent visibility with around 60 manta rays. The currents had driven the plankton deep into the bay so the mantas were clustered together in large groups optimising their feeding. The whalesharks were only being seen briefly on the outer reef but a few days later they ventured inside. The news about Hanifaru has definitely spread since I was last there and the number of snorkelers and divers in the water was quite incredible. Most of the time was spent jostling for position or tracking a whaleshark that had broken away from the pack of tourists and getting a few shots off before the hoard caught up. The manta rays and whalesharks remained unfazed throughout these encounters with their focus solely on the plankton.
The 3 weeks at Landaa Giraavaru seemed to fly by in a matter of days and the success of the trip has to be credited to the support I received from Andy Auer and his team in the Four Seasons Dive Centre, Scott Duncah and his team in Recreation and of course Guy Stevens and Rory Moore for letting me join them on the manta research boat. Also a special mention should go to Danny Kessler for sharing some memorable dives and letting me use his wife, Amanda, as a model.
As I hopped on my seaplane to leave, I received a phone call that there were two whalesharks at Hanifaru. You could never leave that place…
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