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I love night diving! That eerie feeling you get when you aren’t quite sure what is lurking in the darkness just on the edge of your torch light, is truly unique. But on this occasion, as I kneeled down onto the sandy floor of Fesdu Lagoon, I was all too aware of what would soon be swimming around, very much in view. Something pretty big, pretty epic, and an animal I never tire of seeing. I sat there wondering when they would arrive.

And then the answer hit me! Quite literally in fact, in the form of a well-placed fin-slap upside my head. I winced and looked up to find my view of the surface spotlight now blocked by four metres of manta ray massiveness, just casually hovering a few inches over me. Clearly it was show time! Just before I started recording, instinct told me to look ahead. The visibility was pretty horrendous – akin to looking through a window soaked in some kind of planktonic rain, with curtains of sandy darkness at the borders. As I strained to see through the water, I soon found myself staring into an incoming chasm – one that doubles up as a mouth. A second manta was flying through the torch lights towards me!

My past experiences with mantas told me not to worry – mantas often do this. But with the shocking visibility, I couldn’t help but think otherwise. “Are you sure she can see me?” A little over a metre away, she hadn’t changed course or slowed down in the slightest. “Oh god, this will hurt!” I remained motionless, braced myself for impact, and then…nothing.

Sure enough, with a confident flick of her fins, the second manta glided gracefully up and over, clearing both me and the other manta still parked overhead. Crisis averted. This fin-filled nocturnal showdown was just one of the awesome dives I enjoyed whilst traversing the reefs and channels of Baa, Ari and South Aril atolls.

Hang on, let me back up a bit. I can sense your confusion…

As you’ll know from my previous blog, I spent 4 weeks in the Maldives based at the Four Seasons resort of Landaa Giraavaru. My mission was to spend a month planning and filming a handful of short films that are related to the Manta Trust’s Maldivian Manta Ray Project (MMRP). Whilst my main ideas consisted of staff interviews, educational videos, and a slightly artsy-yet-informative film about the mantas of Hanifaru, shortly into my stay an awesome opportunity presented itself.

Guy Stevens, top-dog at the Manta Trust, my old boss and a really good friend (don’t tell him I said that! 😉 ) flew into Baa Atoll to join us at Landaa Giraavaru. Guy had flown in to lead a week-long Manta Expedition in conjunction with the Four Seasons on board their incredibly epic liveaboard, the Four Seasons Explorer. The plan for the trip was as the name suggests; to take the guests around the central atolls of the Maldives for some of the best manta encounters the oceans have to offer, all the while teaching them all about the biology, behaviour and conservation of these giant rays and the wider marine ecosystems of the Maldives. Oh, and the plan was to also try and show them some of the area’s best dive sites, as well as plenty of sharks…including the mother of all sharks, the ever-spotty whaleshark. Sounds pretty cool, right? Well you can imagine how chuffed I was when the team on the Explorer and Guy offered me a staff-bunk and a spot on the trip! So half way through my stay in the Maldives, I put my other filming projects with the MMRP on hold and jumped on board the Explorer, set for manta and shark-filled adventures.

Of course, this was not to be just a lovely jolly for me, oh no, and nor would I want it to be. My job for the trip was to film (and occasionally photograph) various aspects of the expedition, so that I might eventually put together a short-promo film to help promote future Manta Expeditions ran by the Manta Trust. Film-making as a way of inspiring people to care about the oceans, AND working/experiencing a more ecotourism-focused expedition as a way of engaging people with a charismatic marine species and wider-ocean issues? YES PLEASE. Two things related to my main goals of the year in one experience. Doesn’t get much better than that!

The expedition set off from Landaa Giraavaru, so it made sense for us to start the trip with something epic nearby. Naturally, that meant bombing it over to Hanifaru Bay. Due to the tight schedule of the trip, we only had a few days to attempt to see mass-feeding mantas here. But none of us were worried. This expedition was scheduled to coincide with not only the best time of the month to see Hanifaru in all its glory, but also one of the best times of the year! These timings were the culmination of over 10 years of manta research by the MMRP. Sure enough, the mantas rocked up in their droves right on time, much to the delight of the guests, many of which had never seen a manta before! 😀 The expressions on their face once we jumped back on the Explorer were priceless…some dreams had clearly just been realised. Needless to say, Guy’s first talk about manta ray biology and behaviour was presented to a full house!

Following our adventures and dives in Baa Atoll, we wasted no time in making our way south, crossing the channel and on our way to Ari Atoll in search of whale sharks. Of course, we had a few pit-stops on the way. As mentioned, we paid a cheeky visit to Fesdu Lagoon where we used spotlights to attract reef mantas to feed at night. We also snuck in a few other dives nearby to check out the local reefs (it seemed rude not to) as well as see the first grey reef sharks of the trip at a dive site in Rasdhoo. Side note: these were in fact my first ever grey reef sharks! They were pretty sigh and kept their distance, so I stuck to filming on this dive. The cherry on the cake was a flock of 25+ eagle rays that came swooping past the pinnacle. I’ve had terrible luck with eagle rays during my diving career, and in that one dive I saw more eagle rays in one moment than I had ever seen in all my 300 other dives around the world…AMAZING.

And so we arrived in South Ari Atoll, super-pumped to see some whale sharks off the back of some brilliant dives…..alas, our first afternoon-attempt at spotting them was fruitless. The sea was chaotically choppy, so even if there were some sharks within 10 metres of the boat, we definitely wouldn’t have see them. We were a bit gutted, but determined that the next day was our day. A whale shark would be found.

Day 2 of whale shark spotting came around. The stormy weather from the day before had died down, leaving flat waters and sunshine – ideal conditions for spotting the super-spotty giants. Moral was high. But two hours in, and still no shark to be seen, thoughts began to creep towards pessimism. We weren’t going to find one.

But then it happened. Just before we spun the boat around, both me, Guy and Seb (another member of staff) all yelled out at the same time. “THERE!” All hands were pointed at the same dark shadow that was casually gliding past our starboard. Ooh yes, a whale shark had come!

It was all systems go as guests woke up from their naps to the calls of the boat crew, fins still in their hands from when they had dozed off. Within minutes everyone was jumping in the water, following the guides, and swimming alongside the world’s largest fish! The whole experience was made more awesome by a combination of a very tolerant shark who was very happy to stick around at the surface for a good few minutes. His chilled and undisturbed behaviour may have had something to do with all the guests keeping their distance and respecting the animal, as per the Code of Conduct we had briefed them on a few hours before. The young male shark happily potted along before eventually out-swimming most of the guests and leaving the few remaining snorkelers as it drifted down into the depths. Great encounter! 😀

The next day, the Explorer headed back up to Baa Atoll as we approached the end of our trip. Of course, we couldn’t leave without trying to see even more sharks! A quick dive at a secret site delivered easily the best shark encounters I’ve ever had (with the exception of mantas and whale sharks…but y’know what I mean….sharky-sharks, not plankton-eating sharks). Moosa and I spent 60 minutes hovering upside in one spot over an overhang, where several grey reefs and white-tip reef sharks cruised by, patrolling the borders of the reef. We perched in one spot and hardly moved, hoping that we wouldn’t spook the sharks away. We shouldn’t have worried. As the dive progressed, the sharks got more and more confident, eventually coming within a metre or two of our lenses. Simply put, it was INSANE. A highlight dive of the year and one I wish wouldn’t end.

Of course, what would a Manta Expedition be without one final encounter with the flappy-fish themselves? In the afternoon, with Landaa only a stones throw away, we stopped off at a local shallow-water cleaning station for one final dive and snorkel…and were treated to several mantas getting themselves cleaned by the local reef fish.

I’d like to once again thank the gang at Four Seasons Maldives, the crew of the Explorer, and my buddy Guy for letting me tag along for this epic trip! It was great to see for myself how a more focused expedition plays out. Only challenge now is to trawl through all the footage to put a video together!

If you’ve always wanted to swim with dozens of manta rays, the Maldives is hands-down THE best place in the world. Mantas cleaning, mass-feeding mantas, and even night feeding mantas are all possible – something few other locations in the world can boast about. Be sure to check out the Manta Trust’s Maldivian Manta Expeditions for 2016 if you fancy joining one of these incredible trips yourself. They truly are spectacular!