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Four Seasons Maldives Landaa Giraavaru gears up for manta ray season

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Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru is gearing up for this year’s manta ray season with the announcement of a special Manta Watch package.

The waters of the pristine Baa Atoll around Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru are some of the richest in the Maldives. Declared a UNESCO World Biosphere in July 2011, the atoll is home to nine core protected areas including Hanifaru Bay and Baathala, two renowned manta ray hotspots within easy reach of the resort.

Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru offers guests a once-in-a-lifetime chance from June to October to get up close and personal with majestic manta rays and the world’s biggest fish, the whale sharks. During this time of the year, a combination of southwestern monsoon currents and lunar tides bring large quantities of planktonic shrimp (mantas’ favourite food) to various sites around Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru, attracting large numbers of manta rays.

Guy Stevens, founder of the world-renowned Manta Trust, has identified the below hot dates for 2017 when manta rays are most likely to converge at renowned local feeding and cleaning sites:

  • June 7 to 11
  • June 22 to 26
  • July 7 to 11
  • July 21 to 25
  • August 5 to 9
  • August 19 to 23
  • September 4 to 8
  • September 18 to 22
  • October 3 to 7
  • October 17 to 21
  • November 2 to 4
  • November 16 to 21

With that in mind, Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru has announced a four-night Manta Watch package available from June 7 to November 21. The package, which starts from USD 6,285 and is subject to 10 percent service charge and all applicable taxes, includes:

  • Round trip airport transfers by seaplane for two
  • Daily buffet breakfast for two
  • One Manta-on-Call snorkelling excursion for two persons by speedboat
  • A personal coral frame propagation
  • One dolphin cruise and marine biologist briefing for two

Additionally, guests who visit Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru between June and November can also sign up for the resort’s Manta-on-Call service: a thrilling experience that sees them collected from wherever they are in the resort when mantas are spotted and whisked away in a speedboat to snorkel with them. Guests are provided with Manta Phone on which they will be called immediately when mantas are sighted.

Manta rays with wing-like pectoral fins that stretch to a length of 13 to 15 feet (4 to 4.5 metres) move gracefully through the water while feeding with their enormous mouths. Having one of the largest comparable brain sizes of any marine animal makes them highly curious, resulting in some very close snorkelling encounters.

Combining innovation, wellness and conservation, Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru is a 44-acre, 103-villa wonderland in the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve — a 30-minute seaplane flight from the main Velana International Airport.

Its sister property, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa, lies to the south: an enchanting garden island complete with Island Spa sea sanctuary and Tropicsurf coaches and guides. The luxury catamaran Four Seasons Explorer connects the two via three, four and seven-night cruises, plus private leisure, surf and manta ray charters.

The latest addition to the Maldives collection, Four Seasons Private Island Maldives at Voavah, Baa Atoll opened in December as the group’s first exclusive-use private island: off limits to everyone else, limitless to the guests. 

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Last call to cruise Maldives aboard Four Seasons Explorer

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Last call! The stunning Four Seasons Explorer will be cruising through the sun-drenched turquoise atolls until May 1, 2023 – leaving intrepid explorers just a few months to embark on a once-in-a-lifetime Maldivian odyssey between the two Four Seasons resorts of Kuda Huraa and Landaa Giraavaru before the boat relocates to thrilling new waters.

This is an incredible final opportunity to escape on an all-inclusive 3-, 4-, or 7-night Winter of Wonders cruise on board the luxurious three-deck, 11-cabin catamaran, experiencing multiple bucket-list encounters each day.

Guests can dive and snorkel isolated reefs, encounter rare marine animals up close, dine under the stars in the middle of nowhere and indulge in spa treatments on remote, uninhabited islands. Retiring to 10 spacious cabins or the unrivalled Explorer Suite to reenergise and rejuvenate, each cruise fluidly adapts to the needs of onboard guests and the best of the surrounding waters on any given day.

Secure one of the last remaining places on Four Seasons Explorer – Four Seasons only “floating resort” – before she bids farewell to the Maldives for the last time.

To be one of the last guests to experience a Maldivian atoll cruise aboard Four Seasons Explorer, contact the Central Reservations Department team at tel: (960) 66 00 888 or email reservations.mal@fourseasons.com.

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Dive into luxury at sea with Four Seasons Explorer seasonal cruise routes

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After many months cooped up at home, and many missed travel experiences, Four Seasons Explorer – the brand’s only floating resort – offers marine adventurers a ticket to fresh sea air, blissful seclusion, bucket-list experiences, and a different view every morning with two extraordinary seasonal cruise itineraries: Winter of Wonders, and Summer of Mantas.

Available to a maximum of 22 guests at a time, the gleaming 39-metre (128 foot), three-deck vessel takes divers, snorkellers and avid adventurers on all-inclusive three-, four- or seven-night odysseys into some of the Indian Ocean’s most abundant waters, complete with gourmet dining, spa therapies, water sports, island visits and Four Seasons inimitable service standards.

From now until May 29, 2022 (and again from October 31 to December 18, 2022), experience a different extraordinary every day with Winter of Wonders cruises: endless bucket-list encounters across five atolls, from coral-ceilinged caves to camera-happy sharks, swim-through tunnels to a fish-filled wreck. Winter of Wonders cruises sail between Four Seasons two sister Maldivian Resorts on a 3-, 4- and 7-night itinerary, departing from Kuda Huraa on Mondays and Landaa Giraavaru on Thursdays.

From June 27 to October 31, 2022, itineraries change to Summer of Mantas, in line with the huge seasonal aggregations of manta rays and whale sharks that come to the region to feed. Get up close and personal with the world’s largest known population of manta rays alongside The Manta Trust team dedicated to studying them during an epic gentle giants odyssey through the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and into Rasdhoo, North and South Ari Atolls.  Summer of Mantas cruises depart from and arrive back to Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru on a 3-,4- and 7-night itinerary.

Each of the 10 air-conditioned staterooms offer blue-hued views through large windows, along with spacious ensuite bathrooms, refrigerated private bars, and flat-screen LCD TVs. For the ultimate luxury, the expansive Explorer Suite boasts an abundance of interior space, a wall of windows, and its own sunbathing deck.

A floating 5-Star PADI Dive Centre, Four Seasons Explorer features the latest Scubapro dive gear, Cressi snorkelling gear and Olympus cameras, while a team of multi-lingual instructors share the full spectrum of PADI courses at a bespoke pace with highly individualised attention.

Sandbank spa treatments, gourmet dining, and water sports take the Four Seasons experience to sea within sleek, chic interiors that include a new sun deck, a lounge, a library, a restaurant and two bars.

The boat is also available for private dive, surf or leisure charters for groups of up to 22.

With the health and safety of its guests and staff a top priority, Four Seasons Explorer provides the ultimate care, confidence, trust and comfort through its Lead With Care programme – heightened health and safety protocols led by global experts that include enhanced cleanliness, physical distancing measures in shared spaces, and empowering staff training grounded in emotional intelligence. In addition, Four Seasons App and Chat provide the reassurance of contactless real-time interactions in 100+ different languages.

For the oceanic adventure of a lifetime, contact Central Reservations at tel: (960) 66 00 888, email: reservations.mal@fourseasons.com or book online.

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Superyacht Nord in Maldives

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Currently exploring the countless islands of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean is the 142-metre superyacht Nord, owned by Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov.

Since late December, Nord has been spotted in Baa Atoll, home to several world-leading luxury resorts, as well as the southern island-atoll of Fuvahmulah, which is world-renowned for diving with tiger sharks.

Delivered in 2021 as one of the largest superyachts in the fleet at 10,154 GT, she was built at the German shipyard Lürssen in Bremen with Moran Yacht & Ship overseeing her build. Formerly known as Project Opus, she was designed inside and out by the Italian studio Nuvolari Lenard.

Made from steel and aluminium to PYC standards, the warship style vessel encompasses six decks and can accommodate up-to 36 guests across 20 cabins.

On bridge deck level, a large helicopter landing deck aft with fold-down side platforms provide shelter for Nord’s helicopter that can be stowed away in a retractable hangar that slides neatly into the superstructure when not in use.

A large sports and diving centre on the lower deck, oversized swimming pool on the main deck and a fleet of custom tenders are just some of the other features on board this impressive vessel.

Photos: Ammadu/Ajaaibu

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