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.