Dune Black Manta Itinerary

North Atoll Discovery

Day 1: Male

Our Dune team will warmly welcome you at Male airport and ensure a smooth transfer to the boat. The Cruise Director will help you with paperwork and cabin allocation, making you feel at home right away. The rest of the day is for settling in and getting comfortable. Depending on your arrival time, the boat may start sailing.

Day 2-3: North Male to Baa Atoll
The trip will start with discovering the dazzling long reefs or a manta point (May to Nov only) in North Malé Atoll. At only 15 m depth, you can have a chance to start the trip watching mantas looping on their cleaning stations. Corals are also abundant here.
giving home to plenty of reef fish and macro species.

Baa Atoll was declared a UNESCO World Biosphere back in June 2011. Its amazing reefs of Baa offer a wide variety of marine life ranging from small fishes and turtles to the giant filter feeders, mantas and whale sharks. Walls and thilas full of hard and soft corals, plateaus, overhangs, pinnacles, and swim-throughs are all yours to explore.

The famous Hanifaru Bay, located on the eastern side of Baa Atoll, is one of the marine protected areas. From August to November, both whale sharks and manta rays aggregate here to devour the zooplankton blooms brought by the southwest monsoon. By regulation, only snorkeling is allowed here, but there are many fascinating dive sites for your delight just nearby.

Day 4: Raa Atoll
The cruise will move up to the Raa Atoll. More thilas and giri will be the place to be to discover an exceptional variety of parrotfish, unicorn fish, gobies, basslets, and fusiliers along with jacks, tunas, stingrays, and napoleon wrasses. Cruising north to explore the relatively unknown and vibrant reefs. Here you will encounter more pelagic fish such as eagle rays, marble rays, grey reef sharks, white tip reef sharks, silvertip sharks, and even guitar sharks.

Day 5: Shaviyani Atoll
Back from the far north, you will dive in the beautiful Shaviyani Atoll. Take a closer look at the dazzling reefs and encounter guitar sharks, eagle rays, and schools of batfish. When night falls, you will be invited to go ashore and indulge yourself in the barbecue dinner prepared by our crew on a nearby desert island. Flourishing soft corals and anemone gardens are famous here. The water is filled with nutrients and allows the presence and growth of rich marine life, which in turn attracts its predators as well. Blacktip reef sharks, white tip reef sharks, leopard sharks, and guitar sharks can be found feeding on smaller fish.

Day 6: Noonu Atoll
You will dive in Christmas Tree Rock and take a chance to observe 20 or more sharks circling around and waiting to be cleaned. The pinnacle resembles a Christmas tree with layers of ledges and plateaus covered in soft, pink corals.

Days 7-10: Lhaviyani and North Male
Here you will not only find wall dives but also current-swept channels full of sharks, including grey reef sharks, whitetip reef sharks, and blacktip reef sharks. Keep looking in the blue, and you will often see tunas and barracudas, as well as eagle rays.

Going back in time to the 80's, you will dive on two ships. One of them dramatically protrudes through the surface. Both wrecks are covered in hard and soft corals and full of fish life. Exploring the Maldives is also setting foot in paradise. Our crew will lead a visit to a nearby local island just before dinner. 

Day 11: Male

After breakfast, it's time to say goodbye and disembark from the boat. Our team will be available to help you plan your last day according to your flight schedule, whether you want to stay at a guesthouse or explore more of the Maldives. And you'll return home with a head full of beautiful memories. 

Sample itineraries are for guidance only. Actual itineraries may differ slightly due to factors such as weather, wildlife, logistics, and local regulations.