Maldives marine life: mantas, whale sharks and turtles

The Maldives has two monsoons. The Maldives Meteorological Service calls the northeast monsoon (January to March) the dry season and the southwest monsoon (mid-May to November) the wet season, with April and December as transition months. The wind changes the currents, and the plankton follows.

Research by the Manta Trust shows the atolls act like funnels and traps for plankton. Its teams focus on the eastern edges of the atolls in the southwest monsoon and on the western edges in the northeast monsoon, because that is where the mantas tend to go. So where you stay matters as much as when. For month-by-month weather, see the best time to visit the Maldives.

Where and when

Reef manta rays are seen in many atolls, at cleaning stations (where small fish pick off parasites) and at feeding grounds.

• Southwest monsoon (about May to November): mantas tend to feed on the eastern sides of the atolls. This is the season for Hanifaru Bay in Baa Atoll, where rising tides push plankton into a small bay and large numbers of mantas can gather.
• Northeast monsoon (about December to April): mantas tend to move to the western sides of the atolls.

Hanifaru Bay

Hanifaru Bay is a marine protected area in Baa Atoll, declared on 5 June 2009 and extended on 5 June 2011, and inside the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It is managed with strict rules. As reported in published factsheets, only snorkelling is allowed (no scuba), a limited number of boats and swimmers can be in the bay at one time, each group needs a certified guide, there is a visitor fee, and rangers enforce the rules on site. Even in peak season some days are quiet. Check the current rules and fee before you go.

Your odds

In the right atoll and season, chances are good; outside it, hit and miss. Treat any “guaranteed” claim with care.

Where and when

Whale sharks turn up all over the Maldives, but the South Ari Marine Protected Area is special. It is the largest marine protected area in the country and one of very few places in the world where whale sharks are found all year. The Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme has recorded thousands of encounters there. Most of the sharks are young males, often around 4 to 8 metres long, and the researchers believe they use the area as a kind of nursery. They often rise near the outer reef, where snorkellers meet them.

Your odds

South Ari gives the best chance in the country, but some days the sharks stay deep. Elsewhere, a whale shark is a lucky bonus.

The area was declared in 2009 and later enlarged as South Ari Marine Park. After years without a working management plan, one was released in early 2025. As reported in national news, no more than six boats may be in the contact zone at once since 31 July 2025, only guides certified for the area may take visitors, and boats need propeller guards from mid-2026. Swimmers keep at least 3 metres from the body and 4 metres from the tail. Our whale shark guide has the details.

Where and when

Turtles are the animals you are most likely to meet. The Olive Ridley Project, which studies turtles across the country, says green and hawksbill turtles are the species most often seen and the ones known to nest in the Maldives. Green turtles graze on seagrass and are often found in lagoons. Hawksbills feed on the reef, often on sponges. Olive ridleys live more in open water and are often found injured in drifting “ghost nets”, a problem the Olive Ridley Project works on.

Turtles are seen all year. In national red list assessments, green turtles are listed as endangered and hawksbills as critically endangered in the Maldives.

Your odds

High on a decent reef, any month. Calm, clear days in the dry season make spotting them easier. For reef tips, see our guide to snorkelling in the Maldives.

Dolphins are best seen from a boat, often on a late afternoon “dolphin cruise”. Long-term surveys by marine scientists working in the Maldives found that the spinner dolphin is the species most often seen. Schools are often large, and the surveys found that many spinner groups come into the atolls in the morning and head back out in the late afternoon. That is why sunset trips through the channels often find them.

Bottlenose, spotted and Risso’s dolphins are recorded too.

Enjoy them from the boat. A good skipper slows down, keeps a steady course alongside the group and lets the dolphins choose whether to come and bow-ride. Driving straight at them or cutting through a group is bad practice.

Reef life needs no luck: parrotfish, butterflyfish, triggerfish, moray eels, octopus and big schools of fusiliers. Shy blacktip reef sharks patrol shallow lagoons. On channel dives, grey reef sharks and whitetip reef sharks are regular sights, and nurse sharks rest on the sand. For channel diving and the big pelagic sites, see diving in the Maldives.

The rules below are based on research by the Manta Trust and the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme, and on the codes of conduct they promote. A study of manta interactions in the Maldives found that chasing, blocking a manta’s path and coming within three metres caused more avoidance behaviour, and that fewer than half of the interactions followed the guidelines.

• Keep your distance. Stay at least 3 metres from mantas and whale sharks, and give a whale shark’s tail even more room. Let the animal come to you.
• Never touch. Not mantas, whale sharks, turtles or anything on the reef. Touching can damage skin and its protective mucus.
• Don’t chase or block. Don’t swim at an animal from the front, cut across its path or follow it when it moves away.
• No flash. Turn off camera flash and video lights around mantas and whale sharks.
• Enter quietly. Slide into the water away from the animal, without jumping or splashing.
• Keep groups small. Fewer swimmers per animal means calmer animals and longer encounters. Protected sites like Hanifaru Bay limit boat and swimmer numbers by law.
• Stay off the cleaning station. Hover away from the coral where mantas are cleaned; don’t settle on it.
• Boats slow down. Whale sharks spend time near the surface, and boat strikes are a real threat.
• Reef habits. Don’t stand on coral and never feed fish.

More ideas are in our responsible travel guide.

• Turtles: a ban on catching turtles in Maldivian waters began in 1995 under fisheries law and was later extended. Turtles are now on the national protected species list, and catching or eating them is an offence.
• Whale sharks: a ban on fishing whale sharks was declared in 1995, as reported. The whale shark is on the protected species list.
• Manta rays: all manta rays in Maldivian waters are protected under the protected species regulations, as the national environmental regulator stated in 2024.
• Sharks: the Maldives banned shark fishing across its waters in 2010, as widely reported, which made the country one of the first shark sanctuaries. In late 2025 the government reopened a licensed fishery for one deep-water species, the gulper shark, outside the atolls. Fishing for all other sharks remains banned, and reef sharks are still off limits.

In August 2025 the Environmental Protection Agency was abolished and its work moved to a regulator within the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, as reported. The species protections remain in force.

You don’t need a resort or a liveaboard to see this wildlife. On most local islands with guesthouses, trips are arranged on the island itself: snorkel trips to nearby reefs, sandbank visits, sunset dolphin cruises, and dive trips from a local dive centre. For Hanifaru Bay or South Ari, stay in or near that atoll. Our local islands guide explains how to pick an island.

Take Dhiffushi as one example. It sits on the eastern rim of North Malé Atoll, about 37 km north-east of Malé. Following the Manta Trust’s research pattern, the eastern side of the atolls is where mantas tend to feed in the southwest monsoon, roughly May to November, so that is the season to ask about manta trips from the island (see the best time to visit Dhiffushi). Turtle snorkelling and sunset dolphin trips run all year, weather allowing. See Dhiffushi excursions: sandbanks, dolphins and island hopping for what is on offer.