Roger Hermiston and Eileen Wise stay at the InterContinental Maldives Maamunagau resort to swim with mantra rays.
It’s 10.30 on a Saturday morning on a boat in the middle of Kottefaru Thila in the Indian Ocean, and after a couple of false starts the moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived. ‘Go, go,’ urges our guide Gereth, ‘they’re down there now’. Strapping on our fins and clamping the mask and snorkel to our faces, one by one we hurriedly, excitedly, plunge over the side into the choppy waters.
A couple of minutes later, as we peer down into the depths, a shoal of iridescent blue fish passes before our eyes and then almost at once, as if a curtain has just been pulled back, ‘they’ – or rather ‘it’, as there is just one – is revealed.
Swimming with Mantra
The object of our quest is the gentle giant of these seas, the weirdly beautiful reef Manta Ray – black on the top, diamond-shaped, and looking all the world like an alien spaceship. We gaze in wonder at this massive fish, which weighs in at around 600 kilogrammes with a five metre wingspan, as it flaps its fins gently back and forth. It was either continuing its meal of plankton, who are blown into these waters at this time of year, or perhaps, as this is a prime ‘cleaning’ station, having the parasites on its body removed by friendly, smaller fish.
It was a magical moment to see one of these creatures (some of our partners on the boat were lucky enough to see a couple more shortly afterwards), the largest of its kind in the world, highly intelligent yet – sadly – threatened by overfishing. To cap off our day, once we were all back in the boat a pod of dolphins raced close by, gracefully surfing the waves and seemingly having great fun.
It was undoubtedly the highlight of a splendid week spent at the luxury InterContinental Maldives Maamunagau Resort , set on an island on the southern tip of the Raa Atoll in the Maldives. The resort’s lagoon is a known feeding ground for young reef Manta Rays as it provides shelter from predators and an abundance of plankton. It was natural then that the resort, when it opened in late 2019, would become the principal tracking and monitoring centre for mantas in the Maldives, working closely with the Manta Trust, the UK-based charity that strives to protect this magnificent fish.
Gereth’s colleague Nablaan had given us a fascinating lecture about the mantas the day before in the resort’s excellent, spacious library. These extraordinary creatures, who can live to fifty, are said to have the largest brain-to-size ratio of any cold-blooded fish, and such is their intelligence that some studies have claimed that they can even recognise themselves in the mirror.
Flying on a Seaplane
Thrills had been aplenty even before we arrived at the resort. For the first time ever we made a journey in a seaplane, the only real way to reach this far-flung atoll, ninety miles away from the Maldivian capital Male.
We boarded our Manta Air DHC-6 Twin Otter plane at Velana airport, where the Intercontinental has a smart lounge of its own. It was a lovely, clear day and the take-off on the water was very smooth. As we gained height travelling north, we could gaze down on islands which appeared as little circles, the dark blue water of the ocean encircling the shallow turquoise waters of the inhabitation, with its patch of green foliage, white sandy beach and the red tops of houses. Some islands seemed completely under water, whether naturally so or perhaps as a result of recent global warming.
If the take-off was smooth, the landing (forty minutes later) next to a small platform in the sea, a few hundred yards from shore, was equally exemplary. The eight of us were then ushered into a small boat and whisked the short distance across to the island’s arrival jetty and pavilion.
InterContinental Maldives Maamunagau Resort
Macer, our indefatigable guide and helper for the next three days, gave us a tour of the island in his buggy before depositing us at our overwater villa. The 81 villas are located in three distinct parts of Maamunagau island – the ‘mainland’, where they are hidden behind soaring palm trees and lush foliage, the tranquil lagoon in the middle, where shoals of beautiful fish swim in the azure waters, and then overwater villas stretching out into the ocean and reached by a wooden boardwalk.
We were in one of the latter, quite far out into the sea. Although we had neighbouring villas quite close, such is the design we felt completely secluded in our tropical retreat. We had a large, attractive, contemporary style open-plan room containing bedroom, sitting room and a bathroom at the far end, while outside there was a spacious deck with pool and steps down into the sea.
A bottle of Champagne and some little cakes were a nice introductory touch. The bed, with lovely feather pillows, was extremely comfortable – and for us bibliophiles, the reading lights on either side were most welcome. We didn’t get to use the roll top bath but the walk-in shower was excellent.
At night after dining on the ‘mainland’ we might get a buggy home, but we liked to stroll around the island soaking up the warmth, often stopping at the lagoon for a read under the shade or a swim across its crystalline waters.
Dining at the InterContinental Maldives Maamunagau Resort
Some exercise was vital as the food options at the InterContinental Maldives Maamunagau Resort are many, varied and of high quality. Breakfast was at Umi, the all-day dining restaurant, and the buffet on offer here was quite extraordinary. Fruit, cheese, muesli and granola, pastries and breads of every description, waffles and pancakes – and South Asian offerings like Maldivian tuna curry and Sri Lankan hoppers. And much more!
On our first night, for dinner we headed to the Fish Market restaurant which specialises in South Asian seafood, where we enjoyed a crispy sesame baby octopus and squid, followed by steamed reef fish in black bean sauce. Equally satisfying was our visit the following night to The Lighthouse – not a real one but a pretty good imitation, an imposing blue and white structure out in the sea with the dining room at the top offering superb, 360-degree views of the resort and the ocean beyond.
Here the accent is more on Mediterranean dishes, so we had a celeriac-hazelnut-truffle soup, followed by a delicious oxtail tortellini.
InterContinental Maamunagau Spa
The resort is family-friendly and there is a Kids Club, but also a bar/dining-room area named The Retreat for adults only, and we had a couple of light lunches there. Elsewhere on the mainland there’s a gym, clearly well-stocked with all the latest equipment, and a yoga pavilion. There’s also a mosque.
A real treat was the visit to the AVI (it means ‘sunshine’) Spa, situated near the Lighthouse end of the ‘mainland’, overwater with six thatched treatment rooms. Here to the sound of the gentle lapping of the waves and some floaty music, we were ministered to by Nita and Nicky, who left us relaxed and rejuvenated after expert, hour-long massages.
The IHG group has over 6,000 hotels spread over 100 countries, but this is its first in the Maldives. From our perspective, it has certainly succeeded admirably in making it a relaxed, stimulating experience for guests. Our guide Macer couldn’t do enough for us, and the staff everywhere – at reception, in the bars and restaurants – were uniformly friendly and helpful.
Our return seaplane flight to Male was just as smooth, then it was onwards to Colombo in Sri Lanka, and from there the long flight back to the UK. Just three nights in the tropical haven but plenty of memories to take into the winter nights – especially of that stunning black fish in the ocean’s depths.
InterContinental Maldives Maamunagau Resort
Intercontinental Maldives Maamunagau resort price starts from $991 ++ in an Overwater Sunrise Pool villa including breakfast for two. For more information on Intercontinental Maldives Maamunagau resort with club benefits – ihg hotel, go to www.maldives.intercontinental.com.
All images unless stated provided by either Roger and Eileen or from Intercontinental Maldives Maamunagau.