Go Beyond the Usual Luxuries

With so much comfort and beauty as your base, the Maldives is a place to try new things

- BETSY ANDREWS

SLEEK, BLACK, AND DIAMOND-SHAPED, they glided on nine-foot wings, mouths agape, below me. The reef manta rays had congregated in Hanifaru Bay, a shallow inlet in the Baa Atoll, and were spiraling in a cyclone formation to feed. They are one of the reasons the Maldives (#1 Island, Africa & the Indian Ocean) is such a spectacular destination for the style of tourism I love to do, which requires a wetsuit and fins. It doesn't hurt that this nation of 1,192 islands in the Indian Ocean is also home to the seventh-largest and fifth-most-diverse coral reef on the planet.

From May to November, when the southwest monsoon blows Saharan sand into the Indian Ocean, minerals from the desert nourish microscopic phytoplankton. At night, when zooplankton rise from the ocean floor to feed on phytoplankton, lunar tides push the minuscule animals into the bay, luring hundreds of rays. In 2011, Baa Atoll became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, which placed its natural resources under international protection.

I was staying at Finolhu, A Seaside Collection Resort, a serene 125-villa property on one of the 75 islands that make up Baa Atoll. Ivanna Tobar, the resort's on-staff marine biologist (many properties in the archipelago have them), gave us the lowdown as we approached the bay: “No boats are allowed inside, so we have to swim in. We get 45 minutes, then we have to come out.” Biosphere rangers would be in the water to ensure we didn’t misbehave. “No chasing, no touching, and absolutely no riding the mantas. This is a serious offense, okay?”