When the mantas arrive

The cleaning station is a single coral head about the size of a car, forty minutes north of the island. From November to April reef mantas queue above it while small wrasse pick them clean.

We take eight guests at a time. You slip into the water up-current, float on the surface and keep your arms folded. The mantas decide how close the encounter is, and it is usually closer than you expect.

Our marine biologist, Riya, photographs the belly of every animal. The spots are unique, like fingerprints, and the island's catalogue now holds 212 individuals. If you photograph a new one, you name it.

The best weeks are late January to mid March, on the days around the full moon.