Where are the best liveaboard destinations to dive with manta rays?

The Maldives (Hanifaru and Baa Atoll), Socorro in Mexico, Komodo, Raja Ampat and Yap. Each has a distinct season and a different manta experience.

Manta encounters split into two very different experiences: reef mantas at cleaning stations and feeding aggregations, and oceanic mantas — the giants — in open water.

For reef mantas in numbers, the Maldives is unmatched. Baa Atoll's Hanifaru Bay hosts feeding aggregations from May to November that can put dozens of animals in one small bay, and cleaning stations across the atolls deliver reliable encounters year round. Komodo's Karang Makassar, known as Manta Point, runs a similar cleaning-station show, best from December to February. Raja Ampat's Manta Sandy and Blue Magic add mantas to arguably the richest reef biodiversity on Earth, peaking December to March.

For oceanic mantas, Socorro in the Revillagigedo archipelago is the world's best. These are 5 to 7 metre animals that actively seek out divers, hover in the bubbles and hold eye contact, and the season runs November to May. Yap in Micronesia offers year-round reef manta diving in channels with a smaller, more intimate crowd.

Etiquette matters everywhere: stay low, do not chase, do not touch, keep bubbles away from the animal's belly, and let the manta come to you. Every one of these destinations has damaged sites where divers did the opposite.