Baa

ބ · B · Hanifaru Bay mantas

Baa is the atoll people fly to for one reason, and it is worth the flight: Hanifaru Bay, a UNESCO-designated marine protected area where reef manta rays gather to feed in numbers that occur almost nowhere else. The aggregation follows the lunar cycle through the southwest monsoon, roughly June to November, which means a resort’s own dive schedule matters more here than in any other atoll.

Dharavandhoo carries the domestic airport and the atoll’s cheapest beds. The resorts sit across the lagoon from it — some a ten-minute speedboat away, some a seaplane hop that costs more than two nights of the room. Entry to Hanifaru is controlled and snorkel-only: no scuba, no free diving.