The Maldives’s biodiversity makes it a dream destination for divers. These healthy waters house everything from pelagics like mantas to micro nudibranchs, and resorts around the country are rolling out experiences that let divers contribute to preserving to the health of this marine ecosystem while they explore it.

1. Six Senses Laamu

Six Senses Laamu is home to the Maldives Underwater Initiative, one of the country's largest resort-based marine biology teams. This group is stacked with marine biologists and partners from Manta Trust, Blue Marine Foundation, and the Olive Ridgley Project. Years of research by MUI’s team provided enough evidence to establish six official Marine Protected Areas in Laamu Atoll.

Guests can explore the resort's local manta point, Hithadhoo Corner, with Manta Trust. Your pre-dive briefing from a researcher will address how to interact with and identify a manta, as well as how to take the perfect shot you can contribute to the photo database the trust uses to estimate population sizes. Guests interested in knowing even more can earn a PADI Maldivian Manta Ray Conservation Speciality with Deep Blue Divers, Six Senses' on-site dive center.

2. Gili Lankanfushi

The Gili Veshi - Marine Biology Shack at Gili Lankanfushi lets divers contribute to its coral nursery. Low tech, high efficiency is the motto here: Coral grafts live and grow on simple ropes for a year before they are replanted on One Palm Island Reef close to the resort, where over 300 lines of coral fragments have been outplanted since 2014.

Guests can donate a coral line and put it together with the help of the overseeing marine biologist. Those who free dive can even take it to the nursery. Donors can keep an eye on how their coral babies are doing in kindergarten through quarterly updates on the growth of their outplant.

3. Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi

Coralarium, a restorative sculpture by marine artist Jason deCaires Taylor, breaks the surface at Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi. Stretching from the lagoon to the sky, it forms a symbolic bridge: we are all connected to the ocean.

Taylor created the first structures in 2018 from non-toxic materials designed to facilitate coral growth. More than 500 ceramic starfish cover the structures, attracting fish and coral larvae. Passing years have turned it into a living, evolving home to an abundance of marine life. Divers and snorkelers alike can explore his masterpiece with a marine biologist, and plant their own corals to help the Coralarium flourish further.

4. The Nautilus

The season for manta magic is upon Baa Atoll. From May to November, manta rays aggregate here in huge numbers for a feast, also known as cyclone feeding. Hanifaru Bay is one of the only places in the world where you can witness this spectacle up close.

For this year's season, the Nautilus has launched The Manta Ray Symposium with their dive center, AquaNautica, and an expert marine biologist. Before you take the plunge for this snorkel-only experience, the Nautilus team will share their expertise about mantas—how they live, feed and breed—and Hanifaru Bay park rangers will demonstrate in the water how to interact with the mantas without disturbing them.

Mind you, this is not your average snorkel experience: Nautilus will take you on their private yacht where, after watching mantas indulge in plankton, you can indulge in cocktails.

For an almost guaranteed sighting, you should book your excursion during full or new moon. The guides will also show you how to make the most of these photo-ops, so don't forget your GoPro.

5. Baros

Baros is home to the first EcoDive Center in the Maldives certified by the international NGO Reef Check and a PADI 5 Star Gold Member. Opened since 1979, it works to create awareness, monitor and maintain healthy reefs, and inspire guests to interact responsibly with the ocean and its inhabitants.

One of the conservation highlights at Baros is their coral restoration program. Guests have the option to sponsor a coral and even plant it themselves. Diving is optional as the small corals are planted in shallow water, accessible by snorkeling.

To forgo harmful materials and more plastic waste, Baros invited a signature coral cube in 2021. These cubes are made from an innate cement and water mix and are molded into a wooden box. Small coral branches are fixed onto the cubes and find a new home in the waters around the resort island.

6. Amilla

Conservation starts small at Amilla—or rather, it starts with their small guests. Their dive center offers the Bubble Maker for children as young as 8 and its own "Mini Marine Biologist" program. Across seven sessions, young water lovers are introduced to the oceans, the coral reefs, jellyfish, turtles, and sharks throughout different activities. Programs are suitable for children from 5 years and can be tailored to older kids as well. For each session they will earn a badge to become a full-fledged Mini Marine Biologist at the end.

Adults guests can learn about the local waters from the resort’s resident marine biologist, there collects manta and turtle identification for Manta Trust and the Olive Ridley Project. Needless to say, this doesn't all happen on dry land; scuba divers can sign up for dives in Amilla’s lively house reef and all around the Baa Atoll UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve from the resort’s PADI 5 Star Dive Center.

Conservation starts small at Amilla—or rather, it starts with their small guests. Not only does their dive center offer the Bubble Maker for children as young as 8 but also its own resident marine biologist runs a "Mini Marine Biologist" program too. Across seven sessions, young water lovers are introduced to the oceans, the coral reefs, jellyfish, turtles, and sharks via various different activities. Programs are suitable for children from 5 years and can be tailored to older kids as well. After each session they earn a badge towards becoming a full-fledged Mini Marine Biologist, and upon completion they are presented with a certificate and white tailed tropic bird backpack (a resplendent resident seabird at Amilla).