The moment a manta ray glides overhead, almost no diver can keep their excitement in check. But that one impulse to chase after it might be exactly what sends it fleeing. Marine conservation organisation Manta Trust has released the sustainable tourism guide at swimwithmantas.org, distilling the experience of swimming with mantas into 10 steps — covering how to enter the water, how many metres to keep, and where to position yourself at a cleaning station. The Editor breaks down all ten steps here, and tells you how to grab the free Traditional Chinese PDF to save on your phone, ready to use on your next dive trip abroad.
The Editor has to be honest: the moment you encounter a manta ray underwater is genuinely one of those "achievement unlocked" moments for any diver. Watching a creature with a wingspan that can exceed 4 m glide right over your head is enough to bring tears to your eyes.
But here's the thing — at many popular manta ray tourism hotspots, the biggest headache these days isn't whether the mantas are there. It's the people. Twenty snorkellers jumping off a boat all at once, someone unable to resist reaching out for a touch, someone else chasing the perfect photo and refusing to stop — and the next thing you know, the manta has turned around and vanished, leaving everyone staring at bubbles for the rest of the afternoon.
Manta Trust, the world's leading manta ray conservation organisation, recognised this problem and compiled over a decade of scientific and industry observations into a formal "Code of Conduct" for swimming with mantas. They built a dedicated website — swimwithmantas.org — with the goal of ensuring that everyone lucky enough to get close to these gentle giants knows how to do it right.
A freediver in the Maldives observes a manta ray from a respectful distance — low profile, not blocking its path. That's exactly the right posture. Photo credit: Simon Hilbourne / Manta Trust
Who Is Manta Trust, and What Does This Dedicated Website Do?
Manta Trust is a globally renowned marine conservation organisation headquartered in the UK, with research bases spanning manta ray hotspots including the Maldives, Indonesia, and Mexico. Their most celebrated achievement is building the world's largest individual manta ray identification database at Hanifaru Bay in the Maldives.
swimwithmantas.org is Manta Trust's dedicated sustainable tourism platform, with one purpose: to bring divers, snorkellers, and operators all under the same set of rules. The site centres on three things:
- Code of Conduct: how to move around mantas in the water, how far to keep your distance, and what not to do
- Responsible Operator Directory: a global list of dive shops and tour companies that have committed to conservation standards and undergone relevant training
- Educational Resources: instructional videos, posters, and handbooks available for free download, for use by dive shops and tour operators in their outreach
What the Editor finds most valuable is that these guidelines aren't empty slogans dreamed up out of thin air. They are practical recommendations derived from years of on-the-ground scientific research by Manta Trust in the Maldives — research that identified exactly which human behaviours actually startle mantas away and cause cleaning stations to "shut down."
Hanifaru Bay in the Maldives is one of the world's most important manta ray feeding aggregation sites and Manta Trust's primary research base. Photo credit: Simon Hilbourne / Manta Trust
Snorkeller's Edition: 6 Steps for Swimming with Mantas (Steps 1–6)
If you're heading overseas on a snorkelling trip to see mantas, the first 6 steps are your absolute baseline — memorise every one of them.
Step 1 illustration: enter the water and maintain at least 10 m distance from the manta. Image credit: Manta Trust
Step 1 | Enter Quietly, at Least 10 m from the Manta
The second you hit the water is already critical. Slide gently in from the side of the boat — don't leap off the gunwale with a loud splash, and don't let a whole group enter at the same time. The very first rule is: enter the water at least 10 m (33 ft) away from the manta, giving it space and giving yourself time to settle down.
Step 2 | Keep Your Fins Submerged and Approach Quietly
While swimming, keep your fins fully submerged at all times — no splashing them at the surface. The Editor repeats this every single time before leading a group into the water, because the slapping sound of fins at the surface is an enormous disturbance to marine life below. Silence is what draws them closer — that is the golden rule of manta ray tourism.
Step 3 illustration: maintain a 3 m distance and let the manta decide whether to approach. Image credit: Manta Trust
Step 3 | Stay Outside 3 m — Let the Manta Come to You
The moment most people spot a manta, they want to sprint toward it for a closer shot. Wrong! Keep at least 3 m (10 ft) of distance, float quietly at the surface, and let the manta decide whether it wants to approach.
The Editor can vouch for this from personal experience: the calmer you are, the more curious they become. Stop moving and you'll often find yourself surrounded by three or four mantas taking turns to inspect you — a scene that beats anything you'd get by charging after them, by a factor of a hundred.
Step 4 | Approach from the Side, Not Head-On
If you do move toward the manta, remember: approach from the side, leaving a clear path ahead of it. Approaching head-on is essentially telling it "road blocked, please reverse," while chasing from directly behind just gives you a tail view — not particularly rewarding.
Step 5 illustration: when the manta swims past you, do not give chase — you will never catch it. Image credit: Manta Trust
Step 5 | When a Manta Passes By, Do Not Chase It
This is the rule most people break. When a manta glides past you, the adrenaline spikes instantly and your legs are already kicking before you've thought about it. The Editor will just say this: you will never catch it. A full-grown manta cruises at around 9 km/h and can burst far faster when it needs to. All you'll do is spook it — and everyone else in the group loses their encounter too.
Step 6 | Never Touch a Manta
Mantas have a mucus layer on their skin that protects them from parasites and infection. That one touch doesn't just ruin the experience for everyone — it can strip away that protective mucus and make the animal sick. More practically speaking, touching mantas is illegal in many of the destinations where they are found (including the Maldives, Indonesia, and parts of the Philippines), and you can be fined on the spot. One touch can cost the manta its health and cost you your wallet. Not worth it.
Staying to the side, keeping your distance, not giving chase — that's what earns you an experience like this. Photo credit: Simon Hilbourne / Manta Trust
Scuba Diver Add-On: Don't Barge into the Cleaning Station (Steps 7–10)
If you're a scuba diver, the final 4 steps are especially important — because scuba divers almost always encounter mantas at a cleaning station.
Step 7 illustration: a cleaning station is the manta's grooming time — divers stay on the perimeter to observe and do not swim into the main cleaning zone. Image credit: Manta Trust
Step 7 | Stay on the Edges of a Cleaning Station — Do Not Enter the Main Cleaning Zone
A cleaning station is a specific small area on the reef where cleaner fish (such as the bluestreak cleaner wrasse) remove parasites from the manta's body. For the manta, this is the most important "grooming session" of the day.
If you find a manta at a cleaning station, your job is to stay on the perimeter and observe — absolutely do not swim into the centre of the main cleaning zone. The moment you move in, the cleaner fish scatter, the manta turns and leaves, and the whole ecological mini-drama comes to an abrupt end.
Step 8 illustration: maintain a low profile close to the reef — but take care not to damage the coral below you. Image credit: Manta Trust
Step 8 | Stay Low and Close to the Reef — But Don't Break the Coral
Near a cleaning station, keep a low profile (trim flat, hovering close to the reef) to minimise visual disturbance to the manta. But maintain your neutral buoyancy — the Editor has seen too many divers try to stay low only to sweep their fins across a sea fan and snap it clean off. That is a genuine disaster. Some dive sites mark out designated observation zones for divers; please stay within them.
Step 9 | When a Manta Passes Over You, Don't Block Its Path — Just Stay Still
This is the most visually spectacular moment of all: you're lying low at the edge of the reef, and a manta glides directly over your head. For that instant, the whole world goes silent.
The only thing you need to remember: stay low, hold your position, and do not rise up to block its path. Let it continue along the route it has chosen — and it will come back next time.
Low profile, not blocking the path — that is the perfect posture for having a manta ray glide right over your head. Photo credit: Simon Hilbourne / Manta Trust
Step 10 | Follow All Additional Local Regulations at Each Dive Site
Different locations have their own specific rules. Hanifaru Bay in the Maldives limits the number of people allowed in the water at any one time. Raja Ampat in Indonesia prohibits the use of GoPro selfie sticks. Revillagigedo in Mexico restricts liveaboard group sizes. Each place is different. Ask your dive shop before you go, listen carefully to the briefing, and follow the local rules on the day. "We do it differently back home" is not an excuse.
Must-Read for Dive Operators: Download the Free Media Kit and Join the Global Responsible Operator Directory
The Editor particularly wants to reach out to all dive shops, dive instructors, liveaboards, and travel operators: Manta Trust has proactively made its Media Kit openly available, hoping that operators in the Chinese-speaking world will help carry this code of conduct to their clients. There are two concrete things you can do:
1. Register on the Official Website and Download the Traditional Chinese Media Kit for Free
Visit swimwithmantas.org/registration, fill in a brief registration form, and you'll receive a password to access the RESOURCES page. Inside you'll find the 10-Step Guide PDF in Traditional Chinese, posters, and promotional videos — all free to download.
Print the PDF and post it in your briefing area, walk clients through it before each trip, or slip it into a liveaboard welcome folder. Once you see how much effort it saves — chasing clients underwater to say "don't chase it, don't touch it" — you'll understand just how useful this guide is.
2. Apply to Become a Manta Trust Responsible Operator
The swimwithmantas.org site features a global Responsible Tour Operators directory listing dive centres and tour companies that have committed to conservation standards, support Manta Trust's scientific research, and have undergone relevant training.
This directory is an important reference for international travellers planning manta ray itineraries. If your dive shop runs manta ray programmes, the Editor strongly encourages you to apply for listing — not only so that clients can find you, but to earn your business a badge that says you stand accountable to the ocean. BlueTrend sincerely hopes to see more Chinese-speaking dive shops and liveaboards appearing on that list.
An oceanic manta ray (Mobula birostris) spotted in the waters of Fuvahmulah in the Maldives — with a wingspan that can exceed 7 m, these animals need even greater distances. Photo credit: Simon Hilbourne / Manta Trust
The Editor's Note: The Photo You Take Today Determines Whether the Next Person Gets to See a Manta Too
The Editor has always felt that what sets divers apart from ordinary tourists when observing large marine life is this: we know we cause disturbance, so we choose to approach with the smallest footprint possible.
Manta Trust's 10-step code may look straightforward on paper, but in practice, the number of people who follow it completely underwater is smaller than you'd expect. Next time you're abroad and you see someone in the group about to charge forward, about to reach out a hand — be the person who holds them back and says the word.
The ocean belongs to all of us. How you interact with a manta ray today determines whether the next diver, the next snorkeller, will ever get to see one here. The Editor believes that divers are the people closest to the sea — so let this code of conduct start with us.
A diver holds a low profile close to the reef, and the manta ray approaches on its own terms. Photo credit: Simon Hilbourne / Manta Trust
References and Sources
- Manta Trust, swimwithmantas.org
- Manta Trust, How to Swim with Mantas — 10-Step Guide
- Manta Trust official website, https://www.mantatrust.org
- All underwater photographs taken by Simon Hilbourne, shot in the Maldives, used with permission from Manta Trust
- Step illustration diagrams (Steps 1–9 line art) sourced from the official Traditional Chinese edition of the Manta Trust "How to Swim with Mantas — 10 Step Guide" PDF
※ The 10-step content in this article is adapted from the official Traditional Chinese edition of the Manta Trust "How to Swim with Mantas" PDF, rewritten and translated by the editorial team at BlueTrend. We gratefully acknowledge Manta Trust for permission to use the images.
