Where mantas fly.
Reethi Resort is a place of pure immersion, where a private coral island in the Baa Atoll opens onto some of the richest waters on Earth. Turquoise shallows give way to a house reef alive with colour, and just beyond it, the open channel where manta rays gather by the hundred, drawn to a bay so extraordinary it carries UNESCO protection of its own.
Over five days on this private island in the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, our freediving retreat unfolds as a steady progression from arrival into open water. The first day is about settling in, welcome refreshments, an optional swim on the house reef, and an evening circle under the stars as the group comes together. Day two opens with yoga and breathwork, stretching and breathing techniques built for freediving, followed by shallow water breath holds before the first rope session in the afternoon and a look around the manta cleaning stations.
From there, the days turn toward Hanifaru Bay itself, mornings spent exploring the bay and its surrounds by boat, alternating between searching for manta activity and deep rope drift dives off the buoys, each day going a little further and a little deeper as comfort in the water builds. Evenings bring the group back together over shared dinners, quiet after full days in the sun and salt. On the final morning, an optional sunrise meditation on the beach closes the retreat gently, before breakfast at leisure and departure.
PRIVATE ISLAND BLISS
Reethi is a private island retreat where jewel-toned water surrounds you on every side, and the ocean is never more than a few steps from wherever you’re standing.
Set within the Baa Atoll, one of the most protected and biodiverse marine environments in the Indian Ocean, the island moves at the pace of the tides, days spent in and around the water, evenings unwinding over shared meals as the sun sets. It isn’t just a place to stay near the ocean, it’s a place to live inside it, close to the reef, the manta rays, and the rhythm of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that exists to protect exactly what draws us here.
Small Groups, Deep Dives
This OCEAN TRAVEL journey is intentionally kept small, creating space for real progress in the water and real attention from your guides. Sessions are built around the rope, breathwork and lung stretching in the mornings, rope freediving and drift diving off the buoys through the day, so that by the final Hanifaru Bay sessions, the group is diving deeper and more comfortably than when they arrived.
Hanifaru Bay
Hanifaru Bay has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve site since 2011, protecting one of the only places on Earth where manta rays gather in such numbers to feed. Access is deliberately restricted, only a handful of boats permitted in the bay at any one time, always kept a respectful distance from the mantas. Our days here follow the mantas’ own rhythm, alternating between exploring the surrounding cleaning stations and deep rope drift dives off the buoys, depending on where the activity is that day.
Life Just Below the Surface
Beyond the mantas, the Baa Atoll rewards patience. Turtles that have foraged the same lagoon for decades, reef sharks working the shallows at dusk, and a house reef so close to shore you can reach it on a single breath from your first afternoon on the island. It’s this density of life, the mantas, the reef, the turtles, the depth, that makes Reethi one of the very few places where a freediver can move from a gentle shallow-water breath-hold session to an open-ocean manta encounter within a single, short retreat.
2026 DEPARTURES
14 – 19 September 2026 / 4 Days, 3 Nights · Reethi Resort, Baa Atoll by NH Collection
Limited Availability
