The cleaning stations for mantas can be found at Manta Point in the center west side of Ari Atoll.
| Name Dive Site: | Manta Point |
| Depth: | 10-30m (32-98ft) |
| Inserted/Added by: | villa_diving |
| Rated: | Rated 2.0, 3 votes |
| Specifications: |   |
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Manta Point is famous for the many manta ray encounters divers have logged here, especially during the northeast monsoon season. This outside reef rises from a sandy bottom at 30m to the top reef at around 10m which serves as cleaner station platform for these graceful giants. Mantas come in from the deep, then circle or hover over the cleaner station to benefit from the services cleaner wrasses provide. These busy little fish pluck parasites and dead skin cells of the grateful mantas. Patient divers who remain quiet and don't touch or swim after the mantas are often able to observe this ritual up close.
The site offers many other highlights. The reef wall is home to oriental sweetlips, friendly napoleonfish and big schools of snappers while white tip reef sharks rest or swims around the large sandy section at about 25m. You will see many different moray eels and octopuses on the open reef, and scan the blue for barracuda, jacks or even whale sharks. At the north-west tip you can explore a series of large cave at various depths. Many of them are elaborately embellished with powder blue soft corals, sea fans and wire corals. Lionfish, marbled groupers and other species often hide out in the dark recesses.
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