The Maldives resort where you can be happily busy

Creature comforts

Mantas are born 1.5 metres wide but can reach four metres across and live 40 years. They are endangered because they don’t mature quickly, give birth to only one pup and take five to seven years to produce another. Plus their gills are prized as a traditional, but illegal, medicine.

Each has unique markings, allowing the Trust to monitor and name them. Miss Chief is Haines’ favourite because of her reliability and she seems oblivious to our presence while we swim a respectful distance away.

“They don’t seem to be affected by tourism, they still feed and reproduce,” says Haines, who adds the Maldives has the world’s largest manta population, around 5,000. Nearby our resort is Hanifaru Bay, a real manta hotspot, where up to 200 can be seen in frenzied mass feeding during the south-west monsoon, from May to November.

Hanifaru Bay is a Unesco Biosphere Reserve, but the Maldives has in general been lax in safeguarding its environment – less than 1% is protected. However, there are plans for 25% of reefs, mangroves and sandbanks to be designated by the end of 2022.

Tougher protection means the InterContinental, which opened in September 2019, may not have gained planning permission today due to its proximity to the manta’s feeding grounds but, as a result of its Manta Trust partnership, the resort hopes to officially identify Maamunagau as a nursery. Unidentified mantas can be named and adopted by guests.

We end our morning on the boat with more snorkelling off an island resembling a tourist board poster. Floating over its coral reef we spy angel fish and other species normally seen in tropical tanks, plus others, like moray eel, usually encountered in aquariums.

Back on dry land at the InterContinental, I get on my bike – each guest has access to one – and explore the island.

Lap of luxury

There are several things that mark Maamunagau out as different. For a start there’s the lagoon, albeit artificial, but still frequented by eagle rays and harmless baby lemon sharks. Around it sit those overwater rooms for which the Maldives is renowned. The difference here is that some are two-storey, sleeping up to six adults and three children, while the most basic bungalows aimed at couples are, unusually, the resort’s entry level rather than premium rooms.

As this set up suggests, the higher-grade accommodation is something special. Vast beachfront villas were once the choice of Russian oligarchs, while others, set back from the beach and more private, are favoured by Middle East guests. Rates reach $9,000 a night for the Royal Villa, which has two outbuildings for relatives and personal staff.

For the rest of us, the resort has a package to make it easier on the wallet. This is the first all-Club InterContinental resort (giving guests extra privileges) and half-board includes free afternoon high tea and drinks from 5-7pm, allowing it to compete with rivals’ full-board rates.

Another difference is that the accommodation mix means families are catered for – there’s even a kids’ club – while in the evenings there’s occasional entertainment like guitar duos.

One highlight of my stay is a traditional Maldivian cooking class, where my Garudhiya hot tuna soup is judged by the head chef as too spicy even for him. Given the UK’s reputation for bland food, I’m quite proud. It takes place at The Lighthouse, a restaurant inside its namesake landmark.

Defying expectations

The spa is another treat, although I regret telling the masseuse not to spare me – this is as much a place to get pummelled as pampered. Now is a good time to send clients to Maamunagau, as few oligarchs are visiting and the hotel is keen to attract UK guests, with overtures being made to operators and agents. It’s as suited to a four-day honeymoon add-on as it is to a week’s ultra-luxury family stay.

It’s my first visit to the Maldives; the destination has not been on my wish list because I assumed there would be little to do, plus I’d be surrounded by loved-up couples. The InterContinental experience is different; in fact, staff members are considering giving guests an itinerary as there are so many options.

I can understand this; between hanging out with the marine life, shocking the chef and bluffing my way through a wine tasting, I never even get to visit the resort’s gym or yoga studio – where mantas give way to mantras – or to use a paddleboard or kayak. Somehow, I’m just too happily busy.

Book it: Trade-friendly No News No Shoes offers seven nights’ half-board in September 2022 from £3,764pp, based on two sharing an overwater pool villa with Etihad flights from Heathrow and seaplane transfers. Also included are Club InterContinental benefits, with daily afternoon tea from 3-5pm and aperitifs from 5-7pm.

• nonewsnoshoes.co.uk