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Manta
Ray Night Dive and Snorkel
Visitors to the Kona Coast of the Big Island have an opportunity to participate in one of the most unique ocean adventures in the world! Manta rays frequent the warm waters of the rocky volcanic coastline in search of plankton, their primary food source. With their giant mouths constantly open, they glide through the water and filter these tiny creatures. There is one particular spot close to the Kona airport where mantas congregate in the early evening, and after dark they are attracted to lights that are placed on the bottom of the ocean in about 30 feet of water. These lights attract clouds of tiny plankton, and the plankton attracts the mantas. These giant rays gracefully glide, twirl, and do somersaults to swoop up the tiny little food particles, sometimes within a foot or so of the observers! You too can witness these spectacular ocean creatures in their magical underwater ballet in an event you’ll never forget!
You don’t have to be a certified diver to see the manta rays; this event is equally good for snorkelers. Check in for this event is at the dive shop at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Hotel about 10 minutes south of downtown Kailua-Kona. Clients from the Waikoloa area can meet at the tour operator’s facility that is just north of downtown Kailua-Kona. Check in is around 4pm, and the tour typically concludes around 10pm. The charter is done on board a 34’ powered catamaran with a maximum capacity of 18 guests.
About the Manta Rays
Manta rays are shy, harmless, and graceful. They don’t have any stinging spines on their tail. They don’t bite or chew. Their mouths are designed like a giant funnel to filter plankton; swimming with them is completely safe for both humans and for the mantas. They truly are gentle giants; most of the mantas found along the Kona coast have a “wingspan” of 8-13 feet!
The manta ray encounters along the Kona coast began back in the early 70’s; a hotel called the “Kona Surf” had bright lights that shined into the ocean and mantas were attracted almost nightly. Scuba operators began doing night dives. While the location gave a reliable chance to see manta rays, the spot was not very protected from ocean swells and sometimes the area would be too rough to dive or snorkel.
In 1999 the Kona Surf Hotel closed and the lights were turned off. The manta rays found a new spot to congregate in a bay near the Kona airport where plankton concentrated in the late afternoon sun. This is the spot where most mantas are now going on a nightly basis, and this bay offers a much more protected location from ocean swells. This bay is inaccessible from shore, and access requires a boat ride of about 25-30 minutes from the harbor that is just north of downtown Kailua-Kona.
Information for Divers
A two-tank evening dive is available to certified divers. The rate is $135 per person and includes a handheld light, towels, and a light evening meal between dives. Full gear rental including wetsuit and BC is available for an additional $30. The first dive is done just prior to dusk, and mantas are sometimes encountered during the initial dive. Next you’ll watch a famous Kona sunset and enjoy a deli sandwich while you prepare for the main event. The second dive is after dark. Divers adopt a comfortable sitting position near the brilliant lights that have been placed on the bottom, and watch the spectacle unfold! As you hold your light upwards it will attract plankton and the mantas will swim all around you.
Information for Snorkelers
This event isn’t just for divers! Snorkelers can float at the top and watch the action below. The bright lights that you hold in your hand and shine downward will attract plankton, and the manta rays will swoop up from the deeper water. They often come within inches of you and do a flip as they scoop the plankton out of the water.
The cost for snorkelers is $105 per person and this includes your wetsuit, snorkel gear, handheld light, towels, and a light evening meal while you watch the sunset. Mantas are sometimes seen during the first snorkel before sunset, or there is excellent reef nearby for you to enjoy. The second snorkel is after dark, and you’ll float at the surface above the divers who are sitting on the bottom. The scene looks like something out of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” with the bright lights attracting a host of tiny fish as well as the giant mantas. When two or three snorkelers get together and hold their lights close together, the mantas sometimes spend more time at the surface than at the bottom!
The wetsuit that is provided for snorkelers will do two things for you. First, it will help keep you warm since you are snorkeling after dark. Second, it will help you float. Even if you aren’t a good swimmer, you won’t have any problems floating around at the top while wearing a wetsuit.
Rates quoted above do not include the 4.1667% state sales tax, $4pp fuel surcharge, and $4.65 harbor fee that will be added to the cost of all reservations. All divers must be certified. Minimum age for snorkelers is 6, but parents should use their own discretion for any children under 12. "Ride Alongs" are charged the same rate as snorkelers.
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CRUISE
SHIP PASSENGERS |
The Manta Ray event is not
available for cruise ship passengers unless your cruise ship is on a rare itinerary that spends the night in Kona.
ACTIVITY
TIPS
My wife and I recently did this adventure for the first time, and we are now excited to offer it to our clients. In my opinion this is one of the most unique adventures in Hawaii and it falls at the very top of my “don’t miss it” list.
Witnessing manta rays in the wild is a rare treat that can only be done in a few places in the world. The success rate for sighting mantas is incredibly high; somewhere in the 80-85% range. The night that my wife and I did this tour there were 13 mantas, but it seemed like there were far more than that. They kept dancing and gliding from every direction the entire hour we were in the water.
While the success rates are very high, there is no way to guarantee sightings every single night. The tour operators can’t offer refunds when the mantas don’t show up; their costs for operating the tour are fixed. They will do their very best to find mantas for you though. In cases where no mantas come to the site, the divers will do a regular night dive and observe eels, octopus, and other interesting nocturnal critters.
The experience for snorkelers would be a bit of a let-down if mantas don’t show up; night snorkeling isn’t as good as night diving. My advice though is to not let this discourage you; the opportunity to swim with mantas and the high success rate makes it completely worthwhile. If you sign up for this tour you have a high probability of swimming with mantas. If you don’t sign up for this tour you have no chance of swimming with mantas. Sign up for the tour, then be nice to everyone and build up some positive karma in the weeks leading up to the event!
We use a premium dive shop for this tour. Bottomtime Hawaii is a first-class operation in every way! When we did this tour there was one noticeable difference between us and the other snorkelers who came on other boats. We had better gear. This GREATLY enhanced our direct experience with the manta rays. The handheld lights that were supplied to us were FAR brighter (and more expensive) which caused greater concentrations of plankton in front of our lights. This in turn led to far more close encounters with the mantas. We even found that people from other tours were “hanging around us” because our lights were working better than theirs.
Please note that touching the mantas is not allowed. They have a protective slime coat that keeps them safe from infection and disease, and for the health of the mantas they should not be petted at all. Resist the temptation, even though they are only inches away. Divers stay on the bottom; snorkelers float at the top. All the space in between is allotted for the mantas to conduct their graceful maneauvers.
If snorkeling at night is not your thing, you might be able to see manta rays from an observation deck at the Sheraton Keauhou Resort. This is the remodeled “Kona Surf Hotel” that has reopened within the last few years and they are shining lights into the ocean once again. The majority of mantas are happy at the airport location, but one or two mantas are often seen swimming around at the Sheraton these days. Watching a manta from this deck isn’t quite the same as being in the water with them, but it’s a thrill nonetheless, and at the Sheraton you can watch them while sipping on a $12 Mai Tai!
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