Manta Rhei Dive Center — Attraction in Flores

I had an unbelievable time diving with Manta Rhei Dive Center in Komodo. Everything from start to finish was just spot on. Communication beforehand on email and WhatsApp was super smooth... helpful with accommodation, scooter info, and just getting to know more about Labuan Bajo overall.

And this needs to be said right away...if you're vegan or have dietary restrictions, this is an incredible dive shop to go with. They were super accommodating and made custom vegan meals for me and my friends for breakfast and lunch. Even checked in to see if we wanted something different from day to day. One day they made us cooked oats, the next was overnight oats... it was just really thoughtful and honestly rare to find when you’re diving in a remote place. This alone would make me come back.

We brought our own gear, but we got to check out the gear room and saw how well they took care of the gear. Really nice and new equipment. It was also just really nice to meet the staff each morning, have a chill vibe at the shop, then walk to the boat together.

The boat... wow. Big, comfortable, well laid out. Being on that boat all day while diving just made everything better. When you’re tired after dives, it’s such a bonus to have a relaxing place to hang out. The boat staff were amazing. super helpful, kind, and just easy to be around.

We dove with Goris for six days, 18 dives total. He was awesome. We're dive professionals ourselves, so it was great to be with another pro who really knows what he’s doing and takes care of the group underwater. He was INCREDIBLE at finding all the creatures (big and small), super safe and calm, and honestly just made the trip even better. We had some epic dives... mantas on almost every other dive, an eagle ray (bucket list!), and diving the Cauldron was just epic.

We usually dive in the Gilis, so getting a break and coming to Komodo was already a great move...but diving with Manta Rhei made it next level. If you're coming to Indonesia and plan on going to Komodo (which you should), dive with these guys and gal. Can't recommend...

We had a great time overall on our Discover Scuba package! The boat was clean, food was plentiful and crew worked well together and with us. We saw so much and the corals were beautiful, that made us happy since this is essentially our first time diving and being in the open water.

Deducting a point because some things could be improved. One was better communication between our dive leaders and us while underwater. We had our own divers to ourselves since there was only 2 of us which was perfect. But with each of us, they sometimes used different hand gestures. When we switched for example, I couldn’t understand one of the hand gestures at all. Consistency would be great for newbies since we aren’t so familiar or comfortable just yet. Especially when we’re down below and we could panic from miscommunication.

We also sometimes felt a bit rushed (again, communication). Sometimes we felt a bit anxious when something went wrong and wanted to take a bit more time to calm down at the surface before going back down. This had to be asked for sometimes and maybe it should have been a given for beginners. They did however understand in general that more time should be given to us in these situations but some reassurance that it was okay instead of telling us that we would enjoy our dive better if we relaxed would have been more helpful.

Lastly, we constantly had to check with them before diving if certain things were correctly inflated or put on. They and the crew definitely did help us to put everything on just would be nice for beginners to reassure us by doing one last check before every dive. We had to ask sometimes.

Besides that, we know they worked really hard so we aren’t faulting them too much. We did see a lot and enjoyed ourselves. We also think it was worthwhile for the price after seeing other operations out on the sea, we would recommend it still to...

My partner and I landed in Labuan Bajo and realized very quickly that there is absolutely no shortage of dive shops here! We visited several shops until finally coming across Manta Rhei. Being a very experienced diver I knew what I was looking for, and this shop checked all the boxes. They were very professional, operated a gorgeous dive boat, employed the friendliest/knowledgeable staff, and served awesome food. The owner Benny and his son were great! I could tell they took pride in their business and were really concerned about each and everyone’s experience. The gear we used was in great condition, well kept, and they were quick to make everything right for us. Our dive master, Fardin, was absolutely a blast diving with! He made us feel comfortable the whole time, and was very helpful guiding us through the dive sites like a true pro. Before one dive my partner was talking about wishing she could see a mandarin fish, and what do know, very shortly into the dive, I see Fardin eagerly looking through the corals, ring his bell, and give us the sign that he’s found one! We were both thoroughly impressed with Manta Rhei and their team, to the point we ended up going out with them for for a total of 15 dives during our visit to Komodo! If I visit Komodo again in the future, I’ll definitely be diving with Manta Rhei. Thank you for providing us with all the magical...