Sunlight On Water — Attraction in Hawaii

SUNLIGHT & WATER are a professional, personable, & caring tour boat company providing the BEST Manta Ray snorkeling experience! This might be the BEST Kona, Hawaii tour experience EVER! First, understand that there are other companies that advertise this tour but after our research & in talking with others, only SUNLIGHT & WATER delivers the best and most comprehensive MANTA RAY snorkeling experience you want. Let me explain why you want Sunlight & Water. Captain Travis maintains an outstanding boat that comfortably accommodates customers & crew. There are containers to keep your belongings dry and a bathroom. It smoothly cuts through the water for even the most sensitive water wary. The Captain is friendly, knowledgeable & communicates what’s going on all the time. Alyssa & Káole pamper & take care of ALL your individual needs. A variety of free snacks & beverages are provided on the way out of the harbor to the manta sight Gear is like new and the best I’ve ever used on any tour or rental and includes wetsuit, mask, & easy-clear snorkel. It’s a short 20 minute smooth ride to the site, arriving 30 minutes before sunset. The site is only ~100 yards off shore & situated on a ledge between 15 & 30 feet of water. The ‘big show’ doesn’t start until the sun goes down and for those who want to, they can freely snorkel about for ~30 min, while the crew gets the “platform” ready. The platform is a floatation station with rope handles equally spaced around the perimeter for people to hold on to. On the bottom are bright lights—1000’s of lumens, that illuminate the plankton & serve to “call” the manta rays. The entire time, the crew is in the water checking with everyone. It’s comforting to see the emphasis on safety & participant’s comfort in & out of the water. A number of people did not snorkel & stayed on the boat to observe, and later excitedly reported they could easily see the manta rays. It was a beautiful sunset as the sun lazily slipped below the horizon. As the clouds turned golden orange & the sky darkened, Alyssa & Káole gathered the group around the platform and got everyone laying horizontally in the water, which was easily accomplished given the buoyancy of the wetsuits & the assistance of a pool noodle. Manta Rays were already ascending from the depths, gliding slowly and effortlessly—mouths open wide, to collect the plankton illuminated by the bright lights. The Manta Ray swam feet—sometimes only inches, away from the awestruck snorkelers floating on the edge of platform. A couple of times they brushed my stomach! We watched the Manta Rays—as many as 9, in different waves of 2 to 4 at a time, for nearly AN HOUR! The biggest was 12-14 feet wide. Others, 4 -6 feet wide. The Kona Manta Rays, we were told, are the only ones that barrel roll as they feed, and we watched a ballet as 2 or three at a time would gracefully intertwine their loops as they glided up, rolled over and descended. This was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen! Afterwards, Alyssa & Káole shepherded us all back to the boat where we were greeted by a quick, warm shower & a choice of hot beverages & snacks, for the quick ride back to port.

THANK YOU SUNLIGHT & WATER!! Your Kona, Hawaii Manta Ray snorkeling experience...

tl;dr Manta rays themselves are awesome to see regardless of which tours you go with. Sunlight on Water's operational flaws completely undermined their awesomeness.

It seems like a lot - if not most/all - of the tour companies hang out around the same spot, near the Sheraton Kona Resort. We were able to see 4 manta rays swim around feeding on plankton, but there's no reason for me to believe that this is a unique experience for Sunlight on Water. It seems to me that as long as you're in the area, you'll be fine.

The factors that do set the difference between different tour companies come down to quality of 1) boat ride to the (once again, common) snorkel spot, 2) equipment provided, and 3) instruction / guidance. Sunlight failed on all 3.

1 - Sunlight launches from Konokohau Harbor - a 45 minute ride away from snorkel spot. Riding on a boat might be cool for the first 5 minutes, but with a captain that likes racing other boat, almost intentionally chasing waves and bumps to "add excitement" (as admitted by one of the crew members), by the time we get to the snorkel spot, we found ourselves encumbered by sea sickness and lost appetite for water.

2 - Despite advertising prescription masks, hot showers, hot chocolate, the boat had none. They had a very limited amount of prescription masks available and by the time my group was served, the mask closest to our requested prescription they could offer was 2.0 away.

3 - Most disappointingly, the crew was rude and really took the magic away from the experience. Our lead instructor, Andy, consistently carried a tone of annoyance and made us feel like we were a bother to him ("Don't you DARE lose your noodle", "What did I say? Why don't you have your mask ready yet?") His inability to convey precise and accurate instructions often left us confused about what exactly we should do, or perhaps more accurately, how to avoid further anger from him ("YOU! TWO HANDS! RIGHT HERE!" in the middle of the ocean while we're still adjusting to the water is not going to get the message across no matter how good we're listening). The two issues compounding made us feel unsafe and afraid to ask for help when it's necessary. On top of all this, the constant loud disagreements between the Captain and Andy really did not add to the little confidence I had.

The only redeeming factor in our tour with Sunlight is the other accompanying instructor, Kyle (apologies for misremembering your name). He is full of passion for ocean and for life, caring and kind in assistance. He genuinely cared for our enjoyment on the trip, unlike the two other crew members who seem like they're just trying to get by with doing the minimum so that they can go home. Thank you Kyle - for sprinkling a bit of Aloha Spirit on this tour! We had a great time chatting with you and learning about the...

We went to see manta rays twice in a week but failed to see any. They first said the rate that we are able to see manta is about 95%, then they change it to 90%. First time we went and waited for almost an hour and half on the boat and there were no manta rays coming. The waves were pretty high that day. We got sea sick for waiting too long on the boat. They have no sea sick medicine on the boat, you have to order it 24hrs before departure online or call them. So we had back, total tour is about 3hours. Second time (2 days later) we went, the water is pretty clam and nice. We waited for 40mins until sunset for manta to come and I stayed in the water for almost 1 hour. All I see is manta rays’s food (fish). It is really tired to hold the handle in the water for such a long period of time. It takes strength and patience to endure currents while keep your body floating on water. The other boat is lucky and they saw two manta rays. But none came to our boat. I understand they are wild animals that we have no control over them. However, I think it might be something to do with the light of our floats. Other company offer white lights that are brighter than ours. Sunlight offers darker blue lights. I wouldn’t recommend you to take this tour unless your are prepared to go more than once and won’t be disappointed if you don’t see any manta rays after staying in water for such a long time. I believe it will be pretty cool if you actually see manta. They do have 100% guarantee policy, if you did not see any manta rays you can come back for another trip but no refund. However, they will not allow you to book another tour in 24 hours ( for the next day). The next day you have to call them to arrange another tour and they might not have a space available on that day or later. Although you can come back for another tour, it is not guaranteed that you will see manta rays. I think the successful rate to see manta is about 50%. If you choose to go on this tour make sure to bring warm cloth with a hood as it will become a bit chilly and windy on the way back. We stayed on the big island for 5 days and this tour has taken us too much time about 3-4 hours each tour. We had to drive from Hilo to Kona which is another 3hours round trip. If you are staying for a short period of time in the big island. Then be mindful that this tour might be...