Manta Adventures Inc. — Local services in Hawaii

Captain Dan & Tanner at Manta Adventures truly went out of their way to ensure we had a great manta ray night snorkeling experience off Kona, Hawaii. Luckily, this tour starts much earlier that all the other manta ray snorkel tours so they get out to Garden Eel Cove off the airport first to get the prime mooring buoy. We had plenty of time to get in a leisurely snorkel during daylight, and enjoy fresh pineapple during the manta safety story while gearing up in the provided long-sleeve wetsuits. The crew were very attentive and knowledgeable with a definite safety focus to make everyone feel very comfortable. For the tour guests who were prone to sea sickness, the crew came prepared with plenty of local preventive remedies (various forms of ginger as I recall). The approach of Manta Adventures is clearly different than the chaos we observed with the late arriving snorkel boats that were scrambling to find mooring buoys in the dark or just dropping people in the water with the motors running. Since it does take a while after the underwater lights go on for the manta rays to appear, you really want to be the last in the water. Since many of the other manta ray tours were on tight schedules or didn't have a mooring buoy, their guests were dropped in the water early and were exposed to the boats motoring around. We saw a multi-engine boat backing up into the cove about 10 feet away from a large group of snorkelers to drop off it's 20 snorkelers. It was truly chaos and made us appreciate the safety approach of Manta Adventures. While we waited in the warm evening air onboard to wait for the mantas to appear under the combined boat and paddleboard underwater lighting systems, other tour company guests were already in the cold water waiting for 20 minutes. Once the mantas started arriving, we calmly entered the water. Even so, it still took another 20-30 minutes in the water until the manta rays started regularly coming by and then to perform their barrel-rolls. By the time the manta rays started their dance, many of the other tour companies had already collected their guests and departed in order to stay on schedule for the next night snorkel trip. The Manta Adventures staff was very patient and encouraging to wait out the manta rays until they started their feeding dance. Even so, I'd estimate that half of our group of snorkelers got cold within 15-20 minutes and got out of the water before the full show got going. We were in the cool water for about 45-50 minutes overall I'm guessing, but so worth it! Overall, we probably saw a half-dozen different manta rays ranging from 5-10 feet across. During the barrel-roll feeding frenzing, they would come right up to our chests before a looping dive back down to the 20 foot deep bottom. Reluctantly, we said goodbye to the still feeding mantas and got back on the boat to be greeted by the crew offering hot showers to warm our chilled bodies. We were the first snorkel boat to arrive at the cove, and now, looking around, we were the last snorkel boat to leave. After stripping out of the wetsuit, the crew offered us big warm cookies which were greatly appreciated during the quick ride back into harbor. I'd highly recommended Manta Ray Adventures for the best manta ray night snorkel tour in...

Ah where to begin... Trip started as expected in the evening with a quick fitting of wet suits and run down of expectations and boat protocols with the captain/crew. Thought it was odd that the captain stressed that under no circumstances would we be allowed to get into the water until he said we could, as in no free snorkeling. As promised, we were the first boat to the anchoring area and supposedly got the best spot. Then some pineapple was served and we waited. And waited. Meanwhile, the waves were coming in hot and people started to feel it. Other boats started showing up and people were jumping out and free snorkeling which I quickly began to become jealous of as the pineapple started to work it's way back up. The passengers on the boat started murmuring as to why we couldn't get into the water for some relief from the incessant sickness inducing rocking of the waves. We sat on the boat awaiting the go ahead to get in for roughly one hour, at which point numerous passengers were hurling their lunches into the scenic blue sea. Once in the water, the crew was top notch getting each passenger set up perfectly for the Manta to come. When the rays did start coming to feed it was truly a once in a lifetime experience getting to see them within inches of our faces, some with wingspans of over 15 feet. It was breathtaking. But then. I heard commotion above water and when I lifted up my head I was shocked to see that the man across from me had passed out and a member of the crew was swimming him back to the boat (he came to and was fine). Then, to my horror, I realized the man had thrown up in the water and I was surrounded by chunks of what looked to be leftover luau. Sickened, I tried to look elsewhere to get my mind off my terrible situation. Ah to the boat I thought. Unfortunately the image awaiting me was that of two women so sick they couldn't get their wet suits on bent over each side of the boat vomiting violently over the sides. I quickly realized that the waves were carrying their waste right through our flotation setup and I was bathing in the puke of at least three different people. On the plus side, the smorgasbord of chunks attracted schools of beautiful fish along with the mantas, it really was a sight to behold. Getting back on the boat brought the sickness crashing back into me immediately and I succumbed to the seasickness along with at least 15 out of the 20 other passengers on the boat. In all, it was a once in a lifetime experience good and bad. Probably wouldn't do it again, but I'll never forget it. I'm sure there are very good reasons for not letting us get in the water early, and I support that, but I would recommend finding a service that either lets you get in the water quick, or shows up to the anchor locations a little later if you're prone to...

If you only do one thing on Hawaii, this should be it. It had been a couple of VERY rough days on the ocean so we weren’t sure what to expect. We were greeted on time and sized for our wetsuits, which are provided. We were given a good safety and information briefing from Bill and Tanner. No shoes on the boat; you will leave them locked up dockside. We were provided with fresh sweet pineapple on the ride out. There was plenty of comfortable seating and they passed around great information on manta rays. The restroom was spotless and spacious for an on-board head. This boat seems to leave earlier than the others, which is good for getting the best spot. Because of the very rough seas, we could not find the normal buoys to which they usually tie. In fact, we met a boat of divers which was going back because they’d had the same problem. The captain offered an alternative plan but as it was being executed, we all continued to look for the buoys. We moved into some clearer water and suddenly a buoy was spotted. Tanner took a dive to connect us. Later, other boats came out and connected to our boat because they had the same problem finding a buoy. Once we were tied up, we settled in to watch the sunset. The idea is to put a board with lights into the water after dark, which attracts plankton, which then attracts the manta rays which feed on the plankton. We all hold on to the board with heads/snorkeling gear in the water. And it worked fantastically. The manta rays in this area are the only in the world known to have taught themselves a different way of feeding, where they do full barrel rolls. So you will see them swimming along down below, and then they circle up directly under the board, mere inches from your nose. Again and again, the huge, harmless creatures swoop up, face-to-face with you. This night, we encountered four of them and it was just magical—hard to leave when the time came. There were a couple of people who got sick and had snorkeling issues. Tanner jumped into action right away, getting them back to the boat and continuing to make sure they were okay later. I will say that I was a bit chilly in the water—no sun to warm things up. But as soon as you get back on the boat, you are doused with a hot shower from the Captain which fixes that problem. For the ride back, we were offered home-baked chocolate chip cookies. Great ending to a truly magical experience....