Manta Ray Dive-Day 9

This day started out very uneventfully. I took my morning constitutional down Alii Drive, we had breakfast out on the lanai, and then I kind of cleaned up around here and did some laundry. We did have lunch at one of our favorite restaurants here on the Big Island, Jackie Rey's. We ate at this restaurant a couple of times during our last visit and were looking forward to eating there again on this visit. The food is good and the people are very friendly and attentive (they get a lot of locals in there which is always a good sign). We haven't had a bad meal there yet.

Evening came and we headed out on our next adventure - Manta Ray Snorkeling. Everywhere we'd go I'd hear people asking, "have you been on the Manta Ray dive?", "It is the best." So we decided to try it out for ourselves.  We drove to the Honokohau Harbor for our 5:15 check-in with Kamanu Charters.  No one was there in the office and soon there were quite a few of us waiting. Finally someone came, we checked in, and headed to the Kamanu, a 35 ft sailing catamaran.

At the berth, we were given our wet suits which we twisted and turned to get into and then we were told, "oh, you don't need to wear those right now, you'll get too hot.".  No way was I taking that thing totally off and putting it on again so I just took my arms out and left the rest of it on. It was bad enough putting it on on solid ground, I couldn't imagine what it would be like on a rocking boat.

We received further instructions on safety on the boat, in the water, and around the manta rays (no touching them at all). They are very sensitive to human diseases and, if we touch them, we could wipe off the protective mucous coating which would be very bad. Then all climbed on aboard, found a spot, and headed out of the harbor.

We had a 3 member crew, Captain Dan, first mate Cindy, and the instructor Shoddy. As soon as we got out of the harbor, we were allowed to move around. I immediately headed out for the front of the boat so that I could feel the ocean breezes on my face. 3 of us moved, the rest stayed in their seats. It was a blast! And I did get wet which pretty much defeated the purpose of the wetsuit since I only had it on halfway!

This is the surfboard that we would all be hanging onto into the water when it was time to watch the manta rays. The black circle things are the lights which attract the plankton which, in turn, attract the manta rays.

It took about 30 minutes to get to the Manta Ray spot. It is a little cove behind the airport. Years ago, divers from the Sheraton Hotel used to dive with the Manta Rays but then the Sheraton closed down and the dives stopped. They've only started back in the last few years.

At the cove, there were about 10 boats with paying customers. Each boat ties itself (with permission from the captain) to another boat in a circle. Some boats are tied together outside the circle and have quite a swim to get the actual area (our boat was one of these). Because we have to wait until dark, we went over the instructions again (don't touch the manta rays, lay like a plank holding onto the surfboard, keep your legs straight out or the manta rays won't swim by you, etc.). And then came the tricky part...putting your wet suit completely on while the boat is rocking and rolling-quite comical to watch. The charter crew provided each of with wet suite, snorkel equipment, and fins.

Because there are sooo many people out there swimming around, they attach a glow stick to the top of your "straw" the breathing part of your snorkel so that the crew can identify you. Our glow stick was yellow. There happen to be another group out there with yellow also but we were told that they would be more than happy to take you back if you got lost from the group or maybe they wouldn't! It is really something to see all of these different colored glow sticks bobbing around in the dark ocean.

And this is why I don't wear skin-tight clothing. No amount of sucking in is going to help!

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the actual event but there are plenty on youtube that you can look at. And I won't be able to do justice, in my explanation, of the amazing experience this was. If you ever come to the Big Island, this is a MUST do!

We got into the water and we couold either swim with the surfboard or swim on our own to the spot. We stayed with the surfboard but it was a long haul. The water by the way isn't that warm!

This is how the experience goes: 4 or 5 divers are at the bottom in the middle of the circle of boats, shining their BIG lights up, we with our surfboard are shining our lights down. The plankton are scurrying around and we are waiting for something to happen. All of a sudden there is this huge shadow that comes across the bottom and out of the corner of your eye, this humongous animal comes gracefully swimming by. These guys are huge! They say most are between 6-13 feet across. The biggest one they've seen out there had a wingspan of 18-20 feet. The divers have named them all (about 200) because they are quite recognizable by their black spots on their bellies. We were told that there were 5 animals out that night.

For 45 minutes, you are laying like a plank watching these graceful animals swim in front of you, behind you, and right under you belly to belly. They will do a barrel roll over and over again as they scoop in the plankton. Each succeeding roll puts them closer and closer to you until they are, maybe, a foot away from you (though it seems like they are a lot closer. One guy was touched by one of the mantas as it swam by). Their big gaping mouths come right at you and then they gracefully roll backwards. If you were allowed, you could tickle their tummies without any effort. It is incredible!

The dive lasts 45 minutes because that's all the air time the divers have and, by then, you are ready to come in because it is cold out there. The swim back seem to take forever but we finally got back on the boat, took our wet suits off, drank some hot chocolate, ate some goodies, and settled down for the return trip. We arrived back at the berth at 9:15 pm.

We were both pretty tired when we got home so McDonalds was the ticket and then bed.