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Manta Magic - Night Manta Ray Snorkel At Manta Village, Kona, Hawaii

Manta Magic - Night Manta Ray Snorkel At Manta Village, Kona, Hawaii

Overview

Avoid the crowds of the other "cattle boats" in Kona, and enjoy a small-group manta ray snorkeling experience with a maximum of 12 passengers.

This tour departs from Keahou Harbor in South Kona and enjoys a short 5-minute boat ride to our snorkeling site, Manta Village.

Your Captain and snorkel guide will educate you on Kona's famous manta rays and will discuss our safe and humane approach to engaging with the gentle giants.

After entering the water, you'll hold onto our lightboard, with your feet propped up by floatation devices, as the manta rays perform a graceful ballet beneath you. The manta rays filter feed on plankton that naturally gathers at the surface just before sunset, then accumulates underneath our lights. This is an opportunity to enjoy an evening on the water and watch in amazement as the manta rays glide around and dance for you.

We are proud to be a Green Listed company, and we take an environmentally cautious approach to our interactions with the manta rays.

City: Big Island of Hawaii

Tue 01 Oct

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $125.00

Make a reservation

Tue 01 Oct

Starting at $125.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Professional guide

Wetsuit (optional)

Use of Snorkelling equipment

Local taxes

Beverages

Additional Info

Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
Must be able to swim without the assistance of a floatation device.
A ticket is required for all passengers, regardless of age or whether they are entering the water.
Maximum weight of 280 pounds per traveler.
Not recommended for travelers with neck problems.
Snorkel equipment is sanitized between uses.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (858)

YXEReviewer

Mar 2020

PROS: - The captain and guide were pleasant and informative - Got a great view of the mantas and the tour lasted the full hour - Overall great experience, despite the cons listed below CONS: - We had no idea where we were supposed to stand to meet Hawaii Oceanic when we arrived. The other companies all had signs for where to gather, but none for Hawaii Oceanic, so we got worried that we had showed up in the wrong spot. - Our guide showed up late, further increasing our anxiety that we were in the wrong spot. The time to star was 730 PM, and they didn’t show up until 745 PM - When booking online, they ask if you want to pay for parking. Having never done this before and no idea what the parking situation would be like down there, and assuming the parking might be bad if they give the option to pay for parking, we decided to pay the 8 USD for the parking. Turns out parking is totally free and not an issue, and we were never given nor never needed a pass to park there. When we contacted them on repeated attempts to ask if we could get a refund on the parking fee, we were never issued one. In fact, this is the whole reason I even decided to write this partially negative review. Had we been paid back this strange and nonsensical parking fee, I would have kept my mouth shut about all of this other stuff. - They ask for your height, weight, and what size of wetsuit you’ll be when you book online. I am usually between a medium and a large, but usually medium for American sizes so I chose medium. Turns out the medium didn’t fit me, and unlike the other companies that have you put on your wetsuit on the shore, they didn’t have us try on our wetsuits until we were well into out into the water on the boat. The medium was way too small, so I asked if they had a large, and they replied that they only bring the wetsuit size that you’ve preselected and no extra ones. This was a bit surprising considering that not everyone knows the fit of these things, and also was curious as to why they ask your height and weight if they aren’t going to look at it all in conjunction with what size you’ve selected for yourself. The weight part makes sense if they are trying to make sure the boat isn’t overweight, but why ask both height and weight together if it isn’t going to be somehow factored into what sizes of wetsuits they’ll have available on the boat? So in the end, I was forced to go without a wetsuit into the cold water for the one hour tour, and by the end of it I was absolutely freezing and shivering. No apology or anything from them on this. Would I do a manta dive again? Yes. Would I choose this company? Maybe not.

Wanderlustutah

Mar 2020

We were on a small boat with 11 people in total. Small no frills operation. But, the most amazing experience due in part to the size of the crew and tour group. We saw other groups with 20-30 people all crammed together in the water. Our water guide (Aaron) pulled/swam our group to the area where the mantis were swimming. We saw numerous mantas with multiple barrel rolls right in front of our faces. Literally inches away. We could see straight down the manta throats, every spot and speckle on the body, and even the little fishes attached to them. Choose Hawaii Oceanic, you will not be disappointed.

OperatorAlex

Mar 2020

My best friend and I had a *fantastic* trip; the mantas were incredibly active and we saw tons of activity! Only reason I'm docking a point is we never got the photos from our trip. I'd 100% recommend this if you're on Big Island, though! The tour operators were very friendly and knowledgeable.