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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)

marksch159

Feb 2020

Took my family on the Manta Magic trip with Hawaii Oceanic Feb 17 2020. Try to arrive a bit early. We had a bit of trouble finding the marina and our guide. We needed directions to drive down to the marina instead of parking in the dirt lot up the road. Look for a small placard on the ground illuminated with a single light bulb near the rest rooms. From then on, we had a great experience. The guide and boat captain were friendly and knowledgeable. The boat was small, which was a big plus compared to the big boats with a crowd of people. We had prepared for a long boat ride to the viewing site (took dramamine), but the ride was a mere 5 minutes on calm water. Once at the site, we simply floated on our stomachs, hanging onto a surf board with lights afixed to the bottom. After a few minutes, we could see mantas hovering along the bottom below us. Soon after, we got the full barrel roll from several of the mantas, literally coming inches from our mask. Sooo graceful! Another big advantage of the small number of people was that our guide was able to drag the board to where the mantas were! After about 40 minutes, we were pretty chilly (even with shorty wetsuits) and were happy to board the boat. Highly recommend Hawaii Oceanic!

tanyatul

Feb 2020

these guys were awesome , especially mica. she knew exactly what she was doing as was very reassuring. barely 30 seconds after we got into the water , the mantas were there! everything was smooth and efficient. the location of the harbour has changed to further down south right next to the Sheraton hotel and this is great becoz u get onto the boat and 5 min later ure exactly where the mantas are and you don't need to sail in the dark which u previously had to do.

kellygQ7486XU

Feb 2020

First of all, everything you’re reading here is right, this trip was absolutely amazing for us and I scored lots of Cool Mom points for booking it. Captain Jack and Aaron the guide are genial, accommodating hosts, ready with the jokes, snacks, Manta Ray fun facts and stories. They clearly care deeply about the ocean, the rays, your safety, and the quality of your experience. As a mom who arranges all family trips, here’s some reality check notes for other moms trying to decide if this is right for your family. I booked this early in our week in Kona, in case we did not see rays and needed to schedule another trip out. We didn’t need it, though, we saw 7 rays! And they came up repeatedly, passing within inches of our bodies. My 12 year old daughter and I nearly hyperventilated from wonder/fear/amazement. That said, I think 12 is probably the bare minimum age I would consider for this activity, and that only with some experience snorkeling and good swimming skills. There’s a fair amount of instruction to follow, and as a mom, I was very grateful I only had one kid to look after and that she is very good about following instruction, a very strong swimmer, and not fearful. It is one thing to snorkel in shallow water during the day, another to don snorkel gear and climb off the back of the boat at night, jumping into dark water and swimming 20-30 feet to an LED lit surfboard. There were a couple of adults on the tour who had never snorkeled before, who demonstrated that it is doable, and certainly Aaron had lots of tricks and methods for helping them, but this is definitely an Adventure in the dark ocean. So for your own enjoyment, if yours are the kind of kids that need lots of encouragement, not strong swimmers, not much confidence in the water, leave them at home with someone else. All that said, if you have teens who are Way Too Cool for typical vacation activities, book this and they won’t stop talking about it. Just be prepared with a Scopalamine patch or some other method for dealing with motion sickness, and don’t plan dinner before. The ocean wasn’t exactly peaceful and calm the night we went out, and if you’re lucky, you will be spending a lot of time staring down into the depths, hanging on to the surfboard going one way, the waves going the other. And for heavens sake, please don’t let this be your first time snorkeling, that’s trial by fire. Quinn’s Almost By the Sea is open until 11pm, and was perfect for after-Adventure dinner. Allow some extra time to get there and bring a flashlight (or phone!) as it’s not as obvious how to get from the parking area to where the boat is docked at night. I’m sure it’s super easy and obvious to follow the directions given during the day, but there’s very little safety lighting there at night and it took us 10-15 minutes to navigate the 2 or 300 yards from parking to check-in because it was so freaking dark.