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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

Sat 02 Aug

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $145.00

Make a reservation

Sat 02 Aug

Starting at $145.00

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.

Cancellation Policy

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

Traveler Photos

Reviews (1000)

yve872

Apr 2024

We booked this tour after seeing it was one of the top 3 things to do on the big island --- and it well exceeded our expectations! Our guide was so informative about manta rays in general all throughout our viewing. We rented a go pro as part of our reservation and are so glad we did so. These are enormous creatures and were right up next to us. Such an amazing experience!

Jeanne_J

Apr 2024

Our experience with Manta Magic was exceptional! The crew was amazing and informative. Our boat trip was quick and soon we were holding on to the light board where a record amount of mantas put on a show right under the surface- so close!! Highly recommend!

JenniferWenzel

Apr 2024

On the HUGE plus side, we saw 14 manta rays!!! On the negative side, pretty much everything else. (With the exception of the young lady who checked us in, Marianna, she was great.) I went on Monday, April 1. The boat was small and rocked horribly in the waves, but none of the 3 staff in board gave any assistance as people were trying to walk to the bench seats. They only had 1 adult sized life vest, and 2 people wanted it, so they had to figure out who needed it more between them. The ankle floats had very old Velcro and some wouldn't stay closed. No sodas or snacks were offered at any time, though there was a small bucket of sodas on board and a small basket of individual bags of chips (and a few single serving packs of Oreos cookies) at the check-in van. The captain, Jason, looked and sounded like he'd rather be doing anything else. Totally bored and checked out. Eric, the guy in the water with us, shared some interesting things about mantas but he was at the other end of the float and I couldn't hear him much on my end. There were only short sleeve wetsuit jackets available, not long sleeve, pants or full suits. And it was a very short, fast trip - 5 minutes to the site, they shoved us out the back of the boat like cattle, 30 minutes in the water, and back on board to go to the dock. This was the lowest budget, most bare bones excursion I've taken in my 3 visits to the Kailua Kona area by far, and yet it very much was not a cheap trip. At $145 each person it was on the higher end of the manta ray snorkel trips. If it weren't that we had more and more mantas join the zooplankton buffet, starting with one gigantic female from minute 1 and new ones joining every couple of minutes, I couldn't recommend this at all. But if you're just wanting to see mantas and don't care about customer service, then I'd say this is the trip for you. I'd talked to a woman a couple of days earlier who had seen 16 mantas on this Hawaii Oceanic/Manta Magic tour, which is why I booked with them, but after experiencing great vibes with Fairwinds, Sea Quest, and Body Glove earlier in our vacation, maybe I was just spoiled with their levels of guest service. But it really felt like they just didn't care about the customers at all on this boat. But hey, mantas galore! 2 stars for them.

Response from Host

Apr 2024

Aloha! Thank you for your review. And we are happy you had a great manta show. The areas of concern that you brought to our attention are important. We do care about our guest and provide the best experience possible. When guest are boarding the boat staff should always be present to assist guest. The staff do not grab onto a guest to assist unless asked or if the guest looses balance. We want to respect everyone’s personal space. Staff also do not grab guest personal belongings unless asked or given. But there should be someone standing there on the dock and on the boat and help when needed or asked. Life jackets for adults are not provided unless there is an emergency. The light board that guest hold onto supports and floats the upper body.The ankle floats support the legs. Life jackets make it very difficult to view mantas because they are designed to keep your head out of the water and most guest would like their head in the water. We do have pool noodles that a guest may request. We do tend to put people in the water quickly for three reasons. 1) a sitting boat is a sea sick boat. The longer people sit on the boat the more likely people will be sea sick. 2) the longer it takes people to get in the water the further the light board drifts. If the light board drifts fast it’s a longer swim for guest. We want to be as close as possible. 3) the faster guest get in the water the longer you have viewing the mantas. We do our best to provide an amazing experience. We are a small group boat and don’t have all the same luxuries as the 50+ person boat like Fairwind’s, Sea Quest and Body Glove. Thank you for your valid concerns and they will be addressed with the team.