This was better than we had even expected. We were floating so close to the manta rays (within inches) and they are comfortable swimming right up to us to eat their meal. The captain had good humor for an old salty captain :) We really appreciated how he went over boat safety and what to do in case of emergency.
As an added bonus, there was a school of bottle nose dolphins swimming under and around us toward the end of our adventure (while we were still in the water). We didn't get any pictures in the water, but the boat ride has some good views of the Kona area and mountains.