If you are looking for an incredible excursion, than the Night Snorkel with the Manta Rays is worth every penny! We were lucky enough to get a perfect night with no wind, calm seas, lots of plankton (Manta Ray food) and about 6 Manta Rays swimming around us while doing barrel rolls inches under us. Caption Nick with crew members of Sam, Brandon, Emily and Natalie did an excellent job getting us to the perfect location to view the Manta Rays. While we were in the water watching the show, the crew members were telling us information about these gentle giants and knew each by name.
We departed from Keauhou Bay (by the Sheraton) and had a short and easy 5 minute boat ride to the Manta Ray Village site. Several years ago, we did a night snorkel from the Honakohau Harbor and it took us an hour by boat to reach the Manta Ray site by the airport. We only saw one Manta Ray for a few minutes then we had to leave to get back to the harbor on time. It was a rough, cold and hour long boat ride back to the harbor. We spent more time on the boat ride then we did snorkeling.
Keep in mind, the Manta Rays are wild animals and the tour guides can not guarantee you will see any. I did a lot of research before booking this excursion and found there is a greater chance of seeing the Manta Rays in Keauhou Bay then by the airport. In fact, there were lots for boats that come from the Honakohau Harbor (by the airport) the night we went snorkeling because there were few, if any, Manta Rays up by the airport. Many of the tour companies will let you go another night (if space is available) if you don't see any Manta Rays, so do this excursion early in your trip in case you need to go again.
Bottomline: Incredible excursion and skip the long boat ride and take the tour with Sea Quest from the Keauhou Bay.