Manta Ray experience on the 11th of December 2017.
I would honestly book with Hawaii Oceanic anytime in the future and would recommend to all my friends back home to book with them too, if they are ever in Kona. The team was absolutely amazing, Captain Dusty and Dylan were there to help anyone that needed it and were always up for a chat. I was the only person that was doing the trip solo on this tour (we had 12 people) and you quickly make friends with everyone and they definitely looked after me. Captain Dusty even offered to be in my photo, that they take at the start of the trip so I wouldn't be by myself, unfortunately I didn't quite hear properly, otherwise I definitely would have taken him up on the offer. That's just one of the little interactions that the crew had with me that meant I was feeling included the entire time.
The Mantas themselves are definitely something to behold. The last one barrel-rolled so close to the light board I was pretty sure it was going to accidentally touch me with it's wings. Luckily, it has a good sense of direction and just went under, but definitely something very special and that I will remember forever. The plankton build up (what attracts the Mantas) was slow to begin with, so Dylan helped readjust our light board so the plankton could build up and the Mantas eagerly came! It is important to find a green-rated tour, as this helps protect the natural habitat of the Mantas and the Mantas themselves. Hawaii Oceanic is a green tour and they are definitely about making sure that the Mantas come first and this does not take away from the experience at all, but rather adds to it.
Overall - would definitely recommend. Captain Dusty and Dylan were the best crew and helped everything go smoothly so we could all truly enjoy the Mantas!