We heard about Sea Quest Night Manta tour through a friend and had an evening free so we decided to book the 8:30 pm snorkel on April 28, 2019. We arrived at the check-in facility and they had either jacket or shorty wetsuits (we chose the shorty for warmth and were glad that we did). After a short safety talk, the captain and crew took us out for about a 20 minute ride to the sport where we got in the dark water. The crew was very helpful to explain exactly what we would be doing and how best to see the mantas. You cannot touch the huge creatures because we damage the protective layer on their skin. We (about 16 people) got into the water and you hold onto a floating raft that has blue lights that shine down into the water to attract the plankton on which the mantas feed. We were in the water for about 10 minutes looking and watch for the mantas... then...
You could see a manta in the distance which started to approach the light - it got bigger, and bigger, and then it started swimming in circles right under us with its enormous mouth open to capture the plankton. Anywhere from 10-14 feet, this incredibly graceful, gentle, massive creature has no ability to hurt you. First one, then three, then there were seven mantas just swimming and circling and feeding. Passing literally inches from your mask so you can see every detail of their feeding system and gills. They said it was rare to see this many feeding at once. Each manta has unique markings on their back and we found out that the Kona Coast has about 280 mantas that have been "named" and they live approx 75 years old. We were in the water for about 45 minutes with them. We brought our GoPro, and have some amazing video of the mantas. It was a remarkable adventure we are still talking about and showing the videos to family and friends. After getting back on the boat, they served hot chocolate and cookies, which was a nice touch to warm up. Fantastic captain and crew and would very highly recommend Sea Quest for this night snorkeling adventure.