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| Courtesy of Lesley Alstrand |
After the Pelagic Magic dive the night before, we were excited to finally do the dive that we had been hearing about for some time, the manta dive. We again met up at the dive shop for a briefing late in the day. We reviewed all the usual boat and dive safety stuff along with some rules for diving with mantas. The rules involved common sense stuff like don’t chase the mantas, but they also stressed not reaching out to touch the mantas. We were shown examples with photos and videos of how the mantas' protective mucus layer on their skin is damaged when they are touched, ridden, or scratched. Damage to this layer in turn causes rashes that take some time to disappear.
People are often mistaken to think that the mantas want to be touched because they come so close to you. What they are actually doing is trying to position themselves above you as your exhaust bubbles are floating up so that your bubbles hit their underside and roll up and off their belly. They enjoy this jacuzzi effect which simulates that sensation of being touched. This information was all new and interesting to me since I had often seen pictures of people touching and riding mantas in different places throughout the world.
People are often mistaken to think that the mantas want to be touched because they come so close to you. What they are actually doing is trying to position themselves above you as your exhaust bubbles are floating up so that your bubbles hit their underside and roll up and off their belly. They enjoy this jacuzzi effect which simulates that sensation of being touched. This information was all new and interesting to me since I had often seen pictures of people touching and riding mantas in different places throughout the world.
At this point we were all ready to head out and get to see mantas for ourselves. The boat ride was very short and it turns out that the manta dive site is right next to the Kona airport. We signed up for two dives which including a daylight dive and then the manta dive. We geared up and descended. Our divemaster showed us the area where we would be later for the manta dive and then he proceeded to lead us on our daylight reef dive.
During our dive he showed us a razor fish who, when is scared and wants to hide, darts headfirst into the sand. We also saw a Hawaiian turkey fish which is endemic to the Hawaiian islands and looks like a miniature lion fish. On our way back to the anchor line toward the end of our dive, we saw two mantas on the edge of the reef.
During our surface interval we were assigned lights and briefed again on the manta dive. Mantas feed on plankton which are attracted to our underwater lights. So with the snorkelers shinning their assigned lights down in a tight area where the divers are, and the divers shinning their lights up where the snorkelers are, you get a super concentrated area of plankton. To further improve the situation for viewing, the divemasters also put two crates full of lights aiming toward the surface in the middle of the area where the divers set.
During our dive he showed us a razor fish who, when is scared and wants to hide, darts headfirst into the sand. We also saw a Hawaiian turkey fish which is endemic to the Hawaiian islands and looks like a miniature lion fish. On our way back to the anchor line toward the end of our dive, we saw two mantas on the edge of the reef.
During our surface interval we were assigned lights and briefed again on the manta dive. Mantas feed on plankton which are attracted to our underwater lights. So with the snorkelers shinning their assigned lights down in a tight area where the divers are, and the divers shinning their lights up where the snorkelers are, you get a super concentrated area of plankton. To further improve the situation for viewing, the divemasters also put two crates full of lights aiming toward the surface in the middle of the area where the divers set.
Finally the sun set and it was time to jump in! As we descended, we headed toward the beam of light that was shinning up from the two crates of lights. All the divers sat in a big circle. There were about 25 to 30 divers from 3 boats making up the circle. Once we settled in our spot, the show didn’t take long to start. It was amazing how much plankton was in the area; so thick you could see it bouncing off your light. And the area above the crates of lights was thick with plankton too.
All the lights from the divers pointing up mixed with the snorkelers' lights pointing down, making it seem like a Las Vegas light show you see on the strip. Only a minute or two passed before the first manta made a pass through the lights, right over the center of the circle, gulping up plankton. Before that manta even got out of sight there were two more back to back passing through the center of the circle and directly toward Lesley and I. They passed so close the first time I ducked my head swearing that they were going to hit me. Next, one came from behind me and right over my head. I could feel the water move right above my head as the manta passed on its way toward the center.
The next thing that happened I think really demonstrates how graceful mantas are. They started following each other and would do complete flips starting all the way from the crates of lights on the bottom and going all the way to the surface just below the snorkelers, upside down like aerobatic stunt planes. It was so cool to watch how graceful and precise they were. They would come within inches of both the divers and snorkelers but never touch them. This show went on for 45 minutes and then it was time to end the dive. I don’t think anybody wanted to leave this underwater show, but we had to.
The next thing that happened I think really demonstrates how graceful mantas are. They started following each other and would do complete flips starting all the way from the crates of lights on the bottom and going all the way to the surface just below the snorkelers, upside down like aerobatic stunt planes. It was so cool to watch how graceful and precise they were. They would come within inches of both the divers and snorkelers but never touch them. This show went on for 45 minutes and then it was time to end the dive. I don’t think anybody wanted to leave this underwater show, but we had to.
On a funny note, during this dive Lesley and I both saw a moray eel that was very friendly.
He swam all over the place, checking out the divers and even sat between Lesley’s legs. After the dive, the divemasters let us know that this is the resident eel who always puts on his own show. The divemasters will follow him around and film the divers reacting both favorably and unfavorably to him climbing all over them. In our video we bought of the dive, the eel has his own chapter. It is hilarious to watch all of his shenanigans.
Here's a a nice video of the manta dive by med103:
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