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But the total time you get to stay in the water would be about 30-minutes. My husband and I lasted about 15-minutes in the water before he started feeling really ill and I started to feel a bit woozy too from bobbing in the water.
#Manta night snorkel kona free
If at any time you want to get out of the water due to anxiety, illness or you’re just done, feel free to give a holler and the guides will be happy to assist you. Otherwise, your hands and your arms will be quite sore afterwards. The noodles may escape from under your feet sometimes, but don’t worry, there are at least half a dozen tour guides in the water with you at all times and they will help retrieve them.Īlso, I recommend to hold onto the bar gently and not grip it for dear life. And your feet are guided to float on pool noodles to keep them up and floating, to reduce to risk of accidentally kicking the rays. Rules & Safetyĭuring the excursion, you are holding on to a lighted bar device that floats above the water’s surface. He opted to get out of the water early and I followed him.
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The hubby (Ilya) got great footage from the GoPro we rented but unfortunately, watching the screen, and all the bobbing around in the water made him start to get ill. They somersaulted and swam down to the ocean floor, then swooped back up to us again. We can almost reach out and touch them, but we are not suppose to. They swam below us and came pretty close as well. So the Manta Rays pretty much have an evening buffet of plankton set up for them every night. There were maybe half a dozen tours operating at the same location, each with their light-bar system. The Manta Rays will swim from site to site. There were a lot of fish too! You can also see the ocean floor, it was maybe about 20-ft max below us. There were other things swimming in the water as well. ( Do not use the full-face masks that cover your mouth, because you will need your mouth to communicate.) I constantly had to adjust my snorkel mask because water kept leaking into the area around my nose, so I do recommend bringing your own snorkel gear if you have a favorite set you prefer. We waited for about 5-minutes or so before we saw our first Manta Ray swim by. Once we reached it, we slid the pool noodle down our body to our ankles so it kept our legs floating up instead of dancing below and treading water. Bobbing around in the strong current was a bit off-putting, but the lighted-bar system was not far away, only about 6-meters. When we first got into the water, we held on to a pool noodle while a crew member guided us to the lighted-bar. When the Manta Rays finally made their appearance, the crew members begin to help everyone into the water one by one. So you can enjoy the sunset while you wait. Then we waited for the manta rays to show up, which can take up to 30-minutes. The tour operators anchored the boat and began to brief everyone about safety and rules. Directly off the coast by the Sheraton Kona Resort. Once on the boat, we sailed to our snorkeling sight which was only 15-minutes away. I was freaking out! But I managed pretty well on the boat.
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The night of our tour, the water was choppy, the waves were big. Then we boarded the small boat which was big enough for about 25-30 people.
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Starting at 5:30pm for check-in at the boat docks, we spent the next half hour getting our wet-suits and wiggling into them. The entire excursion for the Night Snorkeling with the Manta Rays lasted a bit over 3-hours for us. Manta Ray Snorkeling Evening Tour from Keahou Harbor – $115.00
#Manta night snorkel kona plus
Plus other special tours around the area! It is the only way to attract the Manta Rays to your location by using bright lights.įind a local tour operator for the best Night Snorkeling with Manta Rays in Kona, Hawaii. Both tours only operate at night or right after sunset.
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If you are certified for diving, there are tour operators that also provide night diving with manta rays. You can find many tour companies that provide this experience in the area. Swimming with Manta Rays on the Big Island of Hawaii is a popular excursion. The gills inside their mouths are quite interesting to see up close. They also have huge wide open mouths that act as filters to feed on the plankton. Certain species can get quite large in size, reaching up to 23-ft in width! The ones here in Hawaii are smaller in size, so don’t panic. They are gentle giants that feed on plankton and they do not have stingers on their tails that can cause injury. Manta Rays are beautiful docile creatures of the sea. 6.1 Related posts: What are Manta Rays? Photo by Adam Juman on Unsplash
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