In general though, this is the process and you can expect this order of operations no matter who you’re going on with. There are, of course, some small steps in the process too, including safety instructions and discussing the rules of snorkeling with manta rays. After 40+ minutes in the water, everyone gets back onto the boat and you return to Kailua-Kona.Manta rays swim around the lighted area feeding on plankton.Hang out in the water making gentle sounds.Snorkelers enter water one by one, holding onto light raft.Crew puts floating light apparatus in water.Be fitted for a partial wetsuit and snorkel gear.Board your tour boat before sunset and head out from Kailua-Kona.It’s highly unlikely that you’ll be going out on your own, so this is how a guided tour for sunset manta rays typically goes. So, how does nighttime snorkeling with manta rays actually work? Here is the step by step process for snorkeling with manta rays off the Kona Coast of the Big Island. Nighttime Snorkeling Experience – Step by Step Manta rays glide through the water, flying smoothly and investigating what they want with gentle drive-by swims. Being up to ten feet across, they are huge and can be startling. I understand that the size of a manta ray is intimidating though. There is zero chance of a manta ray mistaking a human for food or trying to play with a human appendage. They have huge mouths and continually are collecting food as the water flows over their gill rakers. Manta rays are filter feeders, meaning that they don’t have teeth and actually strain out their tiny meals as they swim. Are Manta Rays Safe to Snorkel With?ĭid you know that manta rays are related to sharks? It’s true! Does that mean that they can injure you the way a great white shark can? No. Because manta rays are filter feeders, they swim and roll and twist, capturing their food and then they return to the depths. This concentration of the manta ray’s food brings them from the ocean floor up to where the plankton become dense. When you’re in the water, in the dark, and the light is floating in front of you, the plankton and small fish start to congregate and swarm. The rays follow their food source, show up and then disappear into the ocean. The light attracts small fish and plankton which the manta rays feed on. How it works: a floating light raft goes into the water and snorkelers hold onto it, peering into the waters below. We love kayaking with manatees and seeing them up close, and we do it all of the time here in Florida, but even snorkeling with manatees in Crystal River is nothing compared with nighttime manta ray snorkeling. The actual experience of being in the water and seeing manta rays swim close to you, doing roll after roll below and in front of you is incomparable to anything else we’ve experienced. While you’re never too far off the coast of the Big Island, the darkness of being at sea after sunset can be frightening for some. If you’re scared of the water and being on the open ocean, this activity is NOT for you. The long and short of it is that snorkeling with manta rays is amazing. What Is It Like to Snorkel with Manta Rays? Join our great crew on the Hoku Nui for this great and eco-friendly experience. Snorkeling with manta rays is one the most memorable experiences you can have in the waters off the Big Island. The jumping may play a role in courtship and assertion of dominance, or simply communication among the larger group.Ī third plausible explanation is that breaching the surface could help clean the rays of parasitic suckers on their skin… But still, no final answer suffices.2 Travel Dads on snorkeling with manta rays. A second and more likely explanation for this behavior is social. One possible explanation is to avoid being eaten by predators, such as hammerhead and bull sharks. Marine Biologists cannot reach a consensus as to why they breach, but a variety of answers have been put forward. These rays leap spectacularly from the sea when they gather in large groups, with some of the most spectacular jumps reaching over 6.5 feet above the surface. These flying rays, sometimes known as mobula or devil rays, are very mysterious.Ĭlosely related to sharks but with long, flat bodies and wing-like pectoral fins, they are ideally suited to swooping through the water yet seem equally at home in the air, so much so that they have earned the name “flying rays”. Photo: Nick Bonzey from Corvallis, OR – Ray catching some air
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