Daytime Manta Encounter and Whale Watch
The Kona manta ray population is one of the most well known populations in the world.
While the manta ray night dive is on the top of most people’s list, why not try a natural daytime encounter. These rays frequent our winter current lines and our local manta expert provides the best likelihood to successfully locate them. Manta rays feed on plankton and are often seen feeding in current lines during early morning hours and they also frequent cleaning stations along our beautiful reefs. Manta Rays have no teeth, barbs, or stingers and are harmless to humans.
Your charter begins at Honokohau harbor departing at 7:30 AM. With years of experience, our Captain and Crew are ready to answer any questions you may have regarding our ray population. We will head along the coastline looking for mantas feeding in current lines.When we locate a manta, we will give a briefing of how to interact with them and then you will be able get in and swim with them. In the event that we do not find mantas surface feeding, we will check several cleaning stations along our coastline.
We will also be looking for Humpback whales during this trip, as they are quite active in the waters off the Kona coast. The Humpbacks come to Hawaiian waters in the winter months for mating and giving birth. We have an underwater Hydrophone we can use to listen to their beautiful songs. Seeing these whales is truly amazing.
*current lines sometimes have nematocysts dive skins, shirts, or rash guards are recommended