Hawaii - Manta Rays

Getting ready to see the manta rays as the sun sets over Kuana'oa Beach

Manta rays are big.  They are born big, weighing 300 pounds at birth and measuring three feet across.  As adults they range from 4 feet to 20 feet or more, and every foot is about one hundred pounds of dense cartilage.  (The biggest in Kona is "Big Bertha" at about 16 feet and 1600 pounds. See the video taken of her here, a few years back.) But they are gentle giants.  They only eat plankton and their throats are only the size of a golf ball.  They have no stinger and no teeth. Their only enemies are sharks and misguided humans.  And when they feed, they are poetry in motion.

We went to see them on a night snorkel run by Liquid Hawaii.  A float boat took us out to Kuana'oa Beach, where the Muana Kea Resort shines a light over the beach.  The light attracts the plankton, which attracts the manta rays.  It also attracts a cottage industry of guides for divers and snorkelers that want to see the rays.  But we all seem to manage.  

Benjamin and I getting ready for the ultimate night time snorkel.

It was only be accident that Hawaiian hotel operaters discovered that shining bright lights into the Pacific at night could draw manta rays.  And from there, a new tourist activity  was born.  However, it has allowed regular study of manta rays, and over 200 individual rays have been identified over the years, along with a growing body of knowledge about manta rays.  Done correctly, this type of tourism seems a win/win.

After a very interesting review of manta ray physiology and behavior, and the admonition never to touch a ray, we jumped off the boat in our snorkel gear and gathered around a surf board caged with PVC piping, with lights in the center, to attract the plankton. 

This gives you an idea of the surfboard cage we hung off,
like Superman, except we all had fins.*

Our guide Amy pushed us around while we floated like Superman looking down into the water.  The water was so clear that the bottom seemed close enough to touch.  It wasn't until we saw divers at the bottom waiting for the rays that I realized it was bit deeper (about 50 feet)!   

We started with some ray sightings on the bottom, gliding effortlessly in the turquoise water.  Amy said they can reach speeds up to 23 mph by simply alternately movement of their fins, which resemble wings.  Then Amy moved us closer to the big lights, many placed at the bottom by divers.  And then the show began.  The manta rays seemed completely oblivious to our presence as they tumbled in circles around us, coming right underneath us.  They open their mouths wide and catch the plankton on gill rakers, then expel the water, and keep this dance up over and over.  

Should you do this?  If you can snorkle (and most everyone can), you should do this.  And I recommend you pay the money and let the experts take you out.  This is a unique and extraordinary experience everyone should put on their bucket list.  

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*I did not take this picture myself.  Why?  Because sometimes waterproof bags for your phone are not waterproof.  We had visited Wai'alea Bay ("69" Beach) earlier that day to snorkel when I discovered my waterproof bag for my cell phone was not, in fact waterproof.  I think the phone's a goner.  Hence, the lack of any camera on this trip.  However, it would have detracted from enjoyment of the experience to have tried to take photos.  My advice: don't.   

**A stinging plankton gave me a fat lip near the end of our snorkel.  It was like an underwater mosquito bite, with no lasting effect.  Samuel quipped that the manta ray probably ate that stinging plantkon right in front of me, so my revenge was complete.