manta ray dive kona

[cbedics]

Does anybody know of a good company that offers the manta ray dive and do you need to be certified in diving to do it? Thanks.

[Middleager]

You'll get better response from scuba board, Hawaii forum.

 

Several companies do it, they'll all good. It's a night dive. They don't usually do Discovery scuba with night dive. You're not very deep, at about 40'. They place several night light on the floor and divers basically kneal down on the ocean floor waiting for the mantas to appear and swoosh over the heads.

 

It's one dive I really like to do myself, but the ship doesn't stay the night in Kona. Have to go to Kona for a land vacation some day to do the Manta Ray dive.

[Den53]

You do need to be a certified diver. It is an awesome experience but it can be rough because of the surge. It is better if the moon is not full, when the moon is full the mantas can get their plankton in the open waters and not close to the shore.

[Astro Flyer]

You do need to be a certified diver. It is an awesome experience but it can be rough because of the surge. It is better if the moon is not full, when the moon is full the mantas can get their plankton in the open waters and not close to the shore.

I have over 100 scuba dives & the Kona manta ray was the most amazing experience ever. It was over a decade agos but as I recall it was in 20' & stayed close to an hour but my log book is in Hawaii so can't "refresh" my memory. They describe it like a scene out of Close Encounters & watching what appeared to be a choreographed underwater ballet it was amazing!!! The manta rays would pass so closely overhead that we were required to remove our snorkels. I do recall holding on to some rocks on the bottom because there was some surge but not enough to diminish the best experience I've ever had scuba diving.

 

I don't know if the company we used is still in existence but it was Kona Coast Divers which we used for a week long diving trip to Kona. I thought that Kona has some of the best dives I've ever experienced with most locations being very close within about a 10 or 15 minute boat ride however I recall the manta ray dive to be the longest trip of about 30 minutes each way.

[Middleager]

The original thread was 1/2 year ago. But it's a question others might ask for Kona.

 

Kona is a very good place to dive. To me, it ranks above Maui and Oahu. There are lots of dive ops in Kona, and most seem quite good. It's like in Cozumel, a great diving place with lots of dive ops, and if you are not good you won't stay in business.

 

In the ScubaBoard (where a lot of divers exchange info), Jack's Diving Locker is highly rated. They've been around a long time, and have a resident Manta ray researcher/expert. They also take night videos (and it's expensive). Steve from wannadivekona contributes a lot of good info on the board. I have not dove with Steve, but he's one of those I'd have no hesitation to go diving with him. By him taking the effort to answer a lot of people's questions on that forum, you feel you know something about him already, and that's they type of person/op I'd lean toward going diving with over others who I don't have experience.

 

But no matter what, all local dive ops go to the same place for the Manta ray diving. Usually it's an excellent experience if a few mantas do show up.

 

One day, one day, when I go to Kona to stay for a few days, that'll definitely be on the top of my to-do list.

[atxlady]

We spent 8 days in Kona this past January. We went out w/ Jack's Diving Locker. They were a great crew, very professional, but fun. It was incredible. I highly suggest them. The manta rays are awesome!!! It's a must do while in Kona.