Manta ray night snorkeling is a bucket list adventure. Don’t mess it up. Here are 5 things to avoid when booking your manta ray snorkel tour in Hawaii.
Swimming with these gentle giants is the thrill of a lifetime. After flying across the Pacific, here are some helpful tips on booking your snorkel tour and respecting the manta rays. We want Henry to do this someday, so let’s protect these rays!
Correction: the correct spelling is Kauna’oa Beach at the Mauna Kea Resort.
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Manta Ray Snorkel and Dive Guide: Read before you book!
Manta Ray Tour Operators:
Keauhou Bay (Manta Village) Manta Ray Tour with Sea Paradise:
Manta Heaven night snorkel or dive with Kona Ocean Adventures:
Manta Heaven night dive with Kona Honu Divers:
Manta Ray Advocates on the Kohala Coast:
Need to help with planning your Hawaii vacation? Check out our Big Island Itinerary:
Here is our favorite Island of Hawaii Tour Operators, researched and tested by Erica and Jordan:
Looking for info on Where to Stay in the Hawaiian Islands? Download our free Where to Stay Cheat Sheets here:
GoPro HERO 8 or Underwater Camera Settings for Night Time Filming
* Resolution/FPS: 4K/24p
* Lens: SuperView
* Hypersmooth: On
* Bit Rate: High
* Shutter: 1/48
* White Balance: Auto
* ISO Min: 100
* ISO Max: 800
* Sharpness: Medium
* Color: GoPro
The ISO is the biggest factor, take it off auto and change the max to 800. Adjust the ISO as needed per your underwater camera.
OUR CAMERA GEAR (keep it simple for your vacation!):
Underwater camera: GoPro HERO 8
Don’t lose your GoPro, invest in a floaty
Floaty stick:
Floaty cover:
Manta Ray Advocates Sighting Surveys:
Best of Hawaii Things to Do: Manta Ray Night Snorkeling
00:00 Intro
01:53 Mistake 1: Not Going to the Island of Hawaii
02:45 Mistake 2: Trying to Snorkel by Yourself
03:49 Mistake 3: Not Using a Manta Green List Activity Provider
04:43 Mistake 4: Adjust Your Expectations
05:52 Mistake 5: Go to the Right Location for Manta Rays
06:39 Final Tips for Snorkeling with Manta Rays
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OUR CAMERA GEAR (keep it simple for your vacation!):
Underwater camera: GoPro HERO 8
Use your smartphone for video but keep it smooth with a gimbal: OSMO DJI
Don’t lose your GoPro, invest in a floaty
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Vlogging camera (but use your phone for a family holiday):
DJI Mavic Min 2 with 4k camera (only fly in Hawaii if you know the FAA regulations):
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Okay give this you’re in hawaii you’re In a bay in the ocean it’s dark out and You’re snorkeling with massive sea Creatures with gaping mouths yeah this Is a pretty thrilling experience i don’t Know why i say pretty it is a thrilling Experience but there are a few things That you want to know before you book so Here are five mistakes that you want to Make sure you avoid hi i’m jordan and I’m erica and this is the hawaii Vacation guide [Music] Before we jump into the mistakes a few Things to know about manta ray Snorkeling just give you some context Right manta rays are gentle giants they Get up to like 15 foot wingspans they Feed on phytoplankton That is attracted to the light and That’s kind of the history of where why These guys are feeding at these spots Making it easy for tour companies to go To the hotels and restaurants used to Shine spotlights on the ocean so Phytoplankton would show up and the Manta rays start showing up now they Offer tours out there and these are Harmless creatures like jordan mentioned Their gentle giants they are not Stingrays they are manta rays they are Members of the fish family and they are Absolutely amazing they have no barbs They have no teeth they they are very
Yeah graceful they call them the Acrobats of the sea they’re beautiful in Hawaii they offer night snorkeling and Night dive tours if you want to go out And see the manta rays We’ve both done it separately we’ve used Multiple tour companies and It was An amazing experience it was great and We do snorkeling by the way we haven’t Done the diving we’re really just Talking about manta ray night snorkeling Jordan says this is one of the top 10 Experiences he’s ever done top five top Five yeah hopefully his way up after Meeting me yeah And having our son Yeah exactly so he’s got three left After that there’s plenty of room it’s Pretty thrilling i it leaves your heart Pounding during the experience it’s Absolutely amazing yeah Number one don’t make this mistake Going somewhere other than the big Island of hawaii for your manta ray Snorkeling the island of hawaii is the Only island that offers reliable Sightings of manta rays maui offers some Manta ray diving tours but they see Right on the website like chances of Seeing them are very low they don’t come Here often they’re trying to go to like Close to feeding stations that’s where They just like park themselves on the
Reef and fish clean them really cool but It’s really hard to see them so if you Go to maui to expect to see manta rays It’s going to be you might be Disappointed it’ll be a mistake yeah Just go to the big island the big island Has 85 to 95 siding rates that’s really Good that’s really good both times we’ve Gone we’ve seen multiple manta rays Multiple yeah so the big island the kona Coast too the kahala coast onto the kona Coast we’ll go over the locations where But the big islands where you want to go Don’t try to go to another island to Expect to see manta rays tip number two Is trying to go out and snorkel by Yourselves to find these mantras so There are A lot of reasons why this is not Something you want to do it’s not a good Idea right i know you’re saying i’m Going to save some money and just jump Into the ocean at night and go Snorkeling with them please don’t yeah First of all it’s not safe for you you Are it is pitch black you actually Forget how Dark and confusing it can be to be in The ocean with your head down when it’s Pitch black but i was stunned by that on My tour like how disoriented i became And that’s really dangerous oh so you Gotta bring the equipment you gotta know Where to go and the biggest one is don’t
Ruin it for the manta rays they are Gentle giants like you gotta be careful Around them shouldn’t touch them and That’s something they really stress in These stores do not touch the manta rays First it disorients them number two they Have this thin layer of mucus on them And if you disturb that it opens them up For infection and you can hurt them and They live up to 50 years old but then You could really hurt them and maybe Kill them so don’t do that yeah the idea Is to try to observe them without being Intrusive and that’s what some tours Will help you do that leads us right Into mistake number three and that is Picking a tour operator who is not on The manta green list so what this list Is is it’s a list of tour operators who Have promised and they operate with the Intention of keeping both you as a Snorkeler safe and the manta rays safe To make this a really really healthy Experience for everyone So they do things like make sure you Don’t touch the manta rays so that is a Big deal they will give you noodles and Life preservers and make sure that you Are well educated on how to not touch Them Because they do get really close Like within inch of you they also don’t Use propellers and they don’t anchor on The coral so there are a number of
Things that they need to follow to be on The manta green list so we want to make Sure that we are being really respectful Of these animals because they are Amazing creatures and they just want Dinner they do just want dinner number Four is adjust your expectations this is Not a regular snorkel tour you’re not Going out there to see a little colorful Fish this is a night dive with these sea Creatures that have like 12 to 18 foot Wingspans and they do barrel rolls and They’re consuming 40 to 60 pounds of Phytoplankton at night or a day like These things are absolutely amazing and And It’ll startle you like i mean that’s why It’s like this is a thrilling experience Not like a regular snorkel tour i mean These guys are they’re coming in an inch Within your face you might see one you Might see three of them all just Swarming around you It is is absolutely amazing so like Go in there Like i don’t want to set this up for Like you might not see any right you got One out of 10 chance of not seeing any But if you do see them like wow you’re Gonna remember this forever this is not A regular tour yeah i remember as i was We were swimming out to find the mantas And we were just you know kicking along And all of a sudden at the corner of my
Eye just one swims right under me and i Stop and i’m like [Laughter] And the tour operator stops and goes yes That was a manta ray let’s keep going i Was like oh my god i knew what to expect And i was still shocked mistake number Five that people make is you gotta go Where the manta rays are on the big Island all right so they’re on the Leeward coast where all the tour Operators leave from starting up top you Got one in the south kohala district Right where the resorts are then you Have one right by the kona airport right Off shore and the most popular one is Mantha village right in the bay in front Of the sheraton this place has up to 96 Sightings rate and that’s where we Recommend going even if you’re staying Up in the kahala district like make the Drive down this is i think like nine Miles south of kailua kona and it’s Worth it right if you’re coming from Around the world or coming from america You come a long ways go to where you Have the highest chance of seeing the Manta rays that doesn’t mean you won’t See them in the other areas but if you Are only planning to do this once and You have one shot to go see them you Might as well make the drive to where You’re gonna have the best chance of Seeing them now that you’re well
Prepared to go snorkeling with manta Rays check out our website we have an Award-winning article on manta rays okay It’s not award-winning all right but it Should be i think it was really good all Right and then erica improved it for me So check that out it gives you a lot More details on snorkeling with him and What to look for we also have our Recommended tour providers there the Ones that we have gone on the ones we Trust the ones that are on the manta Green list so you can have the best time Possible we’ve just got you covered with Everything you need to know the link is In the description below so make sure You check that out One quick bonus tip right yeah what’s That don’t wait until you get there and You want to go out that night and see Manta rays Let’s book early yeah make sure make Sure you get the tour you want the air You want in the day you want so book Early and like whale watching too go Early too like in your vacations just in Case you don’t see them or you had such A good time you want to go again go on The beginning of your trip okay last tip Too sorry there’s no season for manta Rays that’s a big one right we say that In the article too whales they have a Season manta rays especially the ones in Big island they don’t migrate they’re
Always going to be there so go any time Of year good tip all right thanks a lot For watching thank you The sun is almost down time to get in i Did want to share one thing A lot of people ask how We can do so many activities when we Have a three-year-old and henry clearly Can’t come on a lot of these activities With us like you can’t go night Snorkeling with manta rays jordan and i Switch off did we do this so um he got To go last time we were here i get to go This time He’s going ziplining this trip like we Just kind of Take turns we just kind of make it work We To pick and choose the activities we Really want to do and we just make it Work and Have a great time We hope you can make it to the big Island to experience this for yourself Truly bucket list item So pumped so happy i did this