Manta Rays

We had heard about snorkeling with the manta rays and we were totally down for it. About 10 or 15 years ago, one of the Big Island hotels started shining lights into the ocean for their guests. They found that the lights attracted the plankton, which then attracted the gentle giant manta rays. So the manta ray snorkeling was born. There are several charters that go out after dark. They have a kind of ladder type contraption that lays on top of the water. We all put on our snorkels and masks and hang on to the ladder. There are lights on the ladder as well as lights on the bottom of the ocean. Pretty soon these beautiful mantas swam around doing barrel rolls and coming right up into our faces. They are about 15 feet across, just enormous. We were out in the water for about 45 minutes or an hour. Then when we came back into the boat they had warm soup and bread and hot chocolate for us. We had a really amazing crew that was efficient and knowledgeable and fun. We loved it, it was definitely a highlight for us. Too bad we don't have any pictures of the actual snorkeling, but here are some shots from before we went out.