![]() ![]() Despite the sheer number of people in the water at once at the manta ray night snorkel site, most tour groups enforce strict rules. While I feared the experience would be zoo-like, it was pleasantly surprising. Scientists and tour guides can tell each manta apart by their freckles. But, when the manta ray swooped, its white belly speckled in black spots looked like a light of its own. The charcoal top of a manta ray nearly camouflaged in the dark water below. About ten manta rays twirled through, ranging from big (6 feet across) to gargantuan (15 feet across). We soon realized that the mantas had an understandable preference for feeding near the super-still side of the group, and veered from snorkelers who were splashing and kicking. We linked up with a few lights from the other snorkel tour groups, forming one long LED runway. It was mesmerizing yet otherworldly, almost as if we were being entertained by underwater aliens. One grazed against the light, then the other. The two manta rays began doing backflips in tandem. After a few minutes, one arrived–gliding beneath us in one long swoop. Hannah and I gripped the light and held our breaths, barely moving in fear of startling a manta ray away from us. Once the rest of the group was on the light, our guide swam us over near the main spotlight where we’d hopefully find prime seating for the manta ray ballet. With no sun to warm our skin, I instantly got goosebumps. ![]() We jumped in and swam towards our guide, who instructed us to grab onto the light and lay as flat as possible on the surface of the water. Fifty feet away, I could see the glow of other snorkel tours and their LED lights. When we arrived at the mooring site, our guide motioned for us to jump into water that looked as black as ink. The Experience of Snorkeling With Manta Rays Would there be two mantas? Ten? Would the visibility be clear enough for us to even see anything? Like most wildlife experiences, nothing is guaranteed. When my friend Hannah from Eat Sleep Breathe Travel and I went on a snorkel tour, we weren’t sure what to expect. Sign up for a tour with one of the many operators, like Jack’s Diving Locker or Hang Loose Boat Tours, to watch the manta rays dance underwater. While it’s possible to enjoy this performance from terra firma - either from your hotel room or from the Outrigger’s bar - the best way to experience it is to go snorkeling with manta rays in the water. ![]() The result is tens of manta rays gliding and twirling through the water at night, mouths agape to filter feed as many plankton as possible. Snorkeling tours have also capitalized on this feeding frenzy, dragging gigantic floating LED lights to form their own food stations. Every night after sunset, the spotlight in front of the resort turns on and attracts an array of manta rays looking for dinner. The Sheraton resort has recently changed hands and is now the Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa. Soon, many of the manta rays off of Kona came to the Sheraton to enjoy an easy meal. Manta rays have the capacity to learn behaviors from one another, and their travel radius spans roughly fifty miles. Soon, manta rays with fifteen-foot wingspans caught on to the fact that this construction site doubled as an all-you-can-eat buffet. Which, in turn, attracted the creatures who feed on plankton. The bright lights from the construction site attracted plankton in the water. Once the sun went down, construction workers toiled under the glow of massive spotlights. In 1970, resort developers set out on a plan to build what would become the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa on the coastline Kona, Hawaii. ![]()
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