snorkeling with manta rays

We’ve just returned from the Big Island of Hawai’i, and one of the highlights of our visit was going snorkeling with the Manta Rays off of the Kona coast.

Wanna see how incredible it was? Check out these videos:

The snorkeling was not challenging at all. Even kids can do it.

Essentially, you float in the water, holding on to a floating board with your hands, and with a pool noodle keeping your feet from dangling. Wearing the snorkel mask, you can put your face in the water and breathe through your mouth with the snorkel.

The underside of the board has a light, which draws plankton to the surface, and the manta rays come to feed on the plankton.

It’s unlike anything we’d ever experienced, and we can’t stop talking about how incredible it was. And we’re kicking ourselves that we didn’t make time to do this on our previous visits to the Big Island!

The manta rays are gentle giants — even though they’re up to 16 feet across, they can’t bite you, and they have no barbed stingers, so there’s nothing to be afraid of. Though, it’s sort of freaky when you see a giant mouth of a manta ray approaching you, the rays are used to avoid the snorkelers. One of them may brush up against your arm, but usually, they turn and dive before they get that close. Still, having a ray swimming just inches from your nose is pretty wild.

Want to swim with the rays on your next trip to Hawai’i? We’d love to book this for you. Just let us know!