Yes! Manta rays are gentle giants. Unlike stingrays, they do not have a stinger or barb. They are harmless filter feeders that eat tiny plankton and have no need for teeth, making them completely safe to snorkel with.

Young children, non-swimmers, and less experienced swimmers are welcome on both ( Manta Ray Snorkel) Manta Boat #1 and ( Manta Ray Experience) Manta Boat #2. Please note any special accommodations in the comments section when booking.

Guests who are not comfortable in the water may remain on the viewing raft during the manta ray experience. Please note that the raft has a weight limit and space may be limited, especially on busy tours.

Our boats are among the fastest in Kona, reaching Manta Heaven in approximately 10–14 minutes under normal ocean conditions. Travel times may be slightly longer on evenings with stronger winds or rougher seas

We take guests north towards Kona Airport to Makako Bay (Garden Eel Cove), also known as "Manta Heaven". Since 1999 our manta rays have been conditioned to show up for their nightly “all you can eat plankton buffet”! This area is naturally a great place to see mantas.

We see manta rays on approximately 80–85% of our tours. Because manta rays are wild animals, sightings can never be guaranteed, and occasionally they may not appear.

That's why we offer our Manta Guarantee—if no manta rays are seen during your tour, you can come again free on a standby basis.

On average we see 6-10 manta rays every night. We have had as many as 25-30 in one night.

Plankton is the only thing manta rays eat. Plankton is attracted to lights that we turn on and the manta rays come to feed on the plankton.

awaii's manta rays can range from 3 to 16 feet in wingspan and may weigh over 100 pounds per foot of wingspan. One of Kona's most famous residents is Big Bertha, one of the largest known female manta rays. With a wingspan of approximately 16 feet, she is estimated to weigh nearly 2,000 pounds.

The highlight of the show is of coarse snorkeling with the manta rays, howerver there is often a huge school of Hawaiian flagtail fish that come to eat plankton as well. Although rare, we have also been visited by the bottlenose dolphins and Hawaiian Munk Seal.

We occasionally see manta rays during our daytime Dolphin Reef Snorkel, but the manta ray night snorkel is a completely different experience. At night, plankton is attracted to our underwater lights, drawing the manta rays in to feed and creating incredible up-close encounters.