You Can Only Swim with Manta Rays in a Few Places in the World—We Did it in Hawaii

Our journey started at Honokohau Harbor—a quick 15-minute drive south from the Kona airport—right before sunset. After meeting our group, we had a safety briefing and then headed onto the boat. Once onboard, we snagged a place on the top deck to hang out, and enjoy the best views of the lights along the Kona coastline contrasted with the serenity of the dark ocean beyond. Though the boat isn’t crowded, if you have a particular spot where you want to enjoy the ride, it’s best to stake it out early, especially as there can be up to 48 people onboard for a full tour.

Things moved quickly but we didn’t feel rushed, and the great thing about taking the organized excursion—aside from the fact that you can’t really get so close to manta rays in the wild without one—is that all your gear is provided for you. Come prepared with your own swimsuit and towel, sure, but know that you’ll get goggles, snorkels, and wetsuit tops included. The young crew was also friendly and funny, cracking jokes and playing family-friendly music—this is a truly multi-gen experience—as we took the brief boat ride out to Makako Bay, just a 15-minute ride from the harbor.

As one of only three sites along the Kona coast where you can view mantas, Makako Bay is affectionately known as “Manta Heaven” (the others are “Manta Point,” further north, and “Manta Village,” further south). And note the emphasis on viewing mantas—not touching them. There are actually two species of manta rays, reef and oceanic, yet both of them are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, thanks to pollution, entanglement in fishing nets, and the harvesting of their gills for use in alternative medicines. That’s why it’s essential you don’t touch or harm them in any way, which means keeping hands to yourself during the excursion and ensuring that you don’t accidentally kick them.

With that in mind, when we arrived at Makako Bay, tour staff gave us a brief run down about how to get in and out of the water from the boat and what we needed to do to protect the mantas from any errant kicks or eager hands. So we turned on our GoPros, zipped up our wetsuits, adjusted our swim masks, grabbed a pool noodle, and hopped right into the water from the side of the boat. And for those a little less eager to just jump right in than a family that spends nearly every weekend in the ocean, there were also options to gently climb into the water—plus, the team was on hand to give any help as needed.

The nice thing about the tours that visit Makako Bay is that there aren’t nearly as many boats competing for the attention of the mantas. Unlike in the popular “Manta Village” (aka Keauhou Bay), which can get very crowded, there were only six or seven other boats in the same area. This is also the tour provider’s favorite place to go—they choose here over Keauhou Bay 9 times out of 10, as long as oceanic conditions allow, especially as there are also fewer fish at this site; mantas don’t always like to swim through schools of fish to eat, and frankly, I can’t blame them.

However, while your chances of spotting these magnificent creatures is pretty high, we can’t control nature. Something I loved was that this tour operator offers a free second booking on the very rare chance that your tour doesn’t see any manta rays. For inclement weather (of which Kona doesn’t see too much), the excursion provider also offers free rebooking or a full refund—just contact them directly. This is why you should book any excursion that may get interrupted by nature early on in your trip, mostly so that you have plenty of time to try again.

Once in the water, we swam together out to the viewing platform (a long piece of hard plastic with handles all around the edge that you hold onto and float face down in the water—while wearing a snorkel, obviously!). It took us a bit to adjust to the cool water, so you’ll definitely be glad you chose a tour company that provides wetsuit tops; they really are necessary when spending an extended period of time in the water at night. While the swim out to the platform is only a short distance to the furthest end, you will need basic swimming and snorkeling abilities for this tour, making it best for families with older kids. (However, for those who can’t swim or just plain don’t want to get in the water, there are ride-along options for folks who just want to stay on the boat and watch from afar.)

But making it to the viewing platform is when the fun really begins, in my opinion. Just as you get used to the position, a gorgeous beast will likely “fly” right by you, gulping up the mounds of tiny plankton near your face. It really is awe-inspiring and I—even though this was my second manta experience—still got a little giddy about the whole thing, as the rays put on a show, diving, rolling, and gliding through the dark waters of the Pacific Ocean. My excitement built even more when they occasionally tapped me with a wing while barrel-rolling by. (Remember: they can touch you, but you can’t touch them.)

That said, as awesome and invigorating as seeing the manta rays is, younger kiddos may lose interest after a while; my son absolutely loved it, but he only made it about 30 minutes into the 45-minute experience before wanting to go back. However, as soon as you’re done, the guys from the team swim you back over to the boat by dragging you and your pool noodle, no effort on your part required!

Even so, when I asked my son what his favorite part of the experience was, he said: “The part when I thought they were about to eat me! Didn’t they look like they were going to eat me?!” While it may have seemed that way to a child—the manta rays get up very close when they barrel roll right in front of you—they truly are gentle giants, unable to harm humans. Though mantas did evolve from stingrays, the only evidence of their days of having a stinger or barbed tail can be seen in their caudal spine, a remnant of that evolution. (Notably, they also have practically no teeth, all of which makes us significantly more dangerous to them than they are to us.) And with the largest brain-to-body ratio of all fish, they know what they’re doing when it comes to interacting with humans.

In fact, their only goal in the evening is to fill their bellies. Manta rays are filter feeders and eat massive amounts of zooplankton, which is why they come towards the viewing platforms. They’ve been conditioned over the years to know that their food likes the lights that are shining into the water, which basically turns into a neon “Come Eat” sign for them.

After we got back to shore, once again enjoying the lights of Kona Harbor on the quick return ride, I realised that this was a family experience we won’t forget in a hurry. Even though this excursion only lasted a few hours, we even made new friends on the boat and hung out with them the following day. I realized that joining in with a group of people to do something extraordinary is actually a great way to meet new people (maybe even a family of friendly locals!). Heck, I might even do it again some day—third time’s the charm, right?

This tour was provided courtesy of Viator.