Manta night dive in Kona from shore?

[DebbyDiver]

Aloha! I just did a quick forum search and can't find a topic on this. My partner believes that there is a place in/near Kona to do the night snorkeling with the mantas from shore; he thinks you can stay at a particular hotel and swim out from their beach. Is he imagining things or can you actually do this dive from shore? He's hoping to head over there in the next couple of weeks for it. If it's not possible, we'll hop a charter, but he asked me to check. Mahalo!

 

[diversteve]

Debby!!!!!

IDK how current this is - although it looks like they were diving from the Sheraton in Keauhou last summer.
Scuba Shore Diving Site Page for: Manta Ray Dive of The Big Island, Hawaiian Islands

You guys get Kayaks yet? You could put in at the Fairwinds harbor to the north of there. Top right corner of the first picture.

The other Manta site is good for snorkelers also. (off a boat) My niece did that while her dad dove below. They have bright lights on the surface so the Mantas get close to the surface also. They used Kona Diving Co.

Bring your brightest light if you can - bright wins when attracting them. My buddy has a 4K lumen video light - he got all the attention that night.

 

[knotical]

By chance, I posted this ten days ago in another thread:

Three weeks ago we night snorkeled with three small mantas at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel (about 40 miles north of the Sheraton).

They shine a light on the water from the rocks at the north end of their beach. It’s an easy entry and shallow.

For access at night if you’re not a guest, check with the gate guard and they’ll direct you.

If I understand correctly, they must allow public access to the beach during the day (as limited by parking spaces), but at night is at their discretion, so we definitely don’t want to abuse the privilege.

 

[DebbyDiver]

Aloha Steve!!! Yes we did get kayaks! Craigslist is our friend.

Steve and knotical, mahalo!!! I'll show this to Tom.

Coincidentally, our friend and neighbor and her husband and another friend just happened to be on this dive Friday night.

 

[DebbyDiver]

I really, really want to thank everyone for your advice! Because...after careful review of your posts and links, Tom has agreed that a charter would be safer and more productive. I am happy about that. Not sure when we'll get over there to do it, but it will be in the next two months. Any recommendations on your favorite op for this dive?

 

[Midge907]

Any recommendations on your favorite op for this dive?

Kona Dive Company 2-tank manta ray dive. Very fun and friendly boat for such a majestic trip out. Do your first dive while there is still some light, and then make the move to the Manta sight as the sky is getting dark.

 

[DebbyDiver]

Thank you, I see their boat is a cat, I do like diving from cats. k: They also have a great TripAdvisor rating.

 

[Shaka Doug]

If it's your first time I'd definitely recommend going on a charter. Get a feel for it and stuff. Then if you need more manta action consider if it's safe to snorkel it and come up with a plan to do it right. The experience looks so cool I'm sure I could do it 100 times and not be bored yet! Maybe only certain days are good from shore or maybe there are some tricks that make it easier, you know? Even as a pro I'd get familiar with the whole thing first by going with one of them before I tried to wing it on my own. DIVE AKAMAI!!

 

[DebbyDiver]

Shaka Doug, I heartily agree with you! I'm so glad I started this thread, after reading the posts, Tom has changed his mind and we're going to go on a charter very soon!

 

[Midge907]

Thank you, I see their boat is a cat, I do like diving from cats. k: They also have a great TripAdvisor rating.

Actually I'm a big fan of Cats also, and part of what made me choose them back in August of 2011, for a week of dive charters and shore dive tank rentals. My next favorite boat was the Cat owned by BnB scuba in Maui, if I could own any boat it would be that one. You wont regret diving and using KDC for your trip.