Diving with Mantas in August - Where to?

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tholden1

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Location
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Where is the best place to go in August to see Manta Rays? Right now I'm thinking the Maldives on a LOB. I don't want to fight strong current, so I think that takes Indonesia out of the picture. Fiji looks interesting but I think the Maldives will have more big stuff.

I don't care about corals, or macro life. I want the big stuff, and primarily Mantas. Where should I go?

Thanks.
 
Cayman?
 
Cayman for Manta Rays ?

Stingray City on Grand Cayman for stingrays. If you want Manta's, Cayman is not the place to go.
 
You beat me to it ronscuba. Exactly. I had a great shallow dive at Grand Cayman while the stingrays and a moray eel swam around us. But, it is not the best place for the big rays.
 
Yap actually has great manta diving, but it's done in shallow channels over feeding stations during the changing of the tides. This means there will be significant current and the viz will be much different than on the reefs--green water from the mangrove/bays 50-70 ft viz.
 
That sounds interesting. The current though would make me lean more towards Maldives which as I understand from research has less current in August. But thank you for the heads-up. I'll keep that one on my radar for some other trip when I'm more up tougher dives.

Yap actually has great manta diving, but it's done in shallow channels over feeding stations during the changing of the tides. This means there will be significant current and the viz will be much different than on the reefs--green water from the mangrove/bays 50-70 ft viz.
 
Where is the best place to go in August to see Manta Rays? Right now I'm thinking the Maldives on a LOB. I don't want to fight strong current, so I think that takes Indonesia out of the picture. Fiji looks interesting but I think the Maldives will have more big stuff.

I don't care about corals, or macro life. I want the big stuff, and primarily Mantas. Where should I go?

Thanks.

I was in Manta Alley (South Komodo) twice (June & August). There were not much of current to speak of then. Was I lucky twice?

Also I dove in Taka Makassar (Central Komodo) in December. There were not much current then either. Another lucky dive for the 3rd time?

Both sites are Manta cleaning station in Komodo. They are in shallow reef. I think if you have a good DM, they know when is the right time to go, like during a slack tide.
 
Manta Point in Nusa Penida, Bali is also a good place to dive with manta.

Manta Sandy & Manta Ridge in Central Raja Ampat are similar to that of Komodo.

If you like to see the Oceanic manta then you can go to Misool (South Raja Ampat) & dive in Magic Mountain.
 
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