Mauna Kea manta snorkel on your own

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

DougieG

Contributor
Messages
71
Reaction score
12
Location
Wisconsin
# of dives
50 - 99
Has anyone done this? Is it safe? Is it legal? Is it OK to do if you are not staying at the Mauna Kea Hotel? Any "insider" advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
Safe, easy, and legal. We've done it several times over the years. Limited parking available and a bit of a hike. Only about 10-15' max depth, sand bottom.
 
Thanks Volksfolks! Do you need a dive light or not for the night snorkel, or is there enough other light around?
 
Has anyone done this? Is it safe? Is it legal? Is it OK to do if you are not staying at the Mauna Kea Hotel? Any "insider" advice would be greatly appreciated!


Just was told a couple days ago that the Mauna Kea is starting to charge a lot to park there. The free but limited beach access parking is daylight only (I believe) so parking seems an issue indeed. Sucks.
 
I'll run by and check it put this week, legally they can't close off the free access parking soo....
 
That’s what I thought too. But OTH they close/gate a lot of parks pretty early and usually before you would night dive/snorkel.

I’ve seen mantas there and dolphins during daylight snorkels but the one time I was going to do it at night a large swell came straight in there.
 
I've done it twice - last November and about a year previous. Definitely bring lights, though you may turn them off once you're near the light they have in the water (the mantas can get... tooo close if you have a bright light attracting all the plankton.) Also not a bad idea to have a friend or family member watching from "topside" over the light (inlaws make good topside spotters :D).

We usually tell the gate guard we are going to get drinks at the Manta restaurant, then park wherever we can - we've been lucky with spots open near the golf clubhouse and no one has bugged us. It's an amazing way to spend some quality time with mantas by yourself :D - and hey, then you can go get drinks at the Manta restaurant to celebrate! :D

We're heading back to the big island for the weekend after July 4th, so may go check it out again!
 
Went and dove last night. No problems at all, we hung out on the beach after until 10:30 or so. No locked gates, no harrassment of any kind.
 
Nice to see this thread. Will be staying in Waikoloa end of Oct./first of Nov. and was hoping to hear about some different things to do.

Dove with Jack’s Diving Locker a few years ago and did the manta snorkel, but definitely okay about doing something on our own.
 

Back
Top Bottom