I was on the Black Manta crossing trip from Ambon to Sorong last early November and we saw them. They also were there in October, from reports of other boats.
We did 3 dives a day there, you swim out into the blue and keep your eyes open waiting for that moment. Then if your me you screw up your video cause your so damn excited. Diving out in the blue is a bit freaky, your only point of refrence is other divers, some can get vertigo. I would focus on small specs of algea to avoid it when i didnt have other divers in view.The first dive of the day we tended to see them in twos and threes, then the second a few more, and sometimes we would see them over the reef. Then the much anticipated 3rd dive right before sundown is when your best chance at big schools comes. Who knows why they come up in large numbers at that time? But at that time we saw them in large numbers. The schools would be about 30-40 in size and it was really amazing.
That crossing trip is really epic, besides the hammerheads, there are some really nice reefs, where I was lucky enough to see some barrel sponges spawning. And Manuk Island in the morning is really spectacular, Manuk means bird and in the morning the seabirds start taking off circling and heading out to sea for the day. Manuk is also is known for the large number of sea snakes there, and yes I can vouch for that fact. I was originally a bit nervous as I'm not a huge fan of snakes, but curious as they are I found myself enamoured with them. Another priceless moment was when the Black Manta was bringing a new outboard for a village and we were greeted with songs, food, and huge smiles and thankyous.
We were blessed with really calm seas, even glassy at times, frequent spotting of whales and dolphins, and some really epic dives.
