Mantas in Maui??

[iRiE]

Hey all,

Headin back to Maui in March and I'm itchin to see some Manta Rays. Kind of a bucket list item for me. I'll be staying on the northwest side in Lahaina. Any good dive operators there you could recommend? I know its mostly hit and miss as with anything. But I did see some groups actually advertising shark and manta dives. Although they require "Advanced Divers" only. Being a relative newbie (about 20-25 dives) I'm not sure I would qualify. Any ideas on who you think might be a good fit for this?

-iRiE

 

[iRiE]

Dang...not even 1 response??

 

[diversteve]

There may be others but Ed Robinson's knows where they are. He took my buddy to a cleaning station one afternoon where they saw 3. Couldn't get too close. It might have been their 3-tank Adventure dive trip though - although you probably meet the requirements if you dive in SoCal:

Divers must:

Be an Openwater Certified Diver or above
Have been diving within the last 6 months
Have a minimum of 25 lifetime dives
Be comfortable with a max depth of 130 feet and rough ocean conditions

From Lahaina it's about a 45min. drive to the Kihei boat ramp where they launch from.

See page 3 in their photo gallery - Ed took those shots.

 

[smellzlikefish]

I've ne ver been, but Manta Point is supposed to have such a cleaning station. I saw my first manta at Molokini. Your best bet at seeing a manta (depending on your level of dedication) is just across the channel on the Big Island.

 

[Damselfish]

We saw mantas at Molokini (inside the crater) but it was unplanned and on a rare afternoon trip (they usually dive get their diving done in the mornings before the winds pick up.) Boat was split into 2 groups - a family group with one DM and just us with the other. Everyone else went off somewhere and never saw the mantas. So it was just us, a DM and 2 mantas circling close around us for 15-20 minutes. I suspect they wouldn't have hung around like that if there had been a crowd.

For a more sure thing, the manta night dive on the Big Island is the way to go, although there's no guarantee - my husband did it once and got skunked. We did it another time and there were 18. But that does you no good on Maui.

 

[scubahawk27]

Aloha Irie,

If you would be interested in going to a Manta cleaning station off of Ukumehame let me know, we go out with scooters and the depth is 35 to 70 feet. The cleaning station is at 35 so if you are interested in staying shallow we do that. Most dive operators charge you around $120 for this dive but since we do it for fun we just charge $50 to help with the batteries. Both my wife and I are rescue certified and are currently taking the dive master course so let us know if you would like to go we have two extra scooters. We see Mantas about 75% of the time so maybe we can find some.

 

[spoolin01]

If this isn't too late, I'd take scubahawk's offer. We saw Mantas at Ukumehame twice last year on a trip. We found the site by accident, but it's a modest swim from shore, possibly dicey entry/exit, and not easy to describe how to find it. Having a guide would help. Ukumehame is just south of Lahaina, so if you go with a charter, pick one based there rather than Kihei. There may be spots down by Kihei for seeing Mantas, I can't say.

 

[StuartT]

Saw a Manta once at Haloa point (white rock beach)

 

[Shaka Doug]

There were two big ones cruising Palauea Beach for over a half hour just last week (Thursday). We see them occasionally from the shore but you can't "count" on it... (I wish it was more often!!!)

 

[akmike]

Hey Doug, I think that's where I saw my first Manta on a scooter dive with you a couple of years ago. Is Palauea Beach AKA White Rock?

Mike