Raja Ampat Oceanic Mantas-Diving Required?

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Magic Mountain has been more reliable for me as well.

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This is what you might see snorkeling at Magic Mountain.

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Thanks everyone for all the very helpful information. It sounds like we should learn to dive. What are the months of the year that have the best chances to see oceanic mantas at the Blue Magic dive site. It sounds like the chances are better at the Magic Mountain dive site but we won't be staying in that area.
Thanks in advance for any additional information.
 
Thanks everyone for all the very helpful information. It sounds like we should learn to dive. What are the months of the year that have the best chances to see oceanic mantas at the Blue Magic dive site. It sounds like the chances are better at the Magic Mountain dive site but we won't be staying in that area.
Thanks in advance for any additional information.
I have seen them all year round. There are less divers and therefore less boats during the off season(May/June-Sept./Oct) so you might get more chances for one on one encounters without diver interference. Most resorts/operators will know when to go with snorkelers so maybe contact the resort. There are many other places to see mantas in that area so you might have other options as well.
Another option to consider is adding on a few days in Bali or Nusa Penida area to snorkel with the mantas, but they are mostly reef mantas there...so you need to learn to dive then go to Socorro!!! :wink:
 
Thanks for the information. Great to hear that the oceanic mantas are there year round. I had read one account that said it was possible to see reef mantas year round but that the oceanic mantas only showed up for a few months of the year; not quite sure which months. But anyway, as the oceanic mantas are there year-round it eliminates restrictions on what months we have to go if we want to see them.
 
Thanks for the information. Great to hear that the oceanic mantas are there year round. I had read one account that said it was possible to see reef mantas year round but that the oceanic mantas only showed up for a few months of the year; not quite sure which months. But anyway, as the oceanic mantas are there year-round it eliminates restrictions on what months we have to go if we want to see them.
Well there is definitely more plankton in the water during the on-season October-May so you will have more chance of seeing them during this time. This also means less visibility, but more fish.
 
I have seen them all year round. There are less divers and therefore less boats during the off season(May/June-Sept./Oct) so you might get more chances for one on one encounters without diver interference. Most resorts/operators will know when to go with snorkelers so maybe contact the resort. There are many other places to see mantas in that area so you might have other options as well.
Another option to consider is adding on a few days in Bali or Nusa Penida area to snorkel with the mantas, but they are mostly reef mantas there...so you need to learn to dive then go to Socorro!!! :wink:
Reef mantas can be found at Kona 100ft offshore at 25-40 ft depth, almost 100% chances, singles or groups up to 5-6. No currents.
 
I dug out my old video clips from Raja Ampat trips and found one on Blue Magic. The visibility was poor, but you can still identify the oceanic manta. It just hovering on the cleaning station at 66 feet depth. So snorkelers won’t enjoy looking at the fuzzy manta at deep & murky water.

One thing interesting in that video is the manta didn’t like the bubbles from the diver below it, which is totally the opposite of Socorro’s oceanic manta which seek divers to get cleaned by the bubbles.

 
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