Frequently Asked Questions

Participants in our moonlight manta snorkel tour need to be at least 12 years old. 

While most other tour operators allow younger children to come along, we no longer do. 

Read more here about why we raised the minimum age to 12 years old!

While we do what we can to keep the manta ray snorkel experience safe for everyone involved, there are some additional risks involved for participants dealing with e.g. cardiovascular conditions, respiratory problems, or different abilities.

If this applies to you or one of the guests in your party, contact us before booking for personalized advice. In some cases, we may invite you to book a private experience instead.

Every participant needs to be a good swimmer. Swimming in the ocean can be scary enough during the day for the inexperienced swimmer; for our Moonlight Manta Ray Swim Experience, we enter the water at night, in the dark, surrounded by giant fish and other marine life. 

It’s important that you not only know how to swim in water too deep to stand, but feel confident in the ocean so you can fully focus on the experience, instead of worrying about staying afloat.

In addition to this, we require all participants to have recent ocean snorkeling experience. It takes practice to get comfortable in snorkeling gear; while we’re in the water, you’ll want to enjoy the experience instead of fiddling around with equipment. Or worse, compromising the safety of the group and ruining the experience for everyone when the swim guide needs to accompany you back to shore.

A manta snorkel experience is a lovely idea to gift to others, but not everyone meets the prerequisites. 

If you surprise someone or if you’re organizing a trip for someone else, they might not have the skills needed for successful participation – or it may turn out they’re not so keen on going into the dark ocean at night to swim with giant fish. It wouldn’t be the first time this happens! 

This is not only a big disappointment for everyone involved, but you also can’t get a refund if someone ends up not being able to participate. 

Every participant must sign their own liability waiver – acknowledging they meet the prerequisites. We do not issue a refund if you can’t participate because you don’t meet the prerequisites. 

Unfortunately, no. 

All participants in a group tour need to speak and understand English: before and during the experience, guides need to be able to give instructions and receive feedback from all participants directly. We don’t always have time to wait for instructions to get translated by someone else in the group.

If you can’t or don’t want to join one of our group activities, we offer private manta ray snorkeling tours for individuals or small groups. This is recommended for participants with disabilities or other special needs. 

Please contact us to inquire – or purchase all six spots in a tour when booking online. 

The likelihood of seeing mantas during a moonlight swim decreases during the winter; large swells can generate high surf and waves that crash along the shoreline. This makes the manta viewing site harder to access. 

The probability of manta sightings is best during the spring, summer, and fall.

If you’re visiting Hawaii during the winter, that doesn’t mean you can’t book a manta experience with us: we do our best to forecast the likelihood of big swells, and cancel tours ahead of time – we even close our business for two weeks each winter.

There is no “best” experience here; snorkeling allows you to see the mantas from above, as they gracefully swim and feed below us – scuba diving requires you to stay near the bottom and look up, seeing the mantas from a different angle. If you choose to go scuba diving with manta rays, you need a certification to join.  

At Manta Ray Advocates, we only offer a snorkeling experience, to keep it sustainable for everyone involved.. 

All our swimming guides have a lifeguard certification, which includes first aid. They also have ample experience working with marine life. 

Some have PADI certifications, including scuba instructor. 

I (Martina) am the most experienced woman along the Kona Coast (hours spent in the water with mantas). I’ve done the manta swim on scuba diving, snorkeling, swim guiding, and filming through all seasons/harsh ocean conditions. There is not much I haven’t seen specifically to the manta activity.

I personally hired, trained, and/or assessed all crew, and continue to further educate them through storytelling about the many mantas and humans I have met. 

The ocean at night with large fish is not only an exceptional journey for our guests, but also for the team we have built. It brings me lots of joy to have an all-female crew and to elevate their knowledge, skills set and confidence.

I am proud to run “a tight ship.” Our approach may be considered assertive: we promise to keep the guests safe and sound, and that sometimes means we can’t make exceptions that may compromise the safety or overall satisfaction of other participants. 

Our team keeps a steady feedback loop, as we constantly have to adjust to new group dynamics and changing ocean conditions. We pride ourselves on exceptional customer service, based on our many years in business. 

There are 3 recognized manta ray viewing sites along the Kona coast in Hawaii. Read all about the different sites on this page!

While the other two locations are accessible by boat, boats are not allowed at the Manta Point location, where we operate. We walk directly into the water from a sandy beach at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. This makes for a unique and relaxing experience, far from the crowds and boat traffic at the other viewing sites. 

We meet at the activity kiosk on the beach for a briefing and preparations before we go into the water; you will receive full directions by email after you book.

The Manta Ray Moonlight Swim always takes place at night, because that is when the mantas come to feed. 

Artificial lights at the viewing site attract plankton, the primary food source for manta rays. Over time, the mantas have learned to associate the nightly lights with a reliable food source. Learn more about how viewing sites are set up on this page.

We meet up on the beach for a safety briefing and information about the manta rays, the ocean, and other marine animals you may encounter. After this, we help you get ready for the adventure before you enter the ocean with our experienced guides. 

The activity takes about 75-90 minutes in total, of which 30-40 minutes are spent in the water.

Manta rays are notorious pacifists; Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray, a much different creature. In over 25 years of scuba diving along the Kona coast, we have only seen sting rays twice – and not at our location. 

Stingrays are shy creatures that roam in deeper water. Read about how manta rays protect themselves here – and more about the difference between mantas and stingrays here.

Find the guidelines for safe and passive interaction with manta rays on this page.

Over the course of our 50+ years of in-water experience with manta rays, we have never seen a predatory shark during the experience.

We may get augmented numbers of box jellyfish in the area at certain times of the month (read about this phenomenon here). We will reach out to you with additional information for skin protection if you end up booking on a high-probability jellyfish night. 

Other marine life is likely to show up at the viewing site in the course of the experience; they pose little to no threat, and your swim guide will instruct you on how to passively interact with these animals during the safety briefing at the beginning of the activity. 

Read more here about the marine life you may encounter on a manta ray swim

Find the guidelines for interacting with marine life on this page

No, touching removes a protective coating from their skin and this is harmful to the manta rays. Trying to ride or touch them can harm or kill them. More about this here.

While a moonlight snorkel adventure at this viewing site offers one of the best chances to experience manta rays in their natural environment (80% over the course of the year, over 90% in summer/spring/fall), manta rays are still wild animals. Many factors influence their presence, and those can change rapidly.

We do our best to forecast the likelihood of seeing mantas, but there is still no guarantee of mantas showing up (much like whale-watching or fishing).

If the manta rays do not appear, we do not offer a refund, a discount, or a rain check. 

99% of participants leave exhilarated by the experience nonetheless; even if the mantas don’t show up, there is plenty of other marine life to encounter! 

Check out this article for more details on a “manta sighting guarantee” and the likelihood of seeing manta rays during your snorkel experience.