Swimming with the Manta Rays is another amazing thing to do on the island. The night dive/snorkel is the best way to find them. I was lucky enough to spot one on one of my dives off Oahu's west coast several years ago. Mantas are pretty rare to spot during the day, and even less common around Oahu. It was on my ascent and during my safety stop. The surface was just 10 feet above me and about 30 yards to my left I could see the manta ray floating above. Amazing, elegant and incredible. It looked like the bat signal calling out to Bruce Wayne. It had to be 8 feet or more across.
When I got to the boat, the people above were scrambling from one side of the boat to the other, to try to find it. It had already swam away before I could grab my camera.
From the public access shore of the Sheraton, it looked like less than a quarter mile swim out to the spot where it all happens. We seriously considered doing this without the tour group that charged $90 each for a 5 minute ride out that included all snorkel gear, drinks and snacks. Seriously, the boat marina couldn't be more than a half mile away!! All we would have to do was buy some dive lights, snorkel out about 1/4 mile, then snorkel back.
It wouldn't be too dangerous, right? The swim out wouldn't be completely dark yet, plus we'd have our lights. The snorkel back would be more challenging because of the dark and we'd need to avoid the many boats already out there. Also, we'd need to put a white towel out on the beach where we entered so we can find our way back.
I know it sounds crazy, but it was adventurous and I can't justify spending $180 on a 1/2 mile boat ride (BUT you get snacks and drinks!! oooh!). Apparently, some of the locals do the exact same thing.
Well it turned out we never did get to do this. We didn't have time that night, and I'm not sure if that was too bad, or lucky for us. But now it's on our list of things to do when/if we ever get back to Kona.
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