mantas

[Rickg]

Here is a repeat of a post I did awhile back on this.

Quote:
Mantas
I have seen mantas at Midway, Yap and most recently just this past October at Sangalaki Island (I know I'm remiss in posting a trip report but hopefully I'll find some time now that the holidays is over).

Sangalaki was the best of the 3 for #s of mantas and also for size with the largest probably approaching 5-6 meters wing tip to wing tip. Actually, they have 2 varieties there - the giant Pacific manta (most comman) and also the pygmy manta (which I didn't get to see or at least didn't recognize). I'm estimating the size based on surface sightings and not the "enlarged" underwater view We were able to snorkel with multiple mantas (20+ per snorkel) on every day while we were there and frequently saw them while diving also although usually not in those #s. On our 2 best days we did get to have "mantas on parade" while we were diving and had processions of between 20-30 mantas pass above, below and to both sides of us while we were diving. Its times like this that I wish my head would swivel 360 degrees.

I also have to mention the coral. I have never seen such an abundance and variation of pristine hardcorals anywhere (Midway, Hawaii, Guam, Yap, Truk, Palau, Sipadan, Okinawa, or Christmas Island).

The downside to the trip was the visibility which was 8-10m horizontal on the worst days and maybe 20m horizantal on our best days. There is a great abundance of plankton in the waters around Sangalaki which I'm sure has something to do with why the mantas are attracted to there but it does cut down on the visibility but a return trip to Sangalaki is something we plan on making.

Rickg
Unquote:

Also if you do a search on this site for manta you will find a lot of hits on this subject. Some areas in French Polynesia also look to be very good for manta diving.

Rickg

 

[friscuba]

Just out of curiosity, what do people consider a "successful" manta outing. Is it watching a manta or two or twelve for a few seconds, few minutes, the entire dive? Is it seeing them in the distance, say within 10 feet, or is it having them continuously dive bombing within inches of you?

Just curious.

Steve

 

[JohnnyQuest]

I can't believe no one has mentioned Soccorro (Solmar V). That's the best for mantas by far. Yap is no where near as good. In Socorro they literally pester you. They hang inches from your face and follow you for the whole dive. They seek you out. The Solmar V is a great boat and the other (non-manta) diving is a blast too: Hammerheads, Galapagos sharks, dolphins, white tips, tuna, etc. And the Soccorro mantas are BIG. Some in the >15' range. The Kona night dive is surely a blast, but Soccorro is THE manta place.

 

[ronrosa]

Where is Soccorro ?

 

[SterlingDiver]

Yap, baby!

 

[rjens]

ronrosa asked

Where is Soccorro ?

It is a livaboard dive off of Cabo San Lucas (Baja). Check out the ad:

Socorro Island (Mexico)

Here is a quote from their site:

The Socorro Islands are famous for unbelievable encounters with Giant Mantas. These winged giants are up to 22-feet across and it is common to be in the water with five or more of these winged giants at once. They seem to enjoy interaction with scuba divers thinking we are giant cleaner fish and once they arrive stay with our divers all day long. There is no finer place in the world to photograph giant mantas. The water is blue, there are plenty of mantas, and they even seem to pose for your camera. There also plenty of sharks at Socorro - huge schools of hammerheads, white tips, silver tips, silky sharks, duskies, Galapagos sharks & occasionally tiger sharks. There are frequent encounters with wild Bottlenose Dolphin and in February to mid-April these islands are home to a large population of Humpback Whales that come here to breed and calve. Throw in whale sharks, giant tuna (the world record yellowfin tuna is from these waters), wahoo and many other big critters along with endemic tropical fishes found nowhere else in the world and you have an unequalled diving experience.

 

[JohnnyQuest]

Based on my trip there, the quote that rjens posted is pretty accurate. Yes the mantas were huge. I didn't have my tape measure so I can't verify the 22' but that's not too much of an exaggeration. And there would often be five at a time within a few feet. "Huge" schools of hammerheads is relative. In Socorro we saw schools of 10 to 20. In Galapagos and Cocos they are in the 100s or even 1,000s. We did see most of the other critters too except for whale sharks and humpbacks.

The 23 hours crossing from Cabo can get rough. The Solmar V is a great boat, but in high seas the hull vibrates with such a frequency that my skull resonated for most of those hours. But such is the life of a diver in search of great diving!!

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I just remembered I wrote a review for the Undercurrent Chapbook. Here is what I wrote in December 1999 right after our trip (from what I've read/heard, not much has changed since then):

"The Solmar V boat is nice. Everything is kept very clean and in proper repair. Our “Superior” accommodations were quite adequate. Floors are carpeted and all the trim is mahogany. The bottom bunk was plenty large enough for my wife and me to share (but we are both small: 5'-8" and 5'-4"). We used the top bunk as a shelf. This combined with the very small closet, the single small drawer, and the hull-side cubby holes provided ample storage space (a little less than other live-aboards). Had we been unable to share the bottom bunk, the storage space would have been pretty tight. The combination shower/head was large enough for two and had unending hot water and high water pressure. Although the community/salon area of the ship is nicely appointed and large, it is long and narrow and required that the guests (22 of us - full boat) dine or lounge in separate groups. There are two booths (5 seats each) and two small tables (2 seats each) along each side, but no couches or freestanding chairs. The rear upper sun deck has 9 lounge chairs and the bow has a large pad which will accommodate about 6. Fortunately not all 22 of us were sun worshipers so the sun area was adequate. There was an unending supply of beach towels.

The 23-hour journey out to San Benedicto was loud. With the ship under way, the hull vibrates pretty badly and my head and teeth rattled. Amazingly I was able to sleep.

The food was great. Each breakfast started with large platters of cut fruit; a good stock of cereal and milk; and Danish-type baked items (not fresh, but good). After this, the main breakfast arrived: pancakes, French toast, poached eggs, or a variety of traditional Mexican things - beans and chips etc. Lunches and dinners consisted of salad, soup, entre, and dessert. No one should lose weight on this trip! All meals were on table cloths and were served efficiently and cheerfully by Pepe’. Men were asked to wear shirts during meals; women were allowed to dine in bikini tops. No men complained.

The diving? Fantastic, but unique. Each dive was for a particular animal. Unlike most other places, where divers swim or drift over reefs looking for small or large critters, dives here were often through bottomless blue water to encounter tuna, schools of tropicals, dolphins, sharks, or rays. And they were encountered on all but two of our 18 dives (5 days of 3 to 4 dives each). We swam with dolphins and sharks simultaneously, schools of silkys, schools of hammerheads, schools of tuna, and 15' mantas. Oh yeah, there was also a dive where caves were filled with 6' to 8' white tips. There are no reefs (or only very minimal reefs on a few dives) but tons of in-your-face big critters. The mantas swam with us (inches away) for 30 minutes, the sharks often got feet away, and the dolphins (one dive only) were pretty playful. We were fortunate enough to get to Roca Partida where the density of sharks and fish was even higher.

The seas can be rough, the panga rides (half of our dives were from pangas - 11 divers in each) were often “exciting” when the surf was up, and the bottomless deep dives make this a place for experienced divers only. There were 22 of us on the boat and the requirement that all main-ship diving be done off the port side often made for a long line of anxious divers. I never understood why all diving had to be off the port side, but we managed. Also, all divers donned their own equipment on deck and walked to the side. Afterwards, fins were handed up and we walked back to our assigned stations to remove equipment: no don’t-lift-a-finger-we-will-do-it-all Caribbean- type service here.

Overall, it was an excellent trip, excellent boat, and excellent crew."

 

[champ]

They consistantly have mantas all year long in Yap (with the exception if a typhoon comes and the mantas head out to deep water). The best time to see the Mantas is January and February when the Mantas are mating in Mill Channel. During this time you will see a dozen mantas not on one trip but one dive.

 

[Mantasscareme]

You can almost guarrantee a sighting in Kona, Hawaii. It's a bit out of the way from Australia, and otherwise the biodiversity is supposed to be slightly less than Palau, Yap, ect., but well, I was buzzed by 7 of them on one night dive. Check out http://www.jacksdivinglocker.com/charters2/mantanight.htm

 

[frogfish]

In my experience:
- Sangalaki (squadrons !)
- Komodo
- Maldives
- to a lesser extent: around Similans in Thailand