Where am I going to dive with Mantas?

[alcina]

Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia!!

Coral Bay has manta rays all year round and it is extremely rare to go on a manta tour and not see them.

Exmouth has mantas mostly from June through November though there are some around all the time, it is more unusual to encounter them outside of that time frame.

Mantas are often encountered on Whale Shark tours, too (late March through into July most years). so you might like to consider seeing two of the big guys in one trip as it is so very far away for most people

 

[h3o]

The Pacific side of Costa Rica off of Playa del Coco is pretty much guarranteed for Mantas... and not to mention massive schools of cow-nosed and devils rays. I dove with rich coast diving. i think their site is richcoast.com or richcoastdiving.com

 

[dangles]

HI

Komodo Island Indonesia would be my first choice for Manta Rays.

The most amazing dive I've ever had was with about 15 mantas, at a site called the alley in a channel on the southern side of Komodo - its the reason I turned into such a diving nut.

You can dive there from Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores (1.5 hour flight from Bali). Reefseekers & CN dive are two operators that could help you out, try

http://www.angelisleflores.com/dive_angel.html

Dan

 

[caymaniac]

Well, there's a slight chance I'll see one in the coral sea, but most likely Kona, and if not maybe Molokini, and if not, then it will be another excuse to go on another dive trip

Dive Safe,
Caymaniac

 

[kraken]

I've had excellent luck diving with Mantas there + its cheap and easy to get to from the states. They also have hammerheads and whalesharks. Mantas are awesome, right up until the Whale Shark runs you over.....

The sea lions are also not to miss. The Moray eel hotels at El Bajo is also pretty amazing. The reef fish exist, but not as colorful as the South Pacific.

The flight to La Paz is just over 2 hours from Los Angeles.

DJ

 

[a1scubadiver]

I've had excellent luck diving with Mantas there + its cheap and easy to get to from the states. They also have hammerheads and whalesharks. Mantas are awesome, right up until the Whale Shark runs you over.....

The sea lions are also not to miss. The Moray eel hotels at El Bajo is also pretty amazing. The reef fish exist, but not as colorful as the South Pacific.

The flight to La Paz is just over 2 hours from Los Angeles.

DJ

what time of year were you there to see the hammerheads and mantas?

 

[Wayan]

My choice would be to go on the Solmar V to the Socorro Islands, (Revillagigedos Archipielago), Would not have Matas but also great shark action as well.

Lots of frineds have been and all had great experiences with mantas coming in real close.

Check out their website http://www.solmar.com/solmarV/index.cfm

Manata Alley in Komodo is also very good as well but visibility is general in the 30 -40 foot range. Mantas here are smaller than the ones in Socorro.

 

[ch08]

There are several other places. Kona on the big island of Hawaii has a world class night manta ray dive where you can get anywhere from 1-15 mantas in a dive. Another famous, little visited island, is the Christmas Island located in Kiribati. I have seen over 20 manta rays at one time on a dive in the passage between the main village of london and a small off-shore island called, Cook Island. If I had to choose between the 3, I would go Christmas Island 1'st, Yap 2'nd, and then Kona 3'rd. This is in a combined order of affordability/reliability/and uniqueness. After all, manta's are great, but so is the whole "National Geographic" experience. I reccommend Christmas Island Diver's Association in Kiribati (www.christmasislanddiving.com), Manta Ray Divers in Yap, and Big Island Divers in Kona.

 

[sunnyvale]

We dove at Socorro (Revillagigedos) aboard the Solmar V last May, and had some manta encounters that were frankly amazing. The mantas there are the biggest I've ever seen.
Like others said, Komodo is also a reliable destination for mantas. I was on the Kararu, and we saw pygmy seahorses and mantas on the same day!
I found the manta experience in Yap to be less interactive than Socorro, but still totally worth it. It's a pretty easy dive: the divemasters take you to one of the channels where the mantas have their cleaning stations, and you sit at the bottom of the channels and watch them until it's time to go up.
Have a great trip!

 

[ChristyBug]

I'm looking for a fun place to go in January but it seems to be the wrong time of year for just about anywhere but the carribean. I've already been diving in Mexico and Central America, Thailand, Egypt and the Phillipines so I don't really want to return to any of those countries. My friend who doesnt dive is coming along so it needs to be fun for her too. How's Yap in January??????????

I dove with Manta's in the Andaman islands and it was the best diving experince ever. Ihaven't encountered a whaleshark yet but wouldnt mind that at all . Anybody knows where they in January. It seems like there everywhere in April, but they don't seize to exist for the other 11 months of the year I reckon