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The 2 tank manta ray night dive is an exhilarating experience that is unique to the Kona Coast and one of the top night dives in the world. Kona Honu Divers is the top rated and most reviewed dive company in Hawaii and we provide the highest quality experience available above and below the surface.
The Manta Ray Dive Experience
You will board the Honu One, Kona’s most spacious and well appointed dive boat, at the Honokohau Harbor and cruise north along the coast to Garden Eel Cove. The diving begins with a reef dive led by our highly trained and experienced staff. Divers will spend their surface interval enjoying a Kona sunset and a light meal before having an educational and fascinating briefing on the manta ray’s lifestyle. Once the sun dips below the horizon, you will gear up and re-enter the water in the hopes to see these gentle giants perform their graceful underwater ballet. Your manta ray night dive will be 60 minutes long. We see these magnificent creatures 80% of the time. If there are no manta rays we will offer the opportunity to enjoy an epic night reef dive.
Dive Requirements
- Must be in good health with NO heart conditions
- Proof of open water certification or higher
- Must be 12 years of age or older and accompanied by a parent or guardian
- Have been diving within the last 2 years
- Must be able to converse in English
- You must be a comfortable diver
- You must be able to dive in a group and not need more attention than what is normally provided on a guided dive
- You must remember there are other guests onboard that are looking for a premium experience so our standards MUST be met. Kindly be a responsible and considerate diver
- Check out The Frequently Asked Questions
*Cancel or rebook up to 48 hours before. Reserve your space now before it sells out!
Manta Ray Snorkeling Options
Do you or a member of your party want to snorkel with the manta rays instead? Check out our sister company’s Manta Ray Night Snorkel with Hawaii’s top-rated and most reviewed snorkel operator. Located a few hundred feet away from our dive boat your group can all receive the best experience tailored to the group’s qualifications.
Our Policies
Kona Honu Divers makes every effort to ensure our values are met. Our policies reflect our values in an effort to ensure all divers have a safe & fun experience when diving with us.
Directions to The Honu One
Why Dive with Us?
Kona Honu Divers has been offering the manta ray night dive since 2002. We take pride in offering one of the highest quality experiences in scuba diving in Hawaii. We have chosen to exclusively tailor our experience toward the highest quality diving experience available in Hawaii. By visiting Garden Eel cove exclusively we are taking a step towards providing a safer and more sustainable manta ray night dive. It’s better for the mantas, the environment, and for our guests. We offer a spacious 49 passenger custom-built Newton dive boat fitted with the amenities not usually found on other dive boats. Our crew has years of experience guiding in Kona which means you will always have a great experience above and below the water. Our tanks are neutral buoyancy aluminum 80’s. This means your buoyancy and trim will always be right and you won’t require as much weight while diving. We are also Hawaii’s first and only company to offer free nitrox to divers who are certified for it because we value the safety it offers. Our rental gear is high quality and we select only the most reliable and comfortable brands of dive gear so that you can focus on the diving experience around you. We also proactively maintain our dive rental equipment with regular checkups to help avoid unnecessary malfunctions. All of these things combine to create an experience that exceeds what you can expect from other dive operators. That’s why people love to dive with us and continue to return year after year.
Why We Don’t offer Snorkeling
Kona Honu Divers used to take both scuba divers and snorkelers on the same boat. It was convenient for families who have both divers and snorkelers in the group. A scuba charter typically takes about 3 hours for a 1 tank dive and 5 for a 2 tank trip. This means snorkelers would spend 1-3 hours more on the water on a dive tour than a snorkeling tour. As a result, they can be more prone to seasickness when the boat is sitting still in the water. On a snorkel tour, most of the time is spent either cruising or in the water. This leaves minimal time for those who are prone to seasickness to get seasick. If you’re set on a 1 tank manta dive & snorkel you can book with our awesome partner. We have opted to specialize in taking only divers on our manta ray night dive. This means the divers on the boat will have maximum spaciousness aboard with the staff attending only to their needs. Our boat is Hawaii’s most spacious with a capacity of 49 passengers and a maximum of 18 divers aboard.
If you do wish to go snorkeling or have family interested in snorkeling with the manta rays you can book here with our sister company (also top rated in all of Hawaii).
Dive Package Options
Looking to do a lot of diving but want to save some money? In addition to the manta ray night dive Kona Honu Divers also has some other dives that are unique to Hawaii. For divers with the desire to get more dives under their weight belt, the 2-Tank Local Morning Dive offers fun easy diving along Kona’s beautiful coast. The reefs and their critters always seem to impress. For the more experienced diver, we recommend the Premium Advanced 2-Tank Dive trip where more experienced divers hop aboard our faster and more exclusive dive boat, the Honu Lele. The advanced trips include a meal and allow you to go to the less often visited sites farther afield. This means you’ll see some of the more unique features available in these harder-to-reach dive sites.
Have you dove it all and are looking for something completely different? Try the Blackwater Night Dive. One of the strangest and most unique dives, on par with the manta ray dive, Kona is home to some deep waters nearby. We head out offshore into 3000 feet (1000 meters) of water to experience the world’s largest migration of animals on the planet. Float in the pelagic among some of the strangest critters. Some are new to science and have never been seen before by human eyes! It’s often about some of the strange small and wonderful critters in the dark but sometimes we get lucky and see some of the larger pelagic animals coming through from the dark depths.
Do you have a group of friends or family and are looking for something a bit more exclusive? We offer private Kona boat tours for groups looking to dive or snorkel together. For family reunions or wedding parties, the Honu One can comfortably accommodate up to 30 snorkelers. For smaller families or friend groups the Honu Lele can accommodate up to 6 guests in a more intimate setting. Regardless of your diving experience or expectations, Kona Honu Divers is looking forward to showing you just how good scuba diving Hawaii can be.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you take snorkelers on the Manta Dive?
We used to but decided to focus on what we do best. Diving! Snorkelers can book with Hawaii’s top rated and most reviewed snorkel company Kona Snorkel Trips. The tour is only 2 hours versus the 5 hours diving. If you must keep the group together you can book a 1 tank dive with our partner.
How deep is the Kona Manta dive?
The ‘campfire’ where divers spend the majority of the dive is at around 35 feet (11 meters) deep. On the manta ray night dive in general the dive will vary from around 45-55 feet deep max depth. This depth is usually reached on the way from the boat to the campfire.
Where is the Manta Ray Night Dive?
There are 2 sites. 1. Garden Eel cove and 2. Keahou Point. Garden Eel Cove also known as Makako Bay is the best site for scuba diving with the manta rays. This is because the bottom topography and protection from ocean swell is better here. There are also fewer boats here on a typical night making it safer and less crowded. Kona Honu Divers only visits the northern site for these reasons.
How Long is the Manta Ray Dive?
Divers will spend 25-45 minutes at the campfire. This is where the mantas and divers congregate. Your biggest limitation will be your air consumption as Kona Honu Divers allows divers to dive the air in their tank. The total dive time is up to you and your air consumption!
Can A Manta Ray Hurt You?
There has never been an incident with a manta hurting a person. Mantas don’t have stingers or teeth. They also move gracefully through the water. It would be very difficult for a manta ray to hurt a person. Although, we could tell you stories about manta rays taking off with people’s cameras!
What is the Best Time to See Manta Rays in Hawaii?
The only factors that affect viewing are the diving conditions which are typically better from May – November. The number of mantas doesn’t appear to vary by time of year. Looking through several years of consistent data we have not found a trend in manta ray abundance.