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One of the most popular dives in the world. 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.
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The Manta Ray Dive Experience
You will board the Honu One, Kona’s most spacious and well appointed dive boat, at 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 about 45 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.
Why Divers Choose Kona Honu Divers
- High standards to join our tours
- Highly Experienced guides
- Small dive groups – 6:1 ratio
- Free Nitrox for those that hold the certification
- Neutral buoyancy 80cuft tanks
- You get to dive as long as your tank lasts
- Educational briefing of dive sites
- A variety of snacks during your surface interval
- Marine head
- Hot water shower – a divers favorite!
- 46 Passenger dive boat with a maximum of 18 divers aboard
- Our high-quality rental gear is serviced and replaced more regularly
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
*You can cancel or rebook all the way up to 72 hours before the charter. Reserve your space now before it sells out!
Manta Ray Diving Videos
Check out these videos from guests and our youtube channel showing the manta ray dive Kona’s most popular dive in action. While Kona’s manta rays don’t show every night when they do it’s a spectacular show.
Directions to The Honu One
The Next Level Experience
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 focus toward the highest quality diving experience available
in Hawaii. By adhering to guest service standards we provide an elevated level of service over other dive operators.
Quality
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.
Safety
By visiting Manta Ray Heaven 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 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.
The Kona Honu Divers Difference
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.
Scuba Tours Are 2 Hours Longer
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.
Maximum Spaciousness
Since 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 46 passengers and a maximum of 18 divers on board.
Snorkeling is Better for Most
If you do wish to go snorkeling or have family interested in snorkeling with the manta rays you can check availability here with our sister company (also top rated in all of Hawaii and owned by the same person as Kona Honu Divers).
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.
Start here
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.
Advanced Diving
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.
The Next level
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 cruise out offshore into 3000 feet (1000 meters) deep 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.
Great for Groups
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 24 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
Snorkelers see Kona’s manta rays from the surface and divers kneel on
the bottom. They are essentially different perspectives of the same show. The manta rays will
perform loop-de-loops so everyone gets to see everything. The manta rays will come very close to the
divers and snorkelers. Snorkeling
is better if you want to go with groups that are not dive certified and is also less
expensive. Snorkeling is also quicker taking around 2 hours. Diving gives you the opportunity to see
a lot more in addition to the manta rays, but costs more and takes around 5 hours. Check our
availability for diving here.
If the ocean conditions are their usual calm the manta viewing will take
place at 35 feet (10 meters). If the swell picks up considerably we use a deeper campfire at 55 feet
(17 meters).
Hawaii Island (Known as the Big Island) has some of the best diving in
Hawaii. Kona (west side) has clear warm water that is calm most of the year and filled with lava
features. There is an abundance of marine life including lots of large animals.
Kona has the best diving in Hawaii and exceptional diving when it comes
to large animals, and dramatic underwater lava formations.
September is the best month to dive in Kona because the ocean conditions
are best and there are fewer divers on the island.
The Big Island of Hawaii has the best diving among the Hawaiian Islands.
If you did one dive you will need to wait 12 hours before driving to
Hilo from Kona. If you did 2 or more dives, you will need a minimum of 18 hours before driving from
Kona to Hilo.