myUnderwaterPix.com, the Underwater Photo Gallery

Kona, Big Island, Hawaii

On a nice relaxing couple of weeks in Maui and the Big Island, we only got to go scuba diving once. But we had clear intentions when we went diving: Manta Rays. Near the Kona airport and at the Sheraton (where we were staying) Manta Rays converge after dark in order to eat plankton in the bright lights of the scuba divers (at the airport) or of the hotel. We went on a cool little two tanks dive with some folks...an afternoon dive along a lively reef and a shallow dive with a gorgeous Manta Ray.

So the whole point of this trip was to see Manta Rays. You go down with your group, along with about 25 other divers from the 4-5 scuba boats that have all tethered together at this one site. Then everyone sits on the bottom and shined their lights up, illuminating the plankton for the Manta Rays. It is the brightest, most unusual dive I have every been on...oh, and there are 20+ snorkelers on the surface shining lights down. Then the Mantas come right in between to feed.

Our divemaster told us that on average there are 3-5 Manta Rays that come to feed and that most she had ever had was 36 Manta Rays on a single dive. We only had one, but I will tell you it was perfect. Anymore would have been a little worrisome because they are 10-12 wide cruising about 6 inches over your head. It is an amazing experience that I can't wait to repeat.

You'll notice the pictures are spotted. This is the plankton shining in the light of the flash. The plankton was everywhere...it interferes with the pictures, but gives you a good sense of size of the Mantas and the amount of plankton they fed on.

I tried a couple of photos without the flash...they turned out quite out of focus, but you can really see how illuminated the water was that night.

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