Kona Manta ray dive

JAR

JAR

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I just got back from a nice family trip to the big island.
I was lucky enough to go on a great night dive where we saw about a dozen manta rays swooping around us eating the plankton that was attracted to our flashlights.
Truly amazing creatures. A magical experience.
Not my vid but same story.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOQhvSLgGjI
 
Had the opportunity to do that last year when I went to the Big Island. Truly an amazing experience with such beautiful and peaceful animals! Everyone should do it if they ever get the chance.
 
I have a video somewhere with her right over my head. Definately a must do dive when you are there. Sounds like you got lucky and saw a bunch of Mantas. Any other dives while you were there? My brother lives on the other side of the island so I get out there fairly often.
 
Nikki and I got to dive with the Mantas just outside the barrier reef at Kadavu, Fiji this last summer. They showed no concern when making eye contact with us. They swam among our group comfortably.
 
The wife and I were mostly snorkeling and I was working on my freediving.
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sfsuphysics said:
Man that is something that seems unnerving. Don't know if it's something I'd want to do.
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Try swimming with the basking sharks over the MB canyon (DEEP BLUE). While they won't eat you, it sure is unnerving to see a 12' open mouth coming for you :lol: The scariest part for me was the deep blue though, I really dislike swimming/diving in such deep water.
 
I Palau the water is so clear that you'll be at 100 feet deep, be able to see the surface 100 feet above you and the "drop off" 200 feet below you. It is just like a "flying dream". Gliding along with the current and gently changing your course with small fin corrections. Strangely enough, there is no sense of vertigo even when gliding over a big drop off. My favorite dives have been "wall dives" where the wall drops far below depths that interest me. Lots of "larger" fish in Palau because of the very deep water coming up to the reef zone. It's cool to see a school of several hundred 5 foot long barracuda between you and the surface or several thousand black trigger fish swimming with gentle 8 foot reef sharks. Of course it helps to have 83 deg F water. (Photos by Screebo)
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Yah but deep blue I speak about is 12,000 feet deep :) IF you ever find vis like that let me know :D

Oh and since it was fall and the winds were kicking, it was just shy of 48f on the surface IIRC
 
I love diving but the deep blue your talkin about gives me the shudders... there's just something really creepy about being in water that is that deep.
 
I don't mind a few hundred feet, but open water deep blue just gets me every time. I've done it A LOT and I must say every time I go I get goose bumps...
 
Hate Barracuda. Don't mind diving with sharks, eels, anything. Barracuda give me the creeps. Maybe it is because i have had them come at me multiple times.
 
GreshamH said:
Yah but deep blue I speak about is 12,000 feet deep :) IF you ever find vis like that let me know :D

Oh and since it was fall and the winds were kicking, it was just shy of 48f on the surface IIRC
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Well, believe it or not....... :)......I have done some diving right up close to the Monterey Canyon off of Monastery Beach and saw the sandy bottom fade out as I got closer to the drop off. You're right........visibility is usually pretty poor in Monterey and "large objects" come into view pretty quickly out of the murk. I'm pretty much done with diving in CA and it's average 53 deg F water despite the interesting oceanic ecosystem. I would, however, be willing to pilot a research submersible out of Monterey if it had a heater. :| Speaking of Monterey, how come that deep camera in the trench with web access never works??
 
seminolecpa said:
Hate Barracuda. Don't mind diving with sharks, eels, anything. Barracuda give me the creeps. Maybe it is because i have had them come at me multiple times.
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In Fiji, barracuda schools are common. Schools rarely show interest in divers. It's the big rogues that like to check you out. :O
 
GreshamH said:
I don't mind a few hundred feet, but open water deep blue just gets me every time. I've done it A LOT and I must say every time I go I get goose bumps...
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Knowing how many undiscovered species still live in the ocean and just how large some of the species get does make me think about how easy it is to hide a creature the size of a brontosaurus in big water. They say we taste just like chicken except to Great Whites who don't like us much :O
 
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