Originally Posted by
RockoHorse
The sheraton Mauna Kea still does this, we were there in april.
Granted the best thing to do is to get some binoculars since they are still far away - or take the boat trip, but i'm not sure how much you see.
They start shining the lights at 7 or 8 pm.
The boats then come and the divers and their lights attract the manta rays. After the boats have finished up the rays stick around. I'd go and see them at 8/8:30/9pm and there are no boats in the way. We went down there - the restaurant - the few nights we stayed and we saw two or three each night.
I've done the dive (scuba rather than snorkle--and coughed up the extra $ to get a DVD of the manta dive including shots of me), and been to the Sheraton Mauna Kea. The manta rays still sometimes broach the surface in their feeding rolls, so you can see them from the hotel, but it's nothing compared to being face-to-face with them.
Do take binoculars, as that will give you a somewhat better view.
Steve