Manta ray viewing from shore on BI?
 

Did I see somewhere that there is a beach on the Kona side where you can view manta rays at night? I know that you can see them from the Sheraton. I am inquiring about a public beach.

I am hoping to see them from the shore. I am traveling with two young daughters, so snorkeling is out of the question.

We are staying at the Hilton. I did a search first, but the only information that pulls up is about the Sheraton scene.

TIA.

The Mauna Kea used to have a place where they shone a huge light into the water. The light attracted plankton, and the plankton attracted the Manta Rays. We saw this many years ago. Since the Mauna Kea has been shut down due the earthquake, :( I assume that they no longer do this.

Good luck, it is an impressive sight if you can see it.


Update, I just checked the website, and the Mauna Kea is re-opening on December 20, so they may start doing it again. :D



DD

Old Airport State Park in Kailua-Kona, iirc.

We did a night Manta Dive right near here. The company was Kona Honu divers. They also have snorkeling on these trips where one views the Mantas from above. They attract the rays with lights placed on the sea floor.

It was a fantastic experience.

Is there any particular part of the park where the action is? Do you have to go at night?

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

Just to clarify, so no one is confused. It's the Sheraton Keauhou (not Mauna Kea--which is a resort farther down the Kohala Coast). :)

Sheraton Keauhou update
 

Just back from the BI. We went to the Sheraton, but only saw one manta ray after about 15 minutes of viewing. By the time that we got there at 7pm all of the spots along the rail were already lined up with people. I guess that is what I get for going there on Christmas week.

I can't wait to go back in a few years, when my daughters are older, so that we can do a real manta ray dive!!