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Dive Review of Manta Ray Dives/Bay Club Waikoloa in
Hawaii/Kona

Manta Ray Dives/Bay Club Waikoloa : "Manta Ray Dives of Hawaii - So much more than the Manta Ray Dive", Dec, 2019,

by Catherine Choomack, CO, US (Reviewer Reviewer 4 reports). Report 11379.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations N/A Food N/A
Service and Attitude N/A Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments After having this shop accommodate us when the Kona Honu dive boat broke down for our Pelagic Dive we wanted to do back in 2017, we decided to book a bunch of dives with then for our recent Kona trip. We decided to do three days of two-tank morning dives plus we tacked on another Pelagic blackwater dive at the end of the three days to, hopefully, make up for a rather lackluster one we did with another shop (not the shop's fault).

We said we liked sharks so we got to see four White Tipped Reef Sharks and a Tiger Shark (from a safe distance) on the first day! Off to a great start. Other creatures included pyramid butterfly fish (an endemic Hawaii species), trevallys, the biggest frog fish I had ever seen, and several octopuses. The dives were varied and mostly fairly easy other than dealing with a fair bit of surge and some current on one or two of them. The coral here is still fairly trashed due to a bleaching event a few years ago but the fish are plentiful.

The Pelagic night dive was pretty spectacular. We saw a Mobula ray, not a Manta, an actual Mobula ray. We were told this is extremely rare. I was so excited to see one out there as I have only seen them in Cabo. There was also a sea horse too. There was the same sort of gelatinous things commonly seen on these dives that sort of put on their own light show.

This shop did a nice job taking care of us on our dives, swapping our tanks, helping us in and out of the water, but not being overbearing underwater.
Websites Manta Ray Dives   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Cozumel, St. Lucia, Cabo, Hawaii, Bahamas, Fiji
Closest Airport KOA Getting There Flew from DEN to KOA on Delta with a stop in SEA.

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm, surge
Water Temp 77-80°F / 25-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 5
Water Visibility 40-60 Ft/ 12-18 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Alert DM when at half tank, safety stop at 750, be on board with 500.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 2 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 2 stars Large Fish 5 stars
Large Pelagics 5 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 2 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments No dedicated rinse tank though I have a feeling they would have set one up if anyone in our group had something other than a go pro. There was no dedicated area for cameras. There was a fresh water rinse tank for basically everything.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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