Hawaii Manta Ray Sunset & Night Time Snorkel Experience from Kona - Iruka
Overall Rating
4.85
Disappointed
Reviewed by: Sandles, 2022/06/23While I understand there is no guarantee to see and experience manta rays feeding on plankton, I was extremely disappointed with this experience, the crew did not provide a good experience for all. There were a lot of people on this adventure (more than what I felt should be) and as result, the crew had to use three different boards to accommodate everyone. As a result the board with most of the lights, it attracted the manta rays, leaving the others without. The other two did not attract any. I feel the crew should have maneuvered the other two boards or people on those boards to the larger board area so that they could experience the Mantra Ray feeding. I was also very disappointed that there were no lights at the bottom pointing upward. On other manta ray snorkels I joined, when there are lights from the top and from the bottom many more manta rays appear and feed.
The crew also did not provide insights and interesting facts on the Mantra Rays, at least I didn’t hear anything.
The one nice thing I enjoyed about this trip was that the experience allowed me to enjoy nighttime boating.
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| Attended as: | Families |
| Activity Date: | 2022/06/10 |
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One Word: Disappointed
Reviewed by: Chris, 2021/12/28I paid for and experienced the sunset Manta Ray Night Time Snorkelling on Dec. 23, 2021. I completely understand that these are wild animals and that it's extremely unpredictable whether or not you'll get a good chance to see them up close and personal. That said, that is what this company is selling and what we are paying extremely good money for. if you are going to charge for it, then every effort should be made to deliver on that experience.
The crew overall did a decent job, but once we arrived at the area where the Manta Rays were supposed to be, I was surprised to see a huge number of boats of various sizes and setups. I then realized that perhaps our setup was not ideal. I noticed that some arrange the snorkelers in a circle or square formation, making it more likely for everyone to get a good view of the Manta Ray if it shows up. Our setup was just some floating paddle boards, and our particular location was not ideal. I would say all of us on our particular paddle board barely caught a glimpse of a Manta Ray, whereas others I believe based on what they said got a much better view. This was extremely disappointing. I'm sure those who did catch a good shot will talk about a different experience, but all of us who were on the boat paid good money, not just those who got a good view of the Manta Rays.
This makes it hard to recommend this particular outfit to others
Aloha Chris, thank you for taking the time to share your feedback as we are always looking for ways to improve our tours. We are deeply sorry that your encounter with the Manta Rays fell short of expectations on our tour. Our captain and crew went to great lengths to provide a memorable experience, but the unpredictability of wildlife and ocean conditions can sometimes pose challenges. We hope you can join us again in the future to restore your impression of our tour and see more Mantas up close. Mahalo
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| Attended as: | Families |
| Activity Date: | 2021/12/23 |
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Aloha Sandles,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We extend our deepest apologies for the experience you had on our tour. We would like to hear more details about it. Could you email us at info@hawaiidolphin.com and elaborate further? We would like to rectify this situation. Thank you.
Best,
Iruka Hawai‘i ‘Ohana