Manta/Shark am or pm: (seasonal)

 

One of our most popular shore dive combo's that we have to offer here at Maui Diving is

our Manta/Shark package. If you haven't checked out the Shark Dive page, have a look to

see what you can expect on that particular dive site. On the Manta dive, we may have the

opportunity to be visited by some of the most peaceful and beautiful creatures that call

Maui home, the Coastal Manta Rays!

Manta's can grow to a size of up to 12 ft and will spend time visiting certain reef areas for

feeding and for cleaning. It is at these cleaning stations that we will often find these

magnificent creatures hanging out on the reef being cleaned, such as the two in the

picture below!  Mantas have very specific patterns on their underside, which allows us to

identify them, like a finger print!

In the picture to the right you can see the Manta that we got to name through the Manta

Pacific Research Foundation.

They have a catalogue of Mantas that been named by those who submitted photos of their

Manta, and we found one that had not yet been identified!

You can see there is a good chunk of his right wing that is missing just by his rear end.

It is speculated that he may have had an encounter with a shark, and we named him "Laki" which means "Lucky" in Hawaiian. 

Visit the Manta Pacific Research Foundation's web page at http://www.mantapacific.org/ and make a donation or just learn more about these amazing animals! Check out our boy Laki here http://www.mprf.net/identificationmaui/Male/103.html 

The particular dive site that we are often able to find the Manta's at, may not be diveable due to conditions during the winter months due to extreme surf conditions, however, it never hurts to ask if it is possible to go do these dives.