Manta ray swim

In several countries around the world (including Mexico, USA-Hawaii, Thailand, Fiji, Australia, and others) you can swim with manta rays. Most places you can do this during the day, but in Hawaii, you go out at night and shine bright lights into the water. The mantas are attracted to plentiful plankton revealed by the lights.

As with other underwater experiences, do not try to touch the mantas. You can remove the mucus covering on their skin leaving them prone to disease and parasites. They are no threat to you, only eating tiny plankton.

They glide past you quickly in giant loops, gaping mouths open straining plankton from the sea. It is a beautiful ballet to watch.

My picture isn’t great. They move relatively quickly and I didn’t have a good underwater camera at the time. Despite that, you can see a ray and the plankton points of light that it is feeding on.