Captain Ericka and snorkeling guides John and Kaitlyn were fantastic. This is a “must do” excursion while visiting the big island. 🌴

My family and I went out with this company in June of 2019 for the Night Manta Snorkel at Garden Eel Cove (aka Manta Heaven). We saw zero mantas, the seas were rough, and a lot of people got seasick on the way back. My whole family had taken dramamine but we were still queasy. Six months later in January 2020 we were back on the Big Island, so we took advantage of Big Island Divers guarantee, which lets you go again for half price if you got skunked the first time. Once again, we saw zero mantas, the seas were rough, and my wife threw up despite having taken two dramamine. Here's the thing. All the operators claim they see mantas 90% of the time. That means the odds of being skunked twice are 1 in a 100. Pretty low. Are we the unluckiest family in the world? Not exactly. I looked at the actual sighting numbers for the whole of 2019, (courtesy of the data on the website for Jacks Diving Locker, a competitor) and discovered that the odds of seeing even one manta were about 77%. That means 1 in 4 trips, you will see nothing. Furthermore, only half the time would you see more than 3 manta rays. None of the operators honestly tell you the real odds. If you are considering doing this, I strongly recommend checking the recent sighting counts on the website, because the numbers go up and down in cycles, perhaps having to do with plankton density. The guides and divemasters are friendly enough but they're basically kids who have no special knowledge. The boat captain is competent. If you're diving, you have to sit on the bottom and not move, although once they give up on mantas there's a bit of night diving time on the reef. If you're snorkeling, you have to hold on to a surfboard to which they've bolted some handles, and get towed hither and yon as they search for something to see. You will also get kicked in the face by other snorkelers from the dozens of companies that show up. It's magical.