Whales and Manta Rays

[Royal24car]

We are considering a Hawaiian cruise and we're looking to snorkel with Manta Rays and we'd like to see Humpback whales. Can anyone offer any advice here?:confused:

[Donray]

What time of year are you going? Whale season is December through March.

[Susan-M]

The Manta Ray snorkel trip is on the Island of Hawaii (the Big Island) - you'll want to be on a cruise that is in the port of Kailua Kona overnight or until 11 p.m. or so.

 

Whale watching tours are more popular on Maui than the other islands, but you'll be able to see them from any island in whale season.

[Donray]

What are the dates?

Edited June 10, 2014 by Donray

[Royal24car]

We haven't set any dates yet. We can basically go anytime so I wanted to see what you guys had to say. We are looking at NCL and RCCL, unless anyone has any better ideas. We've always cruised the caribbean so this is all new to us.

[Kartgv]

Doing a manta ray tour will be tough, unless someone knows of one on an island other than the Big Island. The tours are at night so they can attract the rays with lights, and there aren't any ships that overnight in Kona. If you really want to do one, think about doing the NCL trip with a 2-3 day pre- or post-cruise stay in Kona. There are a few non-stop flights from LAX to Kona (United has a nice one) if you decide to go that route; then you'd only need to add the inter-island fare one way to or from Honolulu.

[Astro Flyer]

As Susan-M said manta ray snorkeling/scuba is only at night because shining lights on the water attracts plankton which the manta rays feed upon. I scuba dived with the manta rays for an hour in 20' of water enjoying their underwater ballet. In over 100 scuba dives that was the most amazing experience ever. :)

[cb at sea]

Actually, we were there in Mid-April...saw some momma whales with babies that hadn't left for the Arctic yet...very cool! But, the majority of whales are there earlier in the year.

 

Not sure what the attraction to the rays might be....lived on the Chesapeake Bay, and tried like hell to avoid the suckers....they're a pain in the rear!!!

[golfer1966]

We were on Maui in December and I saw plenty of spouts and a few jumps from my Hotel balcony on Kaanapali Beach. The locals told us Dec thru March was great whale watching there, but the best was Jan and Feb. We did a trip to Molokini and we could see whales breaching along the way there. It was amazing to see them.... I am sooo looking forward to going back.

[Donray]

http://s112.photobucket.com/user/konak6/library/

 

My pictures of the garden.