One Tank Manta Night Dive and Snorkel

I did 11 dives with Aquatic Life Divers and would have booked more but I caught a cold after my 1st 2 days in the water with them. The diving experience was made awesome by the professionalism of the captains and dive masters. I’ve always tried to pick smaller operations as they are normally those that offer more of the type of diving I like. My trips are always planned around diving and Aquatic Life Divers did not disappoint. Strangely the last surface interval was one of the highlights of my stay on the Big Island as Captain Tara found a pod of pilot whales that she dropped us off in front of to snorkel with. If there were more than 5 stars for rating this operation,,, they'd get it. I did all of the tours they had available.

The boat capt and guides (Colin, Dylan, and Jack) were friendly and welcoming and made sure everyone had a great time from showing up on the dock, in the water and back to land! They will be my first pick for any Kona diving trips in the future!

My friend booked the night Scuba and I booked the night Snorkel tour with Aquatic Life Divers in early August 2026. Our captain was Tara, our Dive Queen was Mary, and our Snorkel guide was Tara. They all did a wonderful job especially Mary who explained the safety and manta stuff clearly and loudly. Safety is #1 for me and they had EVERYTHING from pfd for poor swimmers to AED and flare guns covered! I went as a snorkeler and we held on to a paddleboard as a group but noticed other tour groups floated on some pool noodles. I am glad I did the paddleboard thing because there was less people bumping into and kicking me. Best of all, I got the most amazing UP CLOSE views of the mantas and a few fish too! My friend enjoyed it too but told me he wasn’t pleased when they wouldn’t let him rinse his snorkel gear in their freshwater buckets 🤦‍♂️. I liked they also offered extras including bean bags on the front of the boat deck 🙌, POG juice, and some snacks like rice krispy treats. We also got a very small cup of hot ginger tea at tour’s end. The waves can make the boat feel rocky so I got a bit dizzy at the end, but lying down on the bean bags really helped curb any vomitting. I did the snorkel with the sharks tour in Oahu too & that tour was way more dizzying despite me taking Dramamine. The manta rays tour, personally, was hands down better than the shark tour just cus the mantas brushed up against me and didn’t kill me. FYI: Remember to bring your own dry beach towel as they don’t provide them.