manta ray shark diving lahaina hammerhead dive maui

Maui Diving’s Seasonal Manta Expedition dive is such a magical opportunity to observe mantas in their natural habitat. This dive requires a 7 to 10-minute walk through a lush jungle path to enter the dive site. Therefore it isn’t for everyone. It is a flat walk through the lush forest path but you will be required to carry your gear in and out of the forest. If you have health concerns or issues carrying dive gear, perhaps stick with a different dive site choice (like Mala Pier Plus) for the best chance at enjoying your dive day with us.

Mantas 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. Mantas have very specific patterns on their underside which allows us to identify them, like a finger print!

In the picture below, 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.

The particular dive site where we are often able to find the Mantas 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. If you’re scheduled for the Manta Dive and conditions turn out not to be good, you’ll dive an alternative dive site and be refunded the difference between this dive and the Mala Plus.