“Manta off the port side!!! Two of them!”
Things are kicking off at Karang Makassar. Ben and Paul, two friends from Singapore are up 14 meters in the air on the mast of the boat on Manta watch. You can feel the anticipation on the boat as more and more mantas pop up around the vicinity. A group of snorkellers are 100 meters from the boat swimming excitedly. As they swim past our boat, Fauzi calls over to their guide in Bahasa asking how many mantas they have down there.
“Banyak!” he replies, meaning “lots!’ he guesses about 15-17 mantas.
For me, this is a big deal, a very big deal. I’ve been diving for 9 years. I’ve been an instructor for 5. I’ve tried to see mantas many times going specifically to manta hot spots, but always coming up short. I’ve been leading dives only to arrive back at the boat and find that three out of four groups saw mantas, mine being the one who didn’t. I was sure I had bad manta karma or something.. a jinx on me.
I have gotten close in the past, seeing mantas from a boat my first time about two years ago and last year I went on a trip in Australia for the chance to see the gentle giants but snorkelling 8 meters above one lone juvenile manta in low visibility with a group of 10 other snorkellers with strict instructions to not dive down or get within 5 meters, was not the experience I had been searching for. Now, finally the day had come!
After a series of very interesting manta ecology and research presentations from Jo and a dive briefing from Fauzi, we headed down to the dive deck to get kitted up. But first we were rounded up by Christa for the most important part of the dive preparations…. her very own manta song. To the tune of I need a hero, she belted out, “ I need a manta!!! I’m holding out for a manta till the second dive!!!…“ I know they heard it! It’s probably the sole reason they are here. Forget plankton and currents yada yada yada.. Manta song is the way.
We Kitted up and did our buddy checks and just then a group of snorkellers off in the distance started getting excited. More mantas spotted! Its finally happening!
We descended and started riding the current. All nine of us in our three separate groups were together. After only about five minutes, I heard the ting of Jo’s tank banger. Out of the blue sailed the most majestic, graceful, beautiful thing I have ever seen. A mating train of 8 mantas came swimming towards us all. The female was banking from side to side with her entourage of eligible bachelors trailing behind. All of a sudden she flips up and starts soaring towards the surface and they all follow suit. Next thing we know were all completely awed by this swirling mass, a beautiful dance, unfolding right in front of us. Flashes of black then white playing in the rays of the sun beaming down through the plankton rich water. It was so incredible I actually started to cry! I had to remind myself to keep breathing!
Swirling in circles and chasing each other up to the surface the female turned right towards us and started heading back down. The train of giants went right over our heads, close enough to touch if we were to reach up. It was as if someone had turned out the lights! They are so big they completely block out the sun as they fly overhead.
The mantas carried on their way. The current took us the other way. It was only a few minutes but l will remember them forever.
There were plenty of other encounters that dive by all the different groups. Jo, Rob, and I got to sit for about ten minutes making actual eye contact with a huge male being cleaned just meters away hovering effortlessly in the current as we all clung to the bottom for dear life. Christa and Loic saw another mating train even bigger than the first while doing their safety stop. Fauzi, Ben, Paul and Leticia saw another five mantas or so up close and personal throughout their dive. For me though, my first real encounter with the train couldn’t have been any more perfect.
I have been obsessed with these creatures for years and after seeing them up close and personal, my love for them has grown ten fold! I hope everyone gets to see these guys for generations to come but that’s not yet guaranteed. The work divers around the world and companies like Wicked are doing to protect them and educate people make such a difference. Thank you so much Jo, Fauzi and Christa for a truly unforgettable experience and I hope to come back again in the future! It’s been Mantastic!!!
