Keauhou Bay sits roughly 7 miles south of Kailua-Kona, and the night viewing area lies immediately offshore around Kaukalaelae Point, next to the OUTRIGGER Kona Resort & Spa. Hawaii's Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation names only two viewing areas on this coast: Makako Bay, also called Garden Eel Cove, in the north, and the water fronting Keauhou Bay in the south. The bay itself has parking, restrooms and a small boat ramp. The Hawaii Tourism Authority advises against swimming or snorkelling in the bay because of fishing and tour-boat traffic, so you reach the rays by boat or canoe.
Floodlights built this aggregation. A resort above the bay began lighting the ocean in the early 1970s; the light concentrates plankton, and the mantas learned to come and feed on it, which is why trips go out around sunset or after dark. Island-resident reef mantas are the animals you see, most of those off Kona measuring around 12 feet across. The Kona-based Manta Pacific Research Foundation has named more than 300 individuals from their belly spot patterns, among them Bertha, first identified in 1992 and laser-measured at 11.7 feet wingtip to wingtip.
Evenings follow the sun rather than a timetable, and most departures shift through the year, with the time confirmed when you book; one tour on this site works to a fixed clock, with check-in at 4:15 PM HST and departure at 4:30 PM. Check-in is 15 to 30 minutes before departure depending on the tour, and the meeting points differ: the ticket details, the brown-roofed restrooms and pavilion in the harbour, Keauhou Harbor by the boat dock, the KONASTYLE office on Palani Drive, or slip G-2. In the water you hang on a lit float or manta board, stay horizontal and watch.
