I have heard so much about them. The Manta Rays. I’ve even heard of people who saw them on their first dive! This time round, it’s another encounter by chance. I never expect to see a manta ray in Bali, until someone told me that just days before I left. So I changed my itinerary and made a trip to Nusa Penida. The dive operator said they do not guarantee a trip to manta point unless they get more than 2 divers going. I was alone, therefore it was abit of a gamble. The night before, the dive guide said, “you’ll be going to manta point tomorrow”. I was thrilled!
The waters between Bali and Nusa Penida was really choppy and I had a hard time trying to keep the dinner from the day before within the walls of my stomach. After a horrible hour of boat ride + waiting, we finally reached the dive site Manta Point. After a short briefing, we were all in the water and going down about 25m. From there, we headed towards the rock where the mantas usually hang out (the cleaning station). 5 mins into the dive, I heard clanking of tanks and my buddy started pointing out to me something far (but big) out there. Visibility was less than ideal (probably 10m max). I saw a faint trace of a huge animal with wings flapping in a distance. Then more commotion among the divers, people pointing at different directions. I saw, one, two, three of them… and then they disappeared as soon they appeared. I regain my composure and remembered to breathe again. Things were happening a little too quickly.
Our diveguide then got us to focus and headed for the cleaning station. As we approached, we were joined with a few other group of divers. All in all, I’ll say it’s probably between 25-30 divers. I admit I was a little disappointed to see so many of them. But when I looked up, I nearly spat my regulator out. There were two manta rays right in front of my eyes, circling the rocks, swaying to the rhythm of the strong underwater surges and flirting with the divers. It was such a surreal feeling. Then I started shooting, alternating between stills and video. At one point in time, one of them came right at me and swam right over my head. That moment is what I call an underwater eclipse.
We stayed down for about an 45minutes until someone ran out of air. Although I was really thrilled by the experience, the choppy waters made me real sick and I started puking soon after. Still, one of the most beautiful underwater experiences I’ve had. Hopefully, the first of many to come.
The graceful manta rays at Manta Point (Nusa Penida, Bali)
