October 11, 2021 - This was our first time visiting Manta Valley, and what a fantastic place. The trip itself was challenging and did not go perfectly. But nature does not always give you her perfection, but what she did give us was so damn good.

DAY ONE
We arrived at Manta Valley, which is something like 40-50 miles out. Thankfully, conditions were terrific, the sun was out, and the seas were flat and calm, making the ride out beautiful and fast. Once we arrived though, the reality of the challenges of Manta Valley slapped us in the face. The currents were ripping. It is not always like that, but today the currents were harsh. Despite the currents, we decided to give it a try, so we anchored up and began our descent on the anchor line. We were all stretched out like flapping flags as we pulled ourselves down the line. Even with gloves on, the anchor line was burning our hands from the strain of fighting the currents.

I was at the tail end of a head cold, and I was stuffed up, so I was having a hell of a time dropping down to the seamount, which was about 80 feet deep. I was slow, so by the time I got down, the group was gone and off to the area where they might see the best manta activity. Unfortunately, I lost track of where they went, so I stayed by the anchor line and watched the locals swimming around. On this dive, a highlight for me was seeing a full-grown rainbow parrotfish, which is massive. And by massive, it was around five feet long and I am guessing, was at least a hundred pounds. I had no idea this species got that big, and now I am obsessed with wanting an image of one.

Sadly the dive for our crew was a bust, and the mantas were a no-show. They were also a no-show for the second dive. Frustrating, but that is nature and the way it goes. But this is why we do these types of trips over several days because you never know what you will get.

If you want magic to happen, you have to put in the time.

DAY TWO.
When shit happens, it happens. I had a family emergency that I had to deal with, so I could not go out with the group and dive. Mari was able to go and lead the group, but I had to stay behind and take care of things. The group went out and had an incredible first dive. They had a manta ray come in for a cleaning. It swam straight up to them to get a closer look. Manta rays are so curious. Once its curiosity was satisfied it swam off around 30 to 40 yards away and hovered over the reef getting cleaned. It stayed there for the entire dive. Our guests were on fire with the excitement and beauty of this graceful animal.

Dive number two, the mantas were a no show.

DAY THREE
We motored out to the dive site. The thoughts of more manta encounters on the sea mount got me fired up, along with everyone else. As we were running on, our captain spotted a fin on the surface. It was a manta ray. Upon closer inspection, we noticed several mantas, all on the surface. Then off in the distance, a manta breached. We looked at the water, and there was a lot of manta munchies floating around; fish eggs, and plankton. We stumbled upon a feeding event on a current line! There was quite a few manta rays scattered around.

We jumped in and swam with a few of them for a little while. It was a fun way to start the day. After a while, we fought the urges to stay and continued our journey out to the cleaning station. When we arrived, our heart sank... The currents were ripping harder than on day one! They were sadly just too strong, and we were not able to get in the water. We tried, but the currents were so strong that they pulled our massive anchor line buoy, which we thought was unsinkable, underwater when the anchor set. Seeing that, there was no chance that we would be able to get in.

So we pulled anchor and went back to where we found the feeding mantas and spent the rest of the day swimming with them. It was a great session with a lot of courting behavior. Love was definitely in the air, and the manta rays were chasing each other around. The mantas were showing off and breaching for the ladies. At least I think it was for the ladies. It could be the ladies showing off for the boys?

You never know… not a lot is known about courting mantas yet.

We ended the day and the trip. This was a quick three day run. Our guests were super happy about the encounters we experienced. The trip was not perfect, but it was fun. I am already looking forward to next season and the opportunities for more mantas and hopefully less currents.

NATURE CAN BE CRUEL
Two days later, we got to see on social media that my bro and our guide Rodrigo showed up to Manta Valley and encountered good conditions with five-plus manta rays getting cleaned. Freaking Nature!

Oh well, we will get them next season for sure.