Every morning the dive guides pile into a bunch of little fiberglass boats and go out to the current where the manta rays swim to see if they are there. When they spot them, they come back to the island and wake everyone up by banging on a drum. Those that want to do the manta swims get into their snorkel gear and head out to the current. They guides tell you when and where to jump out of the boat so that you can drift on the current with the manta. Since Matt and I are good swimmers we can generally keep up with a manta that is swimming against the current while everyone else falls off. It's been a pretty cool experience to swim along next to them. They are very gentle and magnificent creatures. And not to mention HUGE (9 ft across).
I was curious about the manta swims and whether or not our presence disturbed them in anyway. They are very agile and strong swimmers with an entire ocean in which to move. It didn't ever appear to me that they were ever distressed or concerned about our presence. The guides said that the largest of the animals had been spotted at this particular spot for more than 15 years.
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