impresently

Last week I did a night time scuba dive with 10-15 foot manta rays off the west coast of the big island near Kona. The most surreal and magical thing I have ever experienced. The mantas approach you as the plankton they eat are attracted to your dive lights. Occasionally they get close enough to touch you. They then did this elegant dance of somersaults underneath me. It was unbelievable.

There is a fair amount of light surrounding you and the other divers from the lights... Like being in a large lit room, albeit surrounded by darkness. You can see them coming from about 50 - 100 feet away maybe? The first one I saw swam right under me, freaked me out a bit. After that I calmed down a little and was able to just enjoy how graceful they were.

Manta rays, while very large and an imposing presence when they are in the water with you, are completely harmless. They are related to the whale shark. Stingrays are the ones that can be dangerous.

Unfortunately no. In hindsight I wish I had rented a GoPro. Although Im not a very experienced diver, so maybe it was best to just concentrate on keeping my breathing in check... my adrenaline was running pretty high. If I go back I plan on getting housing for my Canon 6d and go multiple times, it so worth it. If you are looking for footage to see what it is like there are tons on YouTube.

If you want to scuba you're best bet is to get certified first. Then go out with a an organized group. There are a number that supply everything you need. You could do a night snorkel, which requires no experience, although you might enjoy yourself more if you had one or two snorkeling experiences first. Probably best that your first snorkel isn't at night with something this dramatic.