![]() When we arrived at the mooring site, our guide motioned for us to jump into water that looked as black as ink. The Experience of Snorkeling With Manta Rays Would there be two mantas? Ten? Would the visibility be clear enough for us to even see anything? Like most wildlife experiences, nothing is guaranteed. When my friend Hannah from Eat Sleep Breathe Travel and I went on a snorkel tour, we weren’t sure what to expect. Sign up for a tour with one of the many operators, like Jack’s Diving Locker or Hang Loose Boat Tours, to watch the manta rays dance underwater. While it’s possible to enjoy this performance from terra firma - either from your hotel room or from the Outrigger’s bar - the best way to experience it is to go snorkeling with manta rays in the water. The result is tens of manta rays gliding and twirling through the water at night, mouths agape to filter feed as many plankton as possible. Snorkeling tours have also capitalized on this feeding frenzy, dragging gigantic floating LED lights to form their own food stations. Every night after sunset, the spotlight in front of the resort turns on and attracts an array of manta rays looking for dinner. The Sheraton resort has recently changed hands and is now the Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa. Soon, many of the manta rays off of Kona came to the Sheraton to enjoy an easy meal. Manta rays have the capacity to learn behaviors from one another, and their travel radius spans roughly fifty miles. Soon, manta rays with fifteen-foot wingspans caught on to the fact that this construction site doubled as an all-you-can-eat buffet. Which, in turn, attracted the creatures who feed on plankton. The bright lights from the construction site attracted plankton in the water. Once the sun went down, construction workers toiled under the glow of massive spotlights. Overall this was a great stay and I would certainly come back if we decided to visit Kona again.In 1970, resort developers set out on a plan to build what would become the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa on the coastline Kona, Hawaii. The location of this resort is better than that of the Marriott or Hilton as they are both a good 45 minutes away from town and out in the middle of no where. The only negatives about this hotel were that the parking lot is kind of far away from the hotel and there is no beach even though the hotel is located on the water. The gym is nice if you are interested in working out while there. I would suggest going to Rays on the Beach at least once to see the manta rays as they come out at night. The restaurants at the hotel are decent but pricey. The pool area is gigantic and a majority of it overlooks the ocean. Everything was clean, the bed was comfortable and the room was relatively big. We arrived at our room and were really impressed. The hotel lobby area was beautiful and the hotel itself appeared to have been recently updated and remodeled. The hotel staff was more than accommodating and willing to ensure that we had everything that we needed for our stay on the island. My wife and I checked into this hotel last minute while on our honeymoon (after having a bad experience else where) and we were truly glad that we did. This is a great location for kids as there is an excellent kids pool and the rooms were of good quality. The Manta Rays can be viewed easily from the restaurant area of a night. We had a dinner there and the meals were excellent, a little pricey but excellent value when the discount is applied. Don’t forget to take the card as if it is not presented at the time of dining the discount cannot be applied. As part of the package and being SPG members we received a 35% discount for dining in the hotel. It is however further out of town but the shuttle service every two hours form the hotel makes up for this distance. ![]() The Manta Ray Snorkeling and Dolphin discovery tours are from the marina, about 5 minutes walk from the hotel, so the hotel is a very convenient location for activities. The hotel charges a compulsory $30 per night fee which covers internet to room, ½ hour per day international calls and bus service to the local village and local tourist spots, so is very good value. There is a supermarket about 10 min walking distance via the small harbor and a small shop within the complex. In saying this, this was the cheapest hotel we had stayed at during our trip and thus was well priced. After staying at other hotels we found the ocean views weren’t comparable, upon enquiry we were advised Ocean Front was an extra $60 per night, views are only views and may be from a rooms far further back, although ours were of the marina, so just clarify what they are offering before accepting. When we checked in the asked if we wanted an Ocean Views upgrade for $30 per night, which we took up. The Sheraton Kona is past the Kona village.
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