Garden Eel Cove

Best time to dive

January to December; May to September

What you might see

• Grey reef sharkLikely
• Manta rayLikely
• Moray eelLikely

Sightings are seasonal probabilities, not promises - even in peak season nature does its own thing.

Certification & difficulty

Open Water - advanced conditions (currents/depth); dive within your training.

Snorkelling

Snorkel-friendly - Yes - one of the few sites offering an equally famous parallel snorkel option: snorkelers stay on the surface (often holding a floating raft/board) shining lights downward, on a separate area/boat from certified scuba divers who stay on the bottom

Safety notes

CONTESTED WILDLIFE INTERACTION - FLAG FOR REVIEW: this site's entire premise (using bright lights to concentrate plankton so mantas feed close to people) has been characterized by researchers, conservation groups, and Hawaii regulatory processes as a form of artificial provisioning/behavioral conditioning of a protected species. Concerns include manta site-fidelity to artificial feeding zones, uncontrolled operator/vessel numbers, and crowding-related safety incidents - these drove a multi-year (2012-2024+) Hawaii DLNR/BLNR rulemaking effort that, as of the latest update found (2024), had still not been finalized/enforced. Practical hazards: night diving disorientation, buoyancy control near mantas (divers must stay seated/kneeling, exhale away from mantas' path, never rise into the water column), multiple dive-light 'circles' operating close together, night boat entries/exits, possible surge/rocky footing. PROTECTED SPECIES - DO NOT TOUCH: touching a manta damages its protective mucus coating; manta rays illegal to kill or capture in Hawaii state waters since 2009 (Act 092); harassment/contact discouraged/prohibited under operator codes of conduct though a comprehensive state viewing-conduct law was still in the rulemaking pipeline. Note: the ESA-listed 'threatened' species is the oceanic/giant manta ray (Mobula birostris, listed 2018) - the reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi) seen here is a different species and its distinct federal ESA status was not confirmed - VERIFY.

Permits & fees

No finalized, in-effect manta-ray-specific commercial permit confirmed as active. Hawaii DLNR/Board of Land and Natural Resources approved initiating formal rulemaking for commercial manta ray viewing tours on 27 Oct 2022, proposing: two designated zones (Makako Bay/Garden Eel Cove and Kaukalaelae Point/Keauhou Bay), a cap of 24 commercial viewing permits per zone, a proposed $300/month permit fee (plus standard commercial use permit fees), vessel passenger caps (max 60 pax/vessel per 24 hours), 8:1 guide-to-customer ratio, 2-hour vessel shifts per zone, viewing hours 4:00 p.m.-4:00 a.m., and vessel marking/lighting/safety requirements. As of the latest update found (2024) these rules remained unenforced/not finalized due to Ka Pa'akai analysis requirements, a pending lawsuit over permit issuance, and a governor veto of related 2022/2023 permit legislation (HB1090). All commercial ocean-recreation operators in Hawaii separately require a general DOBOR commercial-use permit. VERIFY current status before publishing.

Permits and operators change - confirm before booking.

Location

Nearest hub: Kailua-Kona