Snorkeling with Manta Rays at Nusa Penida
Full guide on snorkelling with Mantas at Nusa Penida. Inside you'll find our itinerary, recommendations of services and all the important informations to plan your trip to Nusa Penida.
Snorkeling with Manta Rays is one of the best things to do in Nusa Penida. You can do it all year long, although our guide told us, that it's more likely to see Mantas during the dry season. Mantas are wild animals, so you can see them only if they decide to show up. You can maximise your chances by going snorkeling in the morning or in the evening.
HOW TO GET TO NUSA PENIDA?
You can visit Nusa Penida by taking one day trip from Bali. One day might be enough to see some of the most popular places on the island, but we recommend to stay longer - 3 or 4 days is enough to discover Nusa Penida.
Take a speed boat from Sanur Harbor. Boats leave many times per day so it's easy to find the one which will suits your time. You can buy your tickets after arriving to the harbor or online, before your trip. We bought our tickets HERE. Speed Boat will get you to NUSA PENIDA in about 30 - 40 minutes, depends on the weather.
Getting around Nusa Penida
Traveling around the island is possible either by a scooter or with a local driver. You can read a lot about how bad are roads in Nusa Penida, but it's not true. At least not in 2022. The roads are very well maintained and you can get to all the touristic attractions without any problems. Although, they're definitely narrower and have more turns than the roads in Bali, so you can't go too fast. When traveling to the east side of the island you will pass many steep hills on your way, so take a stronger bike if you're planning to ride with a passenger.
After getting to the harbor in Toya Pakeh, you'll be quickly approached by drivers and sellers, offering scooter rentals. Choose the best deal for yourself!
You can also find there some offers for Manta Snorkeling, but you'll have more options to choose from if you go to the beach at Toya Pakeh. We really recommend you to get a tour from your hotel. It's trustful and you can get the best price.
We have asked our hotel to get someone to pick us up from the harbor and to get us a driver for the entire stay. Rainy season on Bali is very unpredictable, so we didn't want to risk getting our gear soaked on a scooter. So that's how we met Erik, who was our driver, guide and just a helpful soul.
Nusa Penida is a fairly small island and everyone knows someone who provides all kinds of services for tourists. This was no different in our case, as it happened that Erik's family is organising snorkeling trips around the island and they're great at spotting Mantas too.
You can contact our Guide/Driver Erik on WhatsApp: +62 812-3716-7443 or find him on Instagram @pongek91
Don't forget to tell him you found him on our blog, you might get a better price! :)
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN SNORKELING WITH MANTA RAYS IN NUSA PENIDA?
There are two places where you might have a chance to see Manta Rays - Manta Bay and Manta Point. Besides these two places, the tours are also stopping in other places famous for the best snorkeling on the island. The tours are adjustable, but the prices and length can vary on the chosen packages.
The cheaper version is visiting Manta Bay and 2-3 snorkeling spots close to Toya Pakeh harbor. A snorkeling tour like this might cost somewhere between 600 000 - 800 000 Indonesian Rupiah. Depends on the season.
Manta Point is twice the distance from the harbor than Manta Bay, so the price also gets more expensive,, but your trip also extends by adding additional snorkeling spots in the south-west part of the island.
Our Experience Snorkelling with Manta Rays at Nusa Penida
We decided to take a snorkeling tour with Erik's cousin, Eka. These guys have a very nice boat and good-quality snorkeling gear. They are also great at spotting mantas.
We met at the beach in Toya Pakeh around 10 o'clock, which is already a bit late for snorkeling with mantas, as they prefer to show up mostly in the early morning. We decided to take the smaller package with the possibility to extend if we didn't see any mantas in Manta Bay.
We got to the bay in no more than 15 minutes, and the crew immediately pointed out not one, but six mantas swimming in the water. We were the only people there, so together with the crew, we quickly put our masks on and jumped into the water.
It's not rare to see a 5-meter-long manta. Swimming with such a big creature can be a little intimidating, but there's no reason to be worried as mantas are harmless to people. They are actually very playful, and in comparison to sea turtles, they don't swim away when spotted but rather curiously circle around and even come to you within touching distance. They often like to swim right at you and later gently swing away at the last moment.
Swimming with mantas is an incredible experience. I have never felt so close to nature as when we were diving with these magnificent creatures. Unfortunately, we were able to also see the ugly side, which is ocean plastic pollution. Especially during the rainy season, you can see a lot of trash drifting in the sea around Bali and also on the beaches.
It is very unpleasant to swim in piles of trash, and it's heartbreaking to see with your own eyes how big the pollution problem actually is.
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