Yesterday started at about 4:45 am and ended about 10 pm. A long day to be sure, and spectacular on both ends.

First we drove back over to Sea Arch in the park for sunrise over the ocean.

Whatever internet site Ryan used said first light was at 6:19, but I estimate they were off by about 30 minutes as these pictures were taken before 6:00. Sunrise was around 6:45. There were a few clouds napping on the ocean, which wasn’t ideal, but it was still beautiful.

These are a few that I took with my iPhone. Ryan has his Nikon, and I’m sure he’s got some that are really amazing. Watching him taking pictures was kind of like watching a kid going to a carnival. He was having trouble picking which view to photograph when!

Afterwards, we went back to the house for breakfast and then across the island again to Kona for lunch. It’s about two hours from Volcano if you take the shortcut instead of going around.

We found a delicious lunch in the resort area near the water’s edge.

We had real food too, I just didn’t take pictures of it. Fresh catch was mahi mahi and vegetables. The fish was cooked to perfection.

We had some time to kill, and wandered up the street doing some shopping and hunting for beach towels since none were provided by our rental.

From there we went out to the harbor for our “Manta Adventure.” I have wanted to see a manta since I read “The Girl of the Sea of Cortez” by Peter Benchley when I was a teenager.

Our captain was Captain Bill. He’s been doing manta tours, fishing excursions, and whale watching for more than 30 years. The crew was Kevin and Collum. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take pictures of the mantas because I had to hold onto the viewing board, but beforehand I did get a couple of pictures of Ryan snorkeling.

They use blue and purple lights to attract the phytoplankton, which in turn attracts the mantas. There are 343 mantas in the area that have been identified and named. The largest is Bertha Ray. Her wingspan is not quite 19 feet from tip to tip. The youngest ray doesn’t have a name yet and is only 8 weeks old. The pups are born with wingspans of 3-4 feet. A manta weighs about 100 per foot of wingspan, and mama mantas give birth and immediately the pups are on their own. Gestation is 13 months, and at the end the mama will breach the water and do massive belly flop to break the gestational sac. That must be an incredible site! Nobody knows how long mantas live yet as they’ve only been studied for the past 67 years. The assumption right now is that due to gestational length, they live between 80 and 100 years.

I got to see 4 different mantas. Two of them came in together and were almost dancing as they fed. The mantas that hang out around Kona are unique in that they will do what they call a barrel roll. They come up to the lights and then skim close to the surface before swimming off again. I was within inches of them and they’re really amazing. They can change the markings on their backs to communicate with each other, so the only way to know who is who is by the spot pattern on their bellies.

I think we were in the water about 30-45 minutes. I’m not really sure.

Since we weren’t able to take pictures, I’ll be hunting for a good one or two while we’re here to bring home. Now that I’ve seen some up close, I have an idea of what I’m looking for.