How to share the water with a manta, and what the crew does at Manta Point

A manta moves on its own course. Hold still. If one passes along your reef, you keep your place and let it come, without a stroke towards it. You do not swim towards it, you do not cut across its path, and you do not follow it when it turns.

That is the whole of the first rule, and it covers most of the rest. The guest who chases ends the encounter for everyone in the water, and the animal leaves. The guest who floats still sees what the sea sends. Patience is the whole technique.

Manta Point is on the 3D2N route on day one, and on the 4D3N route on day three. Whether mantas are there is the sea's decision, and no sighting is promised. Manta rays visit the park. No sighting is promised.

Manta Point is tide-dependent, and the current there is strong. Snorkellers there travel along the reef with the current, so nobody stays in one spot. The crew and the guide choose the time to go in, from the tide and the current, and you wait for their word.

The stop is rated moderate and is meant for confident swimmers, with a life jacket advised. Water runs 3 to 15 m deep. If you are not a confident swimmer, put the life jacket on, which helps you float, and go in when the crew says. On the open trip the guide swims with the party; on a private charter a guide is on request, or you stay aboard.

Slack water is the quieter hour of the tide, and the crew looks for it where the day allows. For that reason Manta Point and Taka Makassar can change places, and the captain decides on the day.

Hands stay to yourself. You do not touch a manta, and you do not touch the reef. Kick slowly from the hip, and keep your kicks away from other swimmers and from the animal.

No flash, ever, on a manta or near one. Switch the flash off before you go in. A camera is welcome on a strap, held steady at the surface, and a camera that you have to chase with is a camera you should leave on the boat.

Wear reef-safe sunscreen, as the notes for Pink Beach ask, and rinse off what you can before you enter. What washes off in the water stays in the water.

Four calls are not yours. When to enter belongs to the guide and the crew. How long to stay belongs to them too; the snorkel at this stop runs 30 to 60 minutes. Where to float belongs to the guide where there is one, who drifts with the party along the reef. When to leave belongs to the crew.

A call from the boat is an instruction, not a suggestion. Obey it. If the crew waves you in, you come in, even if a manta is passing. The manta will be there or not, and the next swim is the one you take safely.

On a charter, a guide is an add-on, quoted apart on request. On the open trip, the seat carries the local guide. If your party includes weak swimmers, ask for the guide when you book.

Some swims pass without a manta. The sea decides, and the tide and the current decide with it. The stop still gives a drift along a reef, 3 to 15 m deep, in water the guide knows.

You do not wait in the water for an animal. The crew calls the time. The party gets out. That is all. Then the route goes on: a snack, and Taka Makassar, where the shallow reef and the sandbar are the reason to stop.

We do not offer a second try at a different hour, and we do not refund a swim without a manta. Manta Point is a stop on the route. Manta rays visit the park. No sighting is promised.

Leaving is a drill like entering. The crew calls the time in the water, and you come out when called, one after another. Do not wait for the last photograph. There is always another.

Stop kicking as you reach the boat. Let the crew take your equipment, then climb out in turn, with a hand from the crew when you need one. Rinse, dry and rest before the next stop.

A snack follows, then Taka Makassar. If you were cold or worn out, say so now. The next swim is easier when the crew knows. A guest who skips the second snorkel of the day loses nothing else on the route. The crew would rather hear it at the rail than see it in the water.