Day 193

Day 193

Today we’ll dive all together!!! We are superhappy and excited because we haven’t seen mantas yet!

Here, before getting ready to dive with Maria.

We are so busy talking that I’m not taking a lot o f pics, sorry!

Diving near Komodo is a bit more challenging than in the other places we have been. You can feel how it can be really dangerous in just a second or a oversight. The currents here may be crazy strong, so strong that we are able to see them even from the ship!

However it worths it and we feel safe with Nacho, our instructor. Today we get to see nudibranchs, a crazy amount of Hawksbill turtles (some of them really big, we even see one that easily was 1.5m long), garden eels, swimming crabs… Our last dive is in Manta Point; geographically the site is directly on the channel connecting the Indian and the South West Pacific oceans, each hosting distinct underwater climates that come together to create an ideal environment for Manta Ray. We drop down just ten metres to find a sandy bottom not heavy with coral but with good visibility and a reasonable current. That’s our first dive with current and it’s funny. You just need to allow the water to carry you, but when we want to stop to see the mantas it’s a bit hard. We use just one finger to hold us because we can’t touch the seabed!

Mantas are incredibly smart marine animals with large brain capacities and no barbs; this makes them harmless to humans. They’re aware that we’re in their territory but don’t feel threatened, we’ve been told that they are notoriously friendly and curious. After a couple of passes the Mantas get more confident and begin circling near us, flapping their giant wings and even dropping down to “greet” us. Their huge bodies (4-5 m width) seem unaffected by the current while we are struggling to not been carried away! Looking directly into the eyes of a friendly Manta Ray is a dream. It will look to you back!