Hawaii part 3

Sunday was our big dive day. We arrived at the dive shop in the morning. Once at the harbor we picked up our rental gear and went aboard the dive boat. There were maybe 16 people on the boat. We did two dives at different reefs. The first site (Koloko) had cool arches and of course lots of fish. We saw an octopus and a huge moray eel. We are not quite sure what it was. Possibly a yellow margined moray, about 1.5m or 5ft long. Pretty big! The second site (Suck 'em up) had caves and a really nice coral field. After that we went back to the harbor where we hung out and waited for our manta ray night dive. Yes, manta rays! Since I started diving I always wanted to see manta rays. We boarded the boat again with a different crew and drove out to a site close to the airport. It was really stormy with quite some swell and I was glad I didn't get seasick. We did one dive before sunset, where we already saw a manta ray from far away. About 4m or 12 ft wingspan… Quite impressive but not a real "encounter" compared to what was about to come! We spent some really cold time on the boat after that first dive to get our surface time and wait until it was dark. Beautiful sunset of course! Once it was dark the dive crews installed lights on the ocean floor. The lights point to the surface and attract plankton. This then attracts the manta rays who come to feast on them. We went down and sat close to the lights where the manta rays "flew" by. So gracious and impressive! Having a 4m manta swim 30cm over your head takes you breath away! We were the last dive group who went down. So after we left, the lights were turned off. We kept on diving to look for a other nocturnal creatures. It didn't take long and one of the manta rays followed us as we had the only light source now. The experience was taken to a whole new level when we were just the four of us with a private manta show. That manta ray was all over us and so close that it bumped into me. Me and one of the other divers were out of air before Selina and the dive guide and had to ascend. We watched the two with the manta from above when we did our safety stop at 5m for 3 minutes. Amazing! Needless to say that we were pretty tired when we got home that night...