Manta Channel

A natural channel cut through the eastern reef provides a cleaning station habitat that attracts oceanic and reef manta rays year-round, with peak aggregations between June and October when cooler upwelled water brings nutrient pulses through the pass. On a good day, five to twelve mantas spiral overhead through the cleaning station while grey reef sharks and whitetips patrol the channel floor below. The channel walls themselves are in outstanding condition, plastered with branching and massive corals that show minimal bleaching impacts compared to reefs further east. Tidal flow through the channel ranges from gentle to moderate, with the best manta viewing on a light incoming tide when the animals face into the current at the cleaning heads.