Elegant, smart, charming, impressive, and soul reading, I wish I had all those qualities but those giant mantas are way more than we will ever be. There is something so intriguing about them, so alluring. Every encounter with each of them seems unique and unforgettable, everything around you just stops being and as soon as you look at them in the eyes, it’s like there would be a bubble around you and time stops.
We were on a pinnacle in Cabo Pearce, right by Socorro Island, watching a massive moray eel and an octopus hidden just a few rocks away from it when that black juvenile manta came from the edge of the pinnacle giving us a great show to enjoy and be hypnotized. The smooth glide around us, that beautiful eye staring at you (is she wearing makeup?!), that elegance in her movements when she passes over you, hiding the sun lights piercing through the water and making wonderful shades before she swims towards the deep blue but of course, this is not it. She’s coming back.
While coming back at us, she smoothly glides with her extended fins and moves very slowly. I hover right in front of her, staring at her and extending my arms to imitate her movements. She flips her fins slightly up and I’ll do the same movement with my hands and extending my fingers. Slowly she comes closer and closer to me, without changing direction, and just passes right over me. At the same moment I actually turn myself towards her and our bellies are just a few inches away from each other and then she stops. She just hangs there, right above me, and stops moving. I exhale deeply to avoid touching her and all my bubbles start flowing on her belly. It looks like she likes it. I guess it’d be like a jacuzzi for a manta. I exhale again and she moves in a way that all the bubbles spread gently on her belly until they reach the edge of her body and leave our space to finally break through the surface.
I’m now turning back to my usual prone position and that beautiful manta keeps going her way. I look at everyone around me, half of them staring at what just happened, the other half watching the 2 other chevron Mantas right behind, being playful and giving the same show to other divers.
This is just amazing, we all felt so happy, joyful, and alive after this dive, this is definitely an experience I will never forget and that I would recommend to anyone that loves wildlife and being underwater. Living life at its best.
- Divemaster JC onboard the Nautilus UnderSea
