Swooping Manta Rays

Manta-sizing in Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands.

An early morning boat from Uepi takes you into Marovo Lagoon where Manta Rays, true gentle giants, feed and frollick in the mornings.

On snorkel, you quietly enter the water when the boat driver advises and wait patiently for the mantas. To get photos like this, you need to free dive down 5-6m and let the mantas come to you.

These magnificent creatures are huge – the wingspan of the one in the foreground was probably about 3m (10ft) from tip to tip.

Its ocean encounters like these that make diving (scuba, free or snorkelling) an amazing experience.

Photographically it was a little challenging. Being a shallow location in the lagoon, the water was green-ish. With the sun low on the horizon, ambient light was minimal. Snorkelling around the lagoon to follow them, we probably moved several hundred metres over the space of an hour or so.

Its an amazing way to start a day.