Located in the heart of Raja Ampat, Manta Sandy is a renowned dive site famous for its incredible manta ray encounters.
Located in the heart of Raja Ampat, Manta Sandy is a renowned dive site famous for its incredible manta ray encounters. Situated in the Dampier Strait just south east of Arborek Island, this dive site offers divers an exciting opportunity to witness close up encounters with Manta’s in crystal-clear waters.
Manta Sandy is particularly popular for sightings of multiple manta species, including Black Reef Mantas (at 40% of the population), Standard Reef Mantas, and Oceanic Mantas.
This site is best suited for beginners or experienced divers dependent on the day, due to its varying currents and shallow depth.
Visibility is usually excellent, ranging from 20 to 30 meters (65 to 98 feet), allowing for clear, unobstructed views of the reef and the manta rays as they glide past.
Manta Sandy has a maximum depth of around 18 meters, although most of the time we will just stop at 16 meters where the Manta cleaning station is. The site is characterised by a sloping sand bank with scattered bommies that leads into a series of cleaning stations where manta rays gather.
These stations are perfect for divers who wish to observe these majestic creatures up close as they glide through the water, waiting for cleaner wrasse to remove parasites from their bodies. The surrounding sandy areas and reef is relatively flat, with patches of soft corals, sea fans, and bommies, creating an ideal habitat for a variety of marine species.
The main highlight of Manta Sandy is the chance to encounter several species of manta rays. Black Mantas, Reef Mantas, and Oceanic Mantas are frequently spotted as they come to the cleaning stations. Other notable species in the area include cobias, golden trevallies, turtles, and bump head parrotfish.
The site is also home to moon wrasse, black eye thick lips, blacktip reef sharks, and the rare Pegasus sea moth if you hunt around in the sandy bottom, which adds an element of surprise to each dive.
Divers will also find cleaner wrasse swimming around, busy with their cleaning duties. This abundance of life, paired with the manta rays, makes for an unforgettable experience.
To dive the site, we will get dropped in near the top of the sand bank, which is normally a meter or so below the surface, and even sometimes exposed at low tide. We will descend the sandy bank till we hit the flat bottom at about 16 meters.
Here we will come across a few large coral bommies that make up the cleaning station for the Mantas. On the sand in front of the cleaning stations, debris, rocks and coral have been placed to form a line in the sand.
All divers must stay behind this line to make sure that the Mantas are not disturbed during their cleaning. Thoroughly inspect the sandy bottom to make sure there is no marine life present before kneeling in the sand and enjoying the Manta cleaning show.
Note that on the way down to this position, if a Manta approaches you try not to get in their way and avoid them so that they are not disrupted from natural behaviours. Of course, remember that strictly no touching, chasing or harassing Mantas of any kind are allowed.
If you are sitting on the bottom for a while waiting for Manta’s, keep an eye out for Pegasus Sea Moths, these cool little creatures make a nice bonus to this dive.
Also note that as we are staying at the one depth for most of the dive, all divers need to be wary of their no decompression limit bottom time, even though we are relatively shallow.
When it’s time to end the dive, we will make our way back up the sandy slope to the 5-meter mark to do our safety stop.
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Topography: Manta Cleaning Station Bo0mmies
Max Depth: 16 meters
Typical Current: Mild to Medium
Best For: Sit Back and Watch The Manta Show!
7 Days 6 Nights
Dive in Manta Sandy in our 9 Days 8 Nights itinerary to the Central of Raja Ampat.
9 Days 8 Nights
Dive in Manta Sandy with our 9 Days 8 Nights itinerary, an extended itinerary to the North of Raja Ampat
8 Days 7 Nights
Dive in Manta Sandy with our 8 Days 7 Nights itinerary to North, Central & South of Raja Ampat.
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