Manta Alley

We were visiting Tahiti with the Too Much Fun Club.  I had started this company a few years prior (we are approaching 25 years in biz!).  Half of the company was an adventure travel/fun activity based company for singles and couples in the Bay Area.  The other half was an event planning company for company events.  The events biz was starting slowly as I had no one marketing but me and the web was not yet up and running.  One of our greatest trips was a two week long visit to Tahiti.  We had 20 or so folks on the trip.  We were in Bora Bora and out on a dive in the very special place called Manta Alley.  We had heard it was filled with Manta Rays, some with 20 foot wing spans.  We head out in to this plankton filled valley and dive down to 30- 40 feet.  An octopus glides by but no mantas.  We head back to the boat to rest and get ready to do our second dive.  The boat was boring so Frank and I head out for a snorkel.  We head over to the valley once again and from the cloud below us we see some murky figures.  Six mantas come into view.  They are following each other in perfect formation.  Soon they are doing figure eights and more.  It is magical.  Their show lasts for about 10 minutes and then they disappear into the cloud below.  Amazing.  If I had not seen it with my own two eyes, I never would have believed it.  I love nature and this was a highlight for me!  We had a great trip and a bunch more dives.  On another dive on the other side of the island, the dive master would knock on his tank with a metal object and Morey eels would swim out from their hiding place and for a treat, they would allow him to give them a great big kiss!  Wow.  Another first.  We even had a wedding on that trip.  Way too much fun!