Mantaray Island Restort is just wonderful. That statement sounds awfully pretentious but it’s genuinely true! The staff are so friendly and make such an effort with all of the guests and the Restort itself is a paradise!
If only it wasn’t for the flaming mosquitoes!!! And not just them but the moths the size of my palm and the lizards that were everywhere! If it wasn’t for our beloved nets of safety I’m not sure we would have survived the night!!
Yes. I’m not even joking. This morning we had a wake up call at 6am to say the Mantarays were coming. For anyone who doesn’t know me I am NOT a morning person and wasn’t best impressed at being pulled out of bed by an excited dorm but as my Spanish housemates put it so very well…
we won’t remember the time we stayed in bed but we will remember the time we swam with mantarays
And it didn’t disappoint!! We saw about 6/7 (or maybe the same 2 multiple times) today as opposed to one sighting yesterday.
There is a massively strong current where they swim so you relax until you spot one then try to swim furiously against the current to keep up with the Mantaray but usually only actually manage to just about stay still against the current. The boat then picks you up at the end of the current and drops you off at the beginning to start again. Amazing!
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Today was our first full day on the Mantaray Island and we saw a Mantaray, a turtle and pretty much the whole cast of Finding Nemo… But of course that came with a few adventures along the way…
There were two dives in the day but as I am not a certified diver I couldn’t do the first one so instead stayed in the boat, it was probably one of the choppiest days of the year and within 5 minutes I had been sick over the edge three times. Unable to return to the island they instead left me on a stranded desert island on my own before returning to collect me later… I’d be lying if I didn’t wonder if I was about to experience my own castaway movie – luckily I didn’t!!
Anyway once on the boat I ‘manned up’ and went on the second dive. Within minutes of going under we saw a turtle and they are exactly how you expect them to be… Amazing! So relaxed and chilled out, whoever did their research on the characters for the Finding Nemo film did it well!!
Whilst climbing off the boat I managed to do a ‘duck and role’ resulting in me lying flat in the water… Forgetting I had my handbag around me! Thank the lord I didn’t have any valuables in there !!
Especially if it is in the form of a song!!!
eyes abroad 