Manta Point drift snorkel

Before we talk about manta rays, we ask one question: who in your group swims confidently? Manta Point is the one snorkel of the sailing rated for confident swimmers, because the current can be strong. It is not a calm lagoon. We grade it moderate, with water between 3 and 15 metres deep.

Life jackets are on board, and our advice for this current is that anyone less sure in open water wears one. Say at booking who in your party is less sure in open water, and that includes children and grandparents, so the guide can plan the drift around them.

We would rather you think about it before the day than at the edge of the tender.

Manta rays are wild animals. They are common at this reef and never guaranteed, and a day without one is still a day on a reef in the central park. The best months run from December to February and from July to September. Our season notes agree:

• Peak: December, January, February, July, August and September.
• Good: March.
• Fair: April, May, June, October and November.

July, August and September are also the months when this reef is busiest. If mantas are the reason you are coming, choose a sailing in the peak months and tell us so when you ask for dates.

A sighting is a gift of the tide, and nobody on the boat controls it, the guide included. If the drift passes without a ray, you have still floated over a reef in water up to 15 metres deep.

On the two-day and three-day sailings Manta Point is the fourth stop of day two. It comes after lunch on board, and Taka Makassar follows. Sightings follow the tide and the current, so the order of the two swaps on the day. The four-day private charter moves Manta Point to day three, after the hill walk on Gili Lawa and breakfast, with Taka Makassar next.

Afterwards it is a towel, a seat and tea from the station at the end of the long table, and then the afternoon carries on to the sandbar.

You go in after lunch, not before it: the meal is on board, and the drift is the afternoon. The tide sets the order of the afternoon stops on day two, so we print no clock times for them.

Be plain with us and with yourselves. A nervous swimmer, a young child or a grandparent who dislikes open water should not be talked into this drift. Nothing about the day requires it.

The gentler water sits on the same day. Pink Beach has a mild current and water between 1 and 8 metres deep, and Taka Makassar is shallow, between 1 and 5 metres, with a mild current. Whoever skips the drift can snorkel with everyone at both.

Tell us at booking who will do which, so the guide knows before the day. Mantas are a good reason to come in the peak months and no reason to put anyone in water they do not trust. A child who says no at the edge of the tender has given the answer.