Everyone loves Manta Rays! These gentle creatures have an angelic presence that captivates the imagination and puts our technology to shame. Incredible filter feeders capable of flying though the deep ocean, these incredible animals never fail to charm even the most experienced diver. If you love Mantas and want to meet them in a special place unlike any other, then consider a trip to Indonesia’s Salangaki, which is renowned as the Manta Ray World Capital. While you’re there, don’t forget to take a side trip to Jellyfish Lake, where some amazing things await!
Diving Conditions and What to Expect
At Sangalaki, which is also written as Sangalakki, you’ll be treated to dives in a mostly shallow lagoon, as well as incredible reef dives that extend to forty meters in some areas. Besides the manta rays that live here, there are plenty of other beautiful creatures, including the green sea turtles that breed here. Baby turtles hatch regularly, and are often seen in very shallow water and wobbling their way across the sandy beaches.
The visibility here is normally very good, and sometimes reaches thirty meters or more. Currents are moderate and mostly smooth, which is one reason the mantas enjoy this area so much. Water temperatures are an ambient twenty-eight to thirty degrees Celsius all year, and there are more than ten great dive sites to enjoy. You’ll see lots of manta rays and plenty of turtles, so bring your camera along for the dive!
Manta Avenue
Manta Avenue is the gateway to Manta paradise. Here, steplike coral formations lead toward deeper water. Take a few minutes to explore this wonderful reef, and look for the dancing gobies, as well as the fire gobies that make their homes in the area. Lots of tiny fish nibble at the coral, and small turtles sometimes swim in the shallowest areas, far away from the big predators that would love to consume them! Mantas flip by in casual formations, almost beckoning you to come join the parade.
Manta Parade
This site is so spectacular, you may never want to leave, and indeed, the snorkeling here is almost as good as the diving. The mantas circle skyward and sometimes breach as they feast on the plankton here, and they bustle and buzz all up and down the highway. They shoot in from every direction, like commuters on a jammed freeway, pausing only to consider whether or not it’s time to head off to one of the nearby cleaning stations.
At the bottom of Manta Parade, you’ll find a beautiful ridged reef with huge barrel sponges, gorgonians, and lovely head coral all along the sandy seabed. Pretty alabaster sea cucumbers lie next to gracefully elegant feather stars. Look for sea anemones and resident clownfish, and keep an eye out for the big reef fish – lionfish and stonefish, snappers and fusiliers, angelfish and triggerfish, and more – all seem to be admiring the reef along with you.
Manta Run
At the end of Manta Parade, the underwater topography starts to smooth out. You’ll see bommies and coral outcroppings along the sand, and that’s how you know you’ve reached Manta Run. Here, the mantas come and go, and are joined by reef fish looking for stray snacks. The coral bommies are worthy of closer investigation, as they are coated with sponges and soft coral, gorgonians, and feather starfish. Leaf fish and frogfish wait for smaller fish, peering warily from their hideouts among the crevices and overhangs the coral outcrops provide. As you reach the end of Manta Run, you will see an eel garden and more macro life in the sand.
If you were to continue west, you would arrive at Coral Gardens and Turtle town, where the same turtles that explore the water with you play flirtatiously with one another. As the turtles mate all year, it is possible to witness their graceful courtship dances any time.
Jellyfish Lake
Jellyfish Lake is a quick boat ride away from Sangalaki, and has a dense jungle as well as limestone cliffs that thrust the whole structure of Kakaban Island up and out of the sea. Jellyfish Lake is in the middle of this island, and is occupied by millions of jellyfish, which you can safely swim with due to the fact that they do not sting.
This is because they have no natural predators in the lake, other than a few white anemones living in the bottom, against which a sting would be completely ineffective. You’ll be snorkeling rather than diving, and there are strict penalties for injuring the jellies. Just relax and enjoy the show!
When you arrive at the island, you will walk for about ten minutes, until you reach the oddly serene shoreline that delineates the lake, which is a brackish, warm blend of salt and fresh water. Visibility is not great, but you can see the tunicates and crustaceans, as well as the nudibranchs and colorful clams living among the mangroves.
Here, the four endemic species of harmless jellyfish perform an endless ballet that has gone on for centuries. Like dancers dressed in pink and blue gossamer, they swirl and pulse as they make their way through the water.
How did they get here? Lake Kakaban is an incredible phenomenon on its own, being created when a slow paced geological uplifting caused the seabed to be elevated and trapped within the ridge that surrounds the lake. This took an estimated two million years, and today, the entire area is five square kilometers and is home to an incredibly simple food chain. The jellyfish and anemones are at the top of it, which is amazingly unusual. The entire lake is only about seventeen meters deep and is surrounded by the mangroves that offer shelter to some sea snakes and cardinalfish, as well as a small goby population and some tube worms.
All this incredible marine life is well worth the trip to Indonesia and will provide you with a lifetime of wonderful memories. So, get your skills in order, and head for Manta paradise!