Manta Point vs Manta Bay: Why Where You See a Manta Matters

Two famous sites, one population

Between January 2012 and April 2018, researchers photographed the unique belly markings of reef mantas at Nusa Penida’s two best-known manta sites. They identified 624 individuals from 5,913 sightings, and 82% were seen more than once. The two sites are about 12.4 km apart, and 277 mantas, 44%, moved between them.

So these are not two separate groups of animals. They are one population using two places for different jobs, a little like a person who has a home, a workplace and a favourite café. The reef manta ray is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and can live for around 40 years, so these places are used again and again over a long life.

Manta Point: cleaning, courtship and older females

At Manta Point, 59% of sightings involved cleaning, when mantas hover over the reef so small fish can pick off parasites and dead skin. Courtship made up 7% of sightings, with another 8% mixing courtship and cleaning. Feeding was rare, under 4%. Mature females made up 26% of the community here and were the group seen most often, 48% of sightings.

Timing matters too. Courtship peaked in April and May, and manta sightings at Manta Point roughly doubled in May. Mantas stayed around Manta Point for an average of about 0.9 days per visit. It is a place mantas come to with a purpose, and then leave. If you would like to understand cleaning stations more deeply, read what a manta ray cleaning station is.

Manta Bay: feeding and young males

Manta Bay is different. Here 79% of sightings involved feeding, and only 7% cleaning. The community leaned male, with males 64% of individuals, and immature males were the group seen most often, 39% of sightings. Mantas stayed around Manta Bay for about 2.0 days on average, twice as long as at Manta Point. The researchers describe it as a feeding ground, especially for juveniles, and potentially a nursery.

The Marine Megafauna Foundation adds that some young mantas at Manta Bay measured as little as 1.5 m across when first seen, and that most have been seen again over several years. “It’s really important for us to know where these nurseries are,” said lead researcher Elitza Germanov. The word “nursery” is still a careful one here. The study says “potentially”, and we use it the same way.

Why does the difference matter in the water?

A manta at a cleaning station is holding its position and waiting its turn. A manta feeding in a bay is following plankton, often near the surface, and its path can change quickly. So the same careless behaviour causes a different problem at each site. At Manta Point, a diver hanging above the rock can stop cleaning or courtship. At Manta Bay, a swimmer in the way can interrupt a young manta’s meal.

And the pressure is growing. Across the study, average boat numbers rose by 60%. At Manta Bay the rise was small, about 5%, to an average of 6.2 boats. At Manta Point, average boat numbers grew by 153%, from 5.3 to 13.4. Researchers recommended limiting how many boats can be there at once, making the manta code of conduct mandatory rather than voluntary, and considering a seasonal closure of Manta Point during the breeding season.

Tourism is not the only pressure. About 14% of identified mantas carried fin injuries or marks from fishing line, and the authors recommended stricter fishing rules in the area. Komodo shows a similar pattern of sites with different roles, which we explore in a manta site is not just a manta site.

How to experience it respectfully

The Nusa Penida code of conduct, developed by the Coral Triangle Center with the Indonesian government and local marine tourism partners, asks you to stay at least 3 m, or three body lengths, from a manta at a cleaning station, and at least 10 m, or five body lengths, if it seems unsettled. Stay 3 m from the cleaning station rock and do not swim directly above it. Enter and exit the water at least 30 m away, do not swim behind a manta, do not use flash, and never touch or feed it.

At Manta Point, that means settling low and still, well back from the rock. At Manta Bay, it means staying out of a feeding manta’s path and letting it choose how close to come. If you want pictures, a small underwater camera with a wide lens works from a respectful distance and needs no flash, and a low-volume mask and snorkel that does not leak makes it easier to stay calm and still at the surface. Mantas have been fully protected in Indonesia since early 2014, under ministerial decree No. 4/KEPMEN-KP/2014, which bans catching and trading both manta species. Wildlife encounters are unpredictable. Snorkelling or diving with manta rays should always follow local regulations and experienced professional guidance. For more on Indonesia, see our Indonesia page in the Ocean Atlas.

Questions people ask

Ocean Calling does not run a Nusa Penida trip. If you want to read more about this part of the world first, start with our Indonesia page in the Ocean Atlas.

If this made you curious about meeting the ocean this way, you can explore our upcoming retreats.

Wildlife encounters are never guaranteed and never forced. Ocean Calling works only with vetted, ethical local operators, and every animal is free to approach, or not, entirely on its own terms.