Bora Bora Manta Ray Tours

Bora Bora does have manta rays. Reef mantas live around the island all year and visit cleaning stations inside the lagoon, where snorkelers can watch them from the surface. What no one can do is promise them on a given day. The useful question is which tours actually go to where the mantas are, and this page answers it. If you want a full day with a named manta stop, start with the Motu Fanfan trip. If you want a shorter morning or afternoon built around mantas and eagle rays, look at H2O or Reef Discovery.

Where the Mantas Are

The mantas in Bora Bora are reef manta rays, a plankton-eating species listed as Vulnerable. They come to cleaning stations, patches of coral where small wrasse pick parasites from their skin and gills. Researchers describe a network of cleaning stations in the lagoon with three main sites, and the best known is Anau, off the east side of the island. Up to 15 mantas have been recorded being cleaned at the same time, which is why the tours head for these sites.

Two things follow. The cleaning stations sit in deeper water than the shark and ray sandbanks, so you snorkel at the surface and look down. And because the water around a cleaning station carries a lot of plankton, visibility can be murky on some days.

Tours That Name a Manta Stop

The Full-Day Lagoon Tour with Lunch on Motu Fanfan, run by Manu Taxi Boat, gives the mantas their own stop in its itinerary: 60 minutes around the Anau area. The day also includes an hour at the Coral Garden, a shark and ray snorkel and a long lunch on Motu Fanfan with grilled fish and chicken, raw fish in coconut milk, taro and coconut bread. It runs 7 hours and started from $146 per person in September 2026, rated 4.9 from 177 reviews. The boat collects you from the shore by the Tiare Market supermarket. The listing’s adult age band ends at 70, and it asks for a moderate level of fitness.

H2O Bora Bora’s half-day small-group snorkel trip is built around rays. The listing says its tours regularly encounter manta rays and eagle rays, picks sites daily by conditions, and does not feed or stage encounters. It runs 3.5 hours, started from $130 per person with a 5.0 from 769 reviews, and includes hotel or port pickup. The same trip is on GetYourGuide as the Small Group Snorkeling Boat Tour from $129, where the listing says plainly that sightings cannot be guaranteed. You need to climb the boat ladder unaided, a medical certificate is required from age 70, and it is not suitable over 80.

The Reef Discovery half-day snorkel tour is similar in length at 3.5 hours, from $136 per person, with a 5.0 from 1,042 reviews. It names manta rays among the wildlife it encounters, and its GetYourGuide version lists a stop at the manta rays’ feeding ground. Fins, towels and drinks are included, and the GetYourGuide listing says the guide gets in the water with you, which suits nervous swimmers.

Rohivai’s full-day safari with lunch on a motu visits a sanctuary where, in its own words, mantas can sometimes be found, not guaranteed. Its Viator version gives that stop 40 minutes. It runs 6 hours with a Polynesian picnic, from $171 per person on GetYourGuide with a 4.9 from 838 reviews, or $195 for the same trip on Viator.

If you want to decide the route yourself, the Private Bora Bora Lagoon Experience lets you choose where the captain stops and for how long. It costs $610 per boat for up to 4 guests for 3.5 hours.

Is There a Manta Ray Season?

Not in a way you can plan around. Survey work in the lagoon describes Bora Bora as a year-round aggregation site for reef mantas, and dive guides describe Anau as a year-round manta site. Some sources name peak months, but they do not agree on which. Weather matters more on the day: wind and rain cut visibility, and reviewers who went out on windy or rainy days mention poorer visibility. If mantas are the reason you are going, book early in your stay so a cancelled or quiet day leaves room for another try.

How to Behave Around Mantas

Mantas feed on plankton and are no danger to snorkelers, so the care runs the other way. Enter the water quietly, stay a few metres back, and let the manta come to you. Do not touch, chase or swim above one at the cleaning station. The Manta Trust’s code of conduct for snorkelers sets out the same points. Your guide will show you where to float.

Which One to Book

Book the Motu Fanfan day if you want a timed manta stop and a full day with lunch. Book H2O or Reef Discovery if you want a shorter trip focused on mantas, eagle rays and coral, with pickup included. Book the private boat if you are a small group and want to spend your time at the mantas.

Where to Go Next

For the shallow sandbank with blacktip sharks and stingrays, read our shark and ray tours page. For more on lunch, see lagoon tours with a motu lunch, or compare snorkeling tours. You can also read our breakdown of the Motu Fanfan full day. When you are ready, check availability.