Manta Alley, Komodo

A truly epic dive site above and below water, Manta Alley is one of the most dramatic dive sites in Indonesia to see manta rays.

Manta ray close-up in the shallows, Manta Alley, Komodo © [email protected]

Manta Alley sits at the very far south of Komodo island, right at the edge of where liveaboards venture. The weather and tides have to be right to let boats safely arrive here, and once at anchor, you can see why: beyond the towering rocks of Nusa Duawaj, there’s just open ocean.

Nusa Duawaj looming over Manta Alley © [email protected]

The steep cliffs of the rocky islands around Manta Alley dwarf the liveaboard boats that sit in their shadow. The dramatic topside scenery surrounding Manta Alley sets the scene for what lies below the surface.

Manta Alley, Komodo – the view above water © [email protected]
The alley is a channel hewn through the rock of the island, and manta rays like to congregate on either side at cleaning stations and pass through the channel too.

Battle scars, Manta Alley, 2024 © [email protected]

At depth, it can be quite dark and murky, but if divers stay still and keep low, the mantas remain happily circling the cleaning station, sometimes cruising off into the deep and then circling around behind divers and coming very close. As you’d expect, there can be a lot of current here, but you can always be out of the current on either side of the alley depending on your dive plan.

🛳 Komodo Liveaboard Trip Planning Checklist

A Komodo Liveaboard is typically 3 to 7 nights long - decide your dates and search for availability on liveaboard.com
Also check our Last Minute Liveaboard Deals page for Komodo liveaboard discounts.
FWIW, I've dived with and like Damai I and Damai II in Komodo.
Browse detailed info and photos about individual Komodo dive sites so you can get a sense of what to expect.
Check times and pricing of flights to Labuan Bajo which is where most Komodo liveaboards depart and return.
Check my liveaboard packing list to make sure you bring all you need
It's compulsory to have diving insurance. World Nomads offers diving insurance as part of their Indonesia travel insurance
Book a hotel in Labuan Bajo or Bali for when you get back from the liveaboard. Bali has a decent airport hotel if required - no need to leave the airport.
Decide if you want to stay on in Labuan Bajo after your trip and explore Komodo onland

I have a hazy memory of diving Manta Alley back in 2009 and seeing six or seven mantas stacked up pyramid style in the alley, just hovering in the current and feeding on whatever was being filtered through their gills.

On this trip, we saw seven mantas on one dive, four circling the deeper cleaning station at 22 metres, two more including a black manta showing up as we left, and then one solitary big manta wheeling around in the shallows which made for the most epic safety stop ever. The mantas at depth would have been an awesome dive on their own, but the manta in the shallows in the sunlight and surf of the waves crashing against the rock was just spectacular.