Wildlife· Tobago· Windward Islands
Speyside Manta Rays (Little Tobago and The Sisters)
11° 18.0′ N · 60° 30.7′ W · approximate
Speyside is the Caribbean's best-known place to dive with giant manta rays: they cruise the current-swept reefs off Goat Island and Little Tobago and visit cleaning stations, fed by the Orinoco plume carried past on the Guiana current.
Practical
Position is a point in the channel between Goat Island and Little Tobago, about 470 m off Little Tobago's west shore (OpenStreetMap coastline), derived (approx); there is no single manta site. Sightings are never guaranteed. DAN (2015): mantas are now seen mainly at a few sites, sightings are 'considered lucky', The Sisters (off the north coast) is the best bet, and odds are best January to May. Discover T&T gives March to August for Charlotteville's reef; a 2014 Undercurrent report says March-May brings both the strongest currents and the mantas; a Speyside dive guide told Divernet (2019) they pass through year-round. Dive with a Speyside or Charlotteville operator (Blue Waters Dive'n, Tobago Dive Experience, Extra Divers, ERIC): these are fast drift dives, often with negative entries. Snorkellers occasionally see mantas at Angel Reef and Castara (Snorkel Around the World). The Roxborough Hospital hyperbaric unit is the nearest chamber.
Best for
A chance at giant mantas on a drift dive
Season
Best odds roughly Jan-May (sources vary); possible year-round
Nearby
- Goat Island (Speyside)0.4 NM away
- Japanese Gardens Dive (Goat Island)0.5 NM away
- Angel Reef Snorkel (Goat Island, Speyside)0.7 NM away
- Kelleston Drain Dive (brain coral)0.7 NM away
- Little Tobago Bird Sanctuary0.7 NM away
- AQUA Restaurant (Blue Waters Inn, Speyside)1.1 NM away
- Blue Waters Dive'n (Blue Waters Inn, Speyside)1.1 NM away
- Little Tobago Glass-Bottom Boat Tours (Blue Waters Inn)1.1 NM away