The People of Honokohau: Keller Laros with Jack’s Diving Locker

Written by Hawaiian Adventures Naturalist Amy Aggergaard

Keller Laros diving with manta ray named Coustea. Photo credits: Doug Farr

For many in Honokohau, the ocean not only offers a career but a rich and fulfilling way of life. Those who work and take refuge in the sea have come to know its honesty, brutality, and entrancing ethereality. Keller Laros, who fell in love with the ocean and its inhabitants more than thirty years ago, is no different.

Laros began his journey to the ocean at Lewis and Clark College in Oregon. There, he studied political science and took a marine biology class as a prerequisite in 1983. The class included a scuba dive trip to the Caribbean, where he got acquainted with breathing underwater. After, in 1985, he traveled to the Big Island with his family to partake in a manta ray night dive off the Sheraton's shoreline. While watching the underwater gentle giants swoop and arc with grace so foreign to our world, Laros knew that the ocean had captured his soul and would never let go. He then gained his scuba certification through Padi college and taught diving in California for five years before moving to Kona in 1991 to join the Jack’s Diving Locker team. Jack’s Diving Locker fit Laros perfectly as both owners, Jeff and Teri, cared deeply about reef conservation and shared Laros’s passion for marine protection. In fact, they had been instrumental in installing the mooring system of the Kona Coast, fighting pushback and slow-paced law-making to save reef systems from being destroyed by boat anchors dragging along the seafloor. Now, Laros has over 14,000 dives logged and his passion for the sea is stronger than ever.

Laros’s love for the ocean didn’t stop at admiration, as he stood and continues to stand at the forefront of conservation. In 2002, Laros founded the Manta Pacific Research Foundation with the goal of protecting manta rays in the state of Hawaii. Laros was also instrumental in forwarding public education about mantas, conducting scientific research, and implementing conservation tactics throughout the islands. Starting in 2003, Laros and his team fought for manta protection, facing a number of obstacles and setbacks along the way. Lack of staff and lack of money pushed back the progress of the manta protection bill. Luckily, these hurdles didn’t stifle Laros’s hope. In 2009, the bill was reintroduced and passed. Hawaii then became the first state in America to ban capturing and killing of manta rays. Since 2014, manta rays have been added to the protection list of the federal endangered species act, but long before that Laros acted as their primary guardian, advocate, and voice above the surface.

The manta industry in Kona continues to grow and morph as more companies offer night manta snorkels and dives. Today, manta ray dives are deeply engrained into the culture of Kona ecotourism. People from all over the world come to float amongst the lit-up reef and seafloor where mantas come to feed on plankton, drawn to the lights in the surrounding darkness. Because the night scuba and snorkel trips have grown slowly over time, the feeding culture of the mantas and manta ecotourism are woven tightly together in a way that is completely unique to the big island. Being the most intelligent fish, mantas have become accustomed to the lights that bring their food, returning night after night to the same locations—a phenomenon that takes decades to reliably occur and something exclusive to the Big Island of Hawaii. However, with the increase in popularity year after year, levels of safety and integrity have been in decline.

Laros, who has known some of these mantas for 30 years, understands the power of persuasion these animals have on people who, upon meeting them in their natural environment, become deeply passionate about the ocean and motivated to conserve its beauty. Getting people out on the water and sharing these inspiring experiences is crucial, but with the proliferation of snorkel tours in recent years, Laros has noticed firsthand a lack of discipline in the ecotourism practice. He’s been carefully crafting the message of safety and sustainability since 2016. He claims that the lack of safety in night manta snorkels is greatly concerning.

Luckily, rules are finally changing. Soon to go into effect are new, much stricter night manta dive regulations which will have all boats secured to a mooring and a limited number of people going out to visit mantas each night. Laros implores that we need to do everything in our power to enhance safety and conservation on night manta dives, both for ourselves and the mantas. In order to show people the majesty of manta rays and other ocean megafauna, we need to create a secure and ethical system.

It’s obvious that the ocean and the culture of Honokohau have been rooted deeply in Laros. His passion for the ocean is inspirational and almost tangible. He wishes more than anything to share the magic of the Kona Coast with everyone who wants to experience the world below the waves. Even today, he demonstrates an unending commitment to protecting Kona’s manta rays, educating the public about crucial ecosystems, and cultivating a community of conservation in hopes of fostering a better future for Kona and the ocean we all depend upon.

Keller Laros - Jacks Diving Locker

Manta Man, Instructor, Photographer