A method of manufacturing light emitting elements includes: providing a wafer including a substrate formed of sapphire and having a first main surface and a second main surface, and a semiconductor layered body disposed on the first main surface of the substrate; irradiating a laser beam into the substrate to form a modified region inside the substrate, the modified region having a crack reaching the first main surface and a crack reaching the second main surface; irradiating CO2 laser to a region of the substrate overlapping with a region to which the laser beam has been irradiated; and cleaving the wafer along the modified region to obtain the light emitting elements each having a hexagonal shape in a plan view.