Kona Snorkel Tour : Captain Cook Reef Snorkel, Dolphin & Sea Caves

Koa and Lucas were great guides! They were very friendly, funny, and communicated very well with the group. This was my favorite snorkeling we did while on the Big Island. The boat is a speedboat which just made the experience more fun than others and snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay was beautiful. The bay is quite busy even in the morning and there are many tours that go out from the same dock. MAKE SURE YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT BOAT! Other crews weren’t checking their members in by name and we actually got on the wrong boat. Thankfully we were notified by our crew in time so we could get off and enjoy the excursion we booked.

We had an incredible time on the Captain Cook Reef Snorkel, Dolphin & Sea Caves tour with Kona Snorkel Tours! Lucas and Koha were absolutely fantastic. They were hilarious, personable, and made everyone feel welcome from the moment we stepped on the boat. Their energy and sense of humor made the entire trip so much fun! The snorkeling was amazing we saw so many beautiful tropical fish, and the reef was absolutely stunning. Along the way, Lucas and Koha also shared a lot of interesting history about the Big Island, which made the experience even more memorable. It was the perfect mix of adventure, education, and fun. If you’re visiting the Big Island, I can’t recommend this tour enough. Thank you, Lucas and Koha, for an unforgettable experience! We’d absolutely do this tour again.

We had fun! Mike was our captain and I wish we would have been able to debark the back of the boat ladder but we jumped overboard first. Later he lowered a ladder. Food was good on the snorkeling trip. It was a fun day and I would do it again.

Amazing experience and highly recommend! Saw many fish including a puffer fish and sea cucumber...it was sooo exciting and fun!

The overall experience seemed a bit disorganized. We got there at the time requested but there was no one to greet us, so we stood around for 40 min and ended up taking off late. No one from the company answered our calls or texts. The water was not as clear as we expected and the additional stops on the way back were nothing too special. We enjoyed ourselves but there was substantial room for improvement.

Fabulous experience with Captain Rory and Jake! Highly recommend going out for the early snorkel. We were just about the only people out on the reef. On the way back we got lessons in Hawaiian history, culture, and geography. The zodiac was super fun to ride around in, too! Great experience from start to finish!

BUYER BEWARE: This tour Heavily promotes eyeing Dolphins and Whales. If you read MOST REVIEWS Not many Dolphins or Whales are mentioned. THEN somewhere in Small print they will take you on Another trip if not satisfied. ISSUE with this is if Your on a cruise ship or tight schedule high % you could not use. AGAIN BUYER BEWARE

Didn’t enjoy this. I’ll start with the positive of our boat driver and tour guide both were very nice. The rest of the experience was not. It opened by meeting a guy in a van who unloads what looked like a bunch of fins bought in bulk from a going out of business sale, as it was mostly 2 sizes that didn’t fit anyone very well. Then we went to the water to get onto our boat and were loaded into a RIB (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat) Zodiac, which is basically a small boat typically used for Navy Seal operations. Because of that, everyone is sitting on the edges of the boat with the only thing to prevent you from flying off of it being some metal railings in front of you that you have to hold onto for dear life. There were old grandparents next to me and I felt it was a miracle they held on. We were also I would have to guess about 16 people all squeezed in on this small boat, which even on its website recommends about 12 max. Besides the unpleasant boat ride, when we got to the actual snorkeling spot it was a location with some reefs found by some trenches about 40 feet deep. With us snorkeling, the fish were a bit far away from view to really appreciate. To me 40ft is much better to scuba dive at than to snorkel. On top of that, we saw maybe 5 types of fish total which made the 45 minutes to an hour long snorkeling session seem like an eternity as it was a small zone to snorkel at with not much to see. The large group we were snorkeling with seemed to have a similar opinion as halfway through most of them stopped snorkeling and just talked to each other while treading water. I have been on dozens of snorkeling trips in my lifetime and this was easily bottom 5. Reading other reviews about seeing a bunch of marine life makes me feel like I was on a different tour from everyone else. Gave 2 stars because at least I could swim in the water for an hour

Boat was fun to ride. It went really fast and I thought I was going to fly off. You have to hold on tight! Snorkeling was pretty good. We saw acvariety of fish and the guys did a great job.

Even though it was an overcast day, the water was calm and clear. If it’s a clear day, even better. Lots of species and coral is still got color. Capt Koa and Jake were great hosts. They were knowledgeable and made the tour fun. Even got a Spinner Dolphin show. Book now!