Kauai: 2-Hour Small Group Snorkeling Adventure

The tour operator waited until the day before to send the snorkel location. He did not provide an address, he provided coordinates on a map. Unfortunately, my iPhone was unable to receive the map he attempted to send. After much back and forth, he sent the information to my daughter’s cell phone. The next day, we drove to his coordinates to find a short gravel drive that led to an old cinder-rock boat ramp. We felt as though it would be dangerous to drive down the ramp without a knowledge of the rising/falling tide and rental car capabilities. The lot was tight. We drove further down the road to find public parking and started a walk along the road back to this ramp. We were close to starting time, so I tried to call our guide to notify them. Greg did not answer, I left a message. Arriving to the ramp sweaty and hot, we walked down the cinders and gravel to find him attempting to call us. My daughter was the first to reach him. He inappropriately and sarcastically noted to her that he was going to have to treat me “very special” today, rolling his eyes. He told us to sit down on a bench and launched into a one-sided conversation about himself, his daughter graduating from high school, and his mother arriving for the celebration. Then he asked my daughters for their names, ages, professions, as well as other personal information with the excuse of “psycho-analyzing all of us to know exactly who he is snorkeling with.” I did not feel as though the personal information he was asking for was necessary for the tour. I asked how many people we were waiting for- as we had been “chatting” for quite some time. He told us that the three of us were the only people on the tour. I asked if we could start the snorkeling tour. He told me that he only had to provide a 50 minute snorkel session and that we had to listen to his “safety briefing” for the remaining time. He then offered to return our money for the tour because he had plenty of other things to do. My younger daughter and I were ready to return to the hotel. However, my older daughter still wanted to swim. We ended up snorkeling. We put on the snorkel gear when he asked my daughter her shoe size. He responded with “you know what they say about big feet?” And followed it with “you’re a clown.” Really, just inappropriate remarks over and over. The water was generally quite rough with not a lot of visibility. We had a lot of difficulty even entering the water. When we made it out of the area where the waves were breaking, he asked if we were okay. The tour operator then proceeded to belittle my youngest daughter and told her that the water in her mask was “all in her head”. He said his proof was that if she was unwilling to switch personal face masks with him in the open water, then she must be making it all up and not really having trouble with the mask. They finally switched masks and he continuously made jokes about the chunk of hair on the goggles that remained after she pulled the mask off her face due to the verbal remarks and frustration. He was argumentative, disrespectful and difficult to be around. The only positive side was a very close experience with a turtle. The tour was an aggravation that I would not suggest to a friend who was hoping for a nice afternoon snorkeling with her children. I do not believe Greg-the tour operator- cares about this business and is hoping to retire soon. I suggest another tour operator.

One word AWESOME!!!!! If in Kauai please experience this amazing experience. Priced reasonably , definitely a must do

He explained how to use the equipment & fit very well , made sure everyone was comfortable in the ocean & kept everyone together and safe . We all saw up close Turtles , tropical fish & Greg pointed out things to look at while snorkeling ..

Great snorkel tour for people that do not have much or any prior experience. Our guide explained the use of the equipment in detail and we were in the water for about an hour. It was perfect! Saw lots of fish and turtles!

Excellent excursion with Greg being very detailed in teaching us how to wear and use mask/tubing. The location was great teeming with fish. We felt very safe being guided with his surf board. Would do it again and will refer Greg to friends and families.

If you want to snorkel anywhere, let it be in Hawaii. A beautiful experience that’s worth the money!

My family had an incredible time on the 2 hr. Snorkeling tour with Gregg!!!! First he took time to learn about my family and our previous snorkeling experience (including our kids 8 & 11) and taught us all the best practices for how to snorkel safety and effectively. He was very patient with us since we are a bit new to snorkeling, and we really enjoyed that he brought a paddleboard which helped my kids feeling more confident in the water, since they could stay close to the paddleboard as needed. Gregg knew where to find turtles and varies species of fish at the location where we snorkeled, and it was an amazing experience swimming with all the beautiful sea-life in Kauai. Very Highly recommend!!!

The most beautiful underwater universe. Very professional and polite guide. So helpful. Made me feel safe on the water!! Must do again!

The tour started off a bit shady. We were not given a location to meet until 4 pm the day prior which seemed odd, but we went with it. The first hour plus was talking. The guide started the conversation asking our names and where we were from. He started with a racist comment to my husband about the color of his skin and our last name. Which was completely inappropriate. He then stated that he had no filter. Most of the conversation was about the guide, his kids, and how to blow a conch shell and ask the gods for permission to snorkel. He spent about 1 minute showing us hand signals, and about 5 minutes showing us how to use the snorkel equipment. There was one flotation device with 6 handles for the entire group. One of our friends that was part of the tour informed the guide that he was not a good swimmer. He said he would be fine and could hold on the flotation device. The area in which he chose for us to snorkel was very rocky and the water was very choppy. Once we got in the water the guide put our snorkels on each of us. As soon as we started out, our friend was very anxious, uncomfortable, and was struggling in the water. As the guide was pulling us out, he snapped at our friend that by him holding onto the board it was making it hard for him to get us out. Our friend almost Immediately stated to the guide that he wanted to go back into shore. The guide said “I will work with you and you will be fine.” The guide kept pulling us farther out, the entire time our friend was taking in a lot of water and requesting to go back to shore. Finally, after several, several requests the guide finally agreed to take him back. We all started heading back to shore. The guide once again stopped and told our friend to put his head in the water. At this point, my husband said to the guide “no, just take us in, my man can’t breathe and is struggling.” The guide proceeded to yell at my husband “ don’t tell me how to do my job” a verbal altercation ensued between my husband and the guide. My husband basically telling the guide not to yell at him. The guide instantly plays the victim and says “ oh you’re threatening me now” Which he was not. He stated to just get us to shore. The remaining time making our way back to shore, the guide continually antagonized the situation, to which I said to please just stop talking you are making it worse. The guide then asked a lady just entering the water that he clearly knew, “ have you ever heard someone complain about me, to which the women replied “yes. Do I need to remind you?” As my husband was getting out of the water there was a man there that had asked what had happened, my husband told him and he replied “ your not the first person say that about this tour guide today” Once we left, our friend said that he had water running out of his nose for several hours, and the had my husband not stepped in when he did, he felt he would have drowned. This was the worst experience we’ve ever had.

We had a great time. Greg was very knowledgeable and helpful getting into the gear and helping some in the group feel comfortable in the water. We saw two huge sea turtles and lots of marine life. Thanks for the good day.