Dolphin, Sea Cave, Captain Cook, Kealakekua Bay Reef Snorkeling

We had a great time. Our tour guides Koa and Jake were great! My husband and I appreciate how they both made us feel comfortable and confident that our four year old would be safe! They did a great job of evolving our whole group. It was an afternoon filled with laughs and great memories!

Highly recommend - great tour and great way to support local and small businesses. Koa and Jake were entertaining, wonderful, and knowledgeable guides during the snorkel tour! They went out of their way to make sure everyone had the best experience possible. It’s a smaller boat so you have a more individualized and intimate experience. We saw dolphins, colorful fish, and learned a lot of the history of Hawaii from them. The boat ride out was super fun too. Highly recommend for eco-conscious people, Jake and Koa went out of their way to make sure to grab trash out of the ocean.

Kealakekua Bay Reef provided a beautiful environment for snorkeling. Jake was punctual on meeting the group at destination meeting spot and provided a friendly laid back atmosphere. Koa provided a fast, thrilling speed boat ride. Both men were knowledgeable about the history and the area. The fresh cut Pineapple was a tasty treat on the boat that was included. I am glad we added this his excursion.

Captain Koa and lifeguard Jake were amazing. Absolutely worth it. We even saw 3 different manta rays. How lucky! Deavon who stays with the van needs to work a bit on his mannerisms.

Absolutely amazing we did both the snorkeling on the reef, and the manta ray, both were incredible! Definitely worth checking out!

Our captain Maikala was very informative and she truly seemed to enjoy her job!

Fantastic excursion. Great boat ride, lots of time to snorkel. Erica and Cody were great! My only wish is that when stopping to look at caves and land marks Erica would have spun the boat around so both sides could get pictures and a good view.

This was so fun snorkeling where the inspiration from “Finding Nemo” is from. Seeing the beautiful marine life and our captain was so informative and helpful. He made a few stops to tell us some history we even got to see the “Pele Goddess” that inspired Moana. They even had fresh pineapple it was delicious!

Only provides mask and pool noodle for snorkeling extra charges for anything else. Bumpy ride on Rib boat no sun cover. Recommended early trip bc area gets crowded. Lots of coral and a few different fish. Get your exercise without having fins.

Fantastic experience, the guides carried the whole vibe

What an incredible experience! It's some of the best snorkeling I've ever done! We watched an octopus hunting and then an eel swam by. The fish we're everywhere! Seriously a great experience. We went early and had the snorkeling to ourselves for the first part. Rory and Lucas showed us some really cool sights along the way and were incredible. Then my husband realized he swam with our rental fob in his pocket! Deavon stayed and helped us get a new battery. He went to 5 stores and went way above and beyond. If you want to go with a tour that treats you extremely well this is the one!

loved the trip. beautiful boat ride to reef. very scenic. Chris and Leo were very informative and entertaining. saw dolphins and lots of fish. used a noodle while snorkeling for the first time. made it a lot easier and more fun. would highly recommend this tour

One of the highlights of our trip was doing this experience. Rory was very knowledgeable of the wildlife and the areas we visited. Lucas was very helpful and friendly. We made a lot of scenic stops along the way to captain cook for incredible snorkeling. We were lucky and got to see two different types of dolphins on our way in and out!

Koa and Jake were great. The zodiac ride to captain cooks memorial was crazy fast! We felt safe though. Perfect weather and the snorkeling was great. We snorkeled for an hour. Plenty of time to see all the things. Tip - grab yourself some flippers prior to the excursion unless you like paying the additional $25 to use theirs. Be sure to wear a rash guard for sun protection. I really enjoyed the stops after our snorkeling bit, hearing about the history of the area.

Snorkeling was fine. The sea cave experience was a big stretch. I never saw any sea caves. The sea cave experience was a marketing stent don’t do this activity if that is what you are looking forward to.

Amazing experience! The snorkeling was amazing and it was so fun to see the lava tubes! The guides were the best very knowledgeable and a lot of fun! My son had a blast

Eric & Lucas, the snorkeling & sights, and the pineapples made this excursion so much worth the trip!! Check in was quite confusing because I was given 2 addresses! Tip: read the instructions attached to your barcode ticket and pay attention to the outfitter who is providing the excursion! Kona Snorkel Tours provided excellent service once you are able to find "their spot." BUT once you get on the Zodiac boat and to your snorkeling destination, everything was smooth sailing. Good job, Eric & Lucas! The sea caves were nice, could be better with story-telling. Definitely 100% recommended, just be aware of the limitations.

Rory and lucas are some very awesome dudes, made sure everyone was taken care of and made the trip fun and memorable. Definitely recommend.

It started with a little engine problem but got fixed quickly. Boat was fun, snorkeling was amazing. Ericka and Ty did a great job. No dolphins this time but lots of fish to see. Thanks for a great morning.

Lovely cruise down the coast. Saw bottlenose dolphins up close. Snorkeling was fantastic. Knowledgeable guides.

Overall great experience, no time wasted getting everyone on the boats and in the water...which is important. If you book a trip starting at 8am, you'll likely be among the first people in the water in Kealakekua Bay, which means calmest and clearest waters, and less people everwhere. Boat Captains and staff were awesome and very authentic, you can tell they really enjoy what they do. Thank you for a great experience for my family (6 of us!) and I. Thank you!!

We had a great time snorkeling- we saw so many fish. It was one of the highlights of our trip. Our guides Koa and Jake were extremely helpful and helped everything go smoothly. We even had fresh pineapple on the boat after the snorkeling! Would definitely recommend.

Captain Danielle and First Mate Jake were fantastic tour guides to the Kealakekua Bay snorkeling area! Highly recommend taking this trip, which is a small boat with about 10 - 14 people. We saw a huge pod of spinner nose dolphins when we first arrived in the Captain Cook cove with a few of them jumping out of the water. This was one of the Best Snorkeling areas I have been to in the last few years. Over 100 different types of fish and sea creatures live on the reef. After the snorkeling we got fresh pineapple and water bottle. We then visited a few sea cave and volcano lava tubes from the boat on our way back to the harbor. Highly recommend this tour group and especially the Daniella and Jake tour team!

The snorkel trip was great! The visibility was low at the normal spot so our captain took us to a better snorkel place to have better visibility. Koa and Kai did a nice job and made sure we had a great trip! They took us to see some sights and gave us some brief Hawaiian history. Overall a great trip!

Nightmare people, liars and creeps. First: the boat deflated during the trip, so we returned to shore while they tried to fix it. We waited around an hour in the parking lot for them to work on the boat. They couldn't get it fixed, and we were told by the assistant that the boat would not be fixed until Monday, and that "he was sure we would get a refund." They called us hours later and tried to get us to come back that evening for another ride, but we already had plans, and we were 50 minutes away from the boat launch by that point - and we had already been promised a refund - so we could not reschedule. I have called and texted with them for a month since their deflated boat failure and they still have not provided a refund. Avoid them. Not trustworthy - borderline criminal behavior.

Awesome experience capt. And first mate were informative and helpful. Great trip. A little rough with swell, but a great time.

Amazing snorkel tour! We got to see some lava tubes that go to the ocean. Snorkel near Captain Cooks monument. Unfortunately, the dolphin’s didn’t make an appearance but it was a wonderful experience.

I highly recommend this company for an exciting and awesome experience to Kealakekua Bay reef snorkeling, Capt. . Cooks monument and sea caves! The zodiac was a fun and adventurous ride to get to the bay. It was nice to be in a small group of 6 people. Capt. Danielle was fun, knowledgeable and a great boat driver! First mate Lucas was also awesome. I would definitely choose this company again. Abrigado! Thank you🐟🐠☀️

I hope I spelled the names correctly. Captain Danelle and her assistant, Lucas, were very friendly. We were able to see Dolphins on the way to captain Cook monument. This was a fast boat so we were the first ones who got to captain Cook monument. It was very nice to swim around and not bumping into other people. They showed us where to see the fish. I was able to see a lot of varieties of fish on the left side of the captain Cook monument, looking at the monument from the water. By the time we left there, it was crowded with other boats. If you want to avoid the crowd, this is the tour to book. Since the boat is small, the captain could get it close to the caves on the way back which big boat can't.

Friendly and informative captain and crew. Funny and made the trip fun.

Snorkeling at the Captain Cook Monument was incredible! Koa and Jake were fantastic—so friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful throughout the entire trip. Every stop along the way was memorable—we saw dolphins, learned some great local history, and even watched someone cliff jumping, which was wild. The whole experience was beautiful, well organized, and so much fun. Highly recommend!

LOVED this tour! Captain Danielle a d crew were pleasant. Small tour size, great fun!

Apply extra extra sunscreen. Our team was lead by Khalayla and Kekoa absolutely the best… atmosphere was amazing, crowd size just right.

We had the best time on this trip with Koa and Kalea (spelling??). They were fabulous!!

Relaxing trip with some average snorkeling. Friendly crew. Water provided on board. Bring a towel to dry off.

We went snorkeling with a small group and Dave and Jake were great. We didn't feel rushed, we were lucky enough to see a couple of Eagle Rays and enjoyed our boat ride home that included a few stops with a little history and description of the topography.

Beautiful little bay. Lots of very colorful fish! Saw several dolphins from the boat.

My two kids (11 and 13) and I went on this tour and we all give it a five star review. Dave and Chip were working the boat and they were friendly, knowledgeable and funny. If you want to see the Captain Cook monument without having to hike down, this is definitely the best way to do it.

Sage and Khalayla did a great job! Beautiful weather, amazing fish and coral, and an easy, informative boat ride out. Thanks for the memories!

We have very mixed feelings on our tour. The negative are 1) that there were no fins supplied and 2) the captain took unnecessary risks with driving the boat. We have been on quite a few rib boats before, so know the rides can be a lot of fun. This one though, we had to firmly hang on with two hands just to not get thrown off. The captain took a few turns that were simply unsafe. The last item is that there were no life vests provided. The positive is that the snorkeling itself was fun and we saw many varieties of fish. We also saw many dolphins, and the captain kept the boat a safe distance away instead of chasing them.

Snorkeling and sea caves were wonderful, but really wish we would have had fins instead of just mask and snorkel. Moving around the reef would have been so much easier and we would have been able to see more. Our captain and crew could not have been nicer or more attentive. Would definitely do again but would bring my own fins

This was a great experience. Fun trip. Great scenic stops. Dolphins were adorable. Rory was helpful in finding a mask that fir my husband's bridge and was patient with me a who had not snorkeled in 30 years. So much fun.

We had an amazing time!!! The boat drive to Captain Cook was a blast!! We spent an hour in the water Snorkeling. We so so MANY different fish and the kids were super happy!!! The crew was super friendly and shared a lot of knowledge about the area. I would HIGHLY recommend booking this tour!! Thank you for the amazing experience!!

Great morning and fun all the way. Felt like a Navy Seal in a RIB. The bay is so beautiful and calm. The crew were amazing. Will do it again for sure when I return to Hawaii. Don’t miss the manta rays and snorkelling adventure. You won’t regret. Tham from Australia

Guides were fun - relaxed and full of interesting information - HIRE ADAM FULL TIME!!! Bay was perfect for snorkeling. If you're solo worried about a lot of people ruining your snorkel, don't be. I was able to go closer to the shore where it's more difficult to snorkel because it's shallow, and have a great time with just me and the fish. The bay is crowded, but you can wander a bit. I appreciated the island guide afterward particularly the Pele stop. I like guides that know the local history and they do.

My wife and I had an incredible experience with Cole and Eric! They provided great information and history about the area and stunning views of marine life. If you have issues with bookings getting cancelled without notice due to a lack of minimum participants, PLEASE contact Hawaiian Island and Ocean Tours directly. The staff took great care of us and ensured that we enjoyed our experiences at another time.

Tour was good, but the boat crew seemed irritable, disinterested with guests, and more focused on getting the tour over with and focusing on their phones. Little to no information was given about the history of the bay we visited, and the crew only offered info on the way back about two small caves which was great. Other than that, we did not feel welcome boarding, orders were barked in a demanding tone, not a lively/humorous tone which is standard for excursions similar, and the captain and his partner were more focused on their own chat and phones than guests. This was very apparent when we got to Kealakekua bay, and blunt directions were given, then both immediately went to the phones. Our bag was stowed by the crew upon boarding and we needed our gear and asked for it, they told me to look for the bag and grab it myself, even though I had no idea where it was at since I had never been on this boat or one like it. No guidance was given to any guests on how to dive off the boat, luckily my wife and I were experienced divers, but the other guests were clearly inexperienced. The tour itself is good since the areas are great, but pick a different guide that will make it more fun. I get guiding clueless tourists can be tough, but making light of the situation would have been really next level.

Captain Chris and first mate Rory were so accommodating and very knowledgeable about the island! The small group size was perfect and the snorkeling (always an otherworldly experience) felt very private and exclusive. If you are coming from Kailua-Kona, allow plenty of time to get there!

Eric and Chip were the dynamic duo of this tour! They were both fun and professional made sure that everyone had an amazing and safe experience. If you’re looking for an ideal stoke tour in the Kona area, I could not recommend them more highly. Ask for Eric and Chip, Mahalo guys!!! what do you think?