Big Island of Hawaii Boat Tours

Great experience! Bryan and Brice were extremely friendly and shared lots of stories and fun facts about manta rays. Apart from many mantas we even saw a very cool and rare monk seal! The hot chocolate afterwards was also a great plus.

Absolutely magical experience being mere inches away from Manta Rays! Cannot recommend Hawaii Marine Life Charters enough. Definitely encourage booking with them directly!! They were communicative, knowledgeable, and made our experience so fun. We loved the small group size that made the trip feel more intimate. The tour was exactly the right length and it was worth every cent! Captain Mitch & Bobby were excellent!! We felt so safe and taken care of and it was clear they went above and beyond to give us a wonderful experience, especially since the weather is unpredictable and the majestic Manta rays are wild animals! We saw SO many mantas - at one point I couldn’t even see the ocean floor there were so many in our life of sight. It was the highlight of our trip and one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. The hot chocolate and snacks on the boat ride home were the perfect way to end such a euphoric experience. To top it all off, we even got to take home photos and videos of the mantas swimming right up underneath us and barrel rolling - what a treat! Thank you so much!!!

This is a once in a lifetime experience. The crew was great and did a nice job with setup! The manta rays came within inches literally while they fed! It was a little startling how close and majestic all in the same breathe. Such amazing beauty. This really is a must do.

​Seeing the manta rays up close was the highlight of our trip! Snorkeling Big Island is a wonderful family-owned company that keeps group sizes small, which made us feel so well cared for. ​Captain Dylan, Elion, and Billy were outstanding guides. Billy was incredible with my daughter—she was terrified at first, but his encouragement made her feel safe enough to enjoy it. The rays came so close, almost touching us! An unforgettable experience and a absolute must-do for anyone visiting!

What an amazing fun day. The crew were friendly and took us to 2 awesome snorkeling spots. They also shared the history and facts about where we were. Captain Ed, Joshua and please forgive me, I can’t remember the woman’s name. A local and it started with K. She was so nice and helpful. I recommend 100%

An absolutely awesome snorkel/catamaran trip. The crew was amazing (Captain Jon and Crew Beau, Taylor, Austin, and I unfortunately forgot the name of the fourth one, a pleasant young lady). Along the way and back they take turns giving you the Hawaiian history of the sacred locations along the shore and what occurred there hundreds of years ago amongst the native Hawaiians and with Captain Cook. The two snorkel spots were teeming with fish. The crew were steady (but not overwhelming) in offering snacks and drinks, and turning on the showers for you after coming in from snorkeling. Captain Jon was either good (or lucky, LOL) in finding pods of spinner dolphins for us to watch. Lunch during the ride back was also pleasant. A nice sandwich bar. The staff assisted me in making a Hawaiian tuna wrap!

This manta ray tour was easily the coolest thing I’ve done during my time in Hawaii. I went solo, but the entire crew made me feel welcome and safe from start to finish.Our guide, Meredith, was incredible. She was fantastic with the kids from other families on board, explaining all the safety rules and instructions so clearly that everyone could understand easily. She is incredibly knowledgeable and gave us a mini-lesson about the mantas using a book, along with tons of interesting ocean facts. She also made sure no one was intimidated by the size of the mantas, and whenever anyone in the water needed a hand, she was quick to assist. Captain Raj was also great, super friendly, welcoming, and helpful to everyone on board. The actual "show" was mind-blowing; we saw so many massive manta rays swimming right up to us. It’s hard to put into words how majestic they are. To top it all off, the boat ride back under a massive blanket of stars was a sight in itself. Huge mahalo to Raj and Meredith for an unforgettable night!

Best tour I have been on in a while!! The Mantas were beautiful and so majestic. Meredith and Scott were amazing! I really appreciate how knowledgeable Meredith was, and it was amazing having a real marine biologist giving us the facts. I really enjoyed every minute and hope to come back next year.

Mike and Brooke were helpful, knowledgeable and provided an amazing tour. We were able to see all of the things on our bucket list, almost like he ordered it off our list. We saw how crowded some of the other company’s boats were and it made us glad that we chose the best/ right company. Mahalo

Without a doubt, highly recommended. Everything very well organized and explained. They gave us an upgrade, I imagine due to their logistics. Captain Kai and Ally were super attentive at all times. Very beautiful views and two stops for snorkeling. Duration about 4 hours. We would definitely repeat with them. 100% reliable, booking and payment. Once you make the payment, they send you the email with all the information, meeting place, timings, etc. For those of us who wear prescription glasses and do not use contact lenses, they have also planned for that!! In fact, when I finished, I bought them; they worked great, as they offer several prescriptions. A 10/10 day, thank you very much!!

20/10 — One of the Most Incredible Ocean Experiences We’ve Ever Had!I honestly don’t know how to give Scott, Kate, and Kona Ocean Adventures enough stars for the experience they gave us tonight. Five stars doesn’t even come close. This was a 20/10 experience from beginning to end.We booked their private sunset snorkeling trip, rustic dinner, and nighttime manta ray experience, and the entire evening was absolutely incredible.A little perspective: we’re from Florida, we’re scuba divers, and we spend a lot of time in and around the ocean—so it takes quite a bit to really blow us away. Scott and Kate absolutely did.The sunset snorkel alone would have made the trip worth it. We saw an unbelievable amount of marine life—puffer fish, purple tangs, yellow tangs, unicorn tangs, blue boxfish, angelfish, foxface, all kinds of wrasses, urchins and so much more.And then there was the monk seal.A HUGE monk seal came right up between the boats and literally used the line between them to brush her teeth! 😂 We just sat there watching her work the rope through her mouth like dental floss. It was one of those completely unexpected wildlife encounters you know you’ll be talking about for years.But somehow the night was just getting started.The nighttime manta ray experience was absolutely unreal.We had at least SIX different manta rays swimming with us, and when I say close, I mean INCHES FROM OUR FACES.They came straight toward us and did barrel roll after barrel roll directly underneath us. At times they were so close you could look straight into their mouths as they rolled beneath you. They actually made physical contact with us multiple times as they passed.We have video of it, and even watching the video doesn’t completely capture what it felt like to actually be there.There were moments when you’re floating on the surface, looking down at these enormous animals coming straight toward you, and your brain is telling you there’s no possible way they can get any closer—then they roll at the last second and pass just inches underneath you.Again. And again. And again.It was spectacular.What really made the evening, though, was Scott and Kate. A private charter is supposed to feel different from being shuffled through a big commercial tour, and this absolutely did. They made the entire evening personal, relaxed, fun and memorable. You never felt rushed or like you were just the next group being moved through an itinerary.The sunset, snorkeling, dinner, wildlife, manta rays and the personal attention from Scott and Kate all came together into one of those rare vacation experiences that completely exceeds what you thought you were booking.We’ve done a lot of ocean activities and diving over the years, and this is easily one of the coolest marine experiences we have ever had.If you’re coming to Kona and considering a manta ray trip, do yourself a favor and book the private experience with Kona Ocean Adventures. Especially if you want something more personal than a large-group excursion.Scott and Kate — thank you for an absolutely unforgettable evening.We came hoping to see some manta rays.We left having watched at least six of them barrel roll inches from our faces, had a monk seal stop by to floss her teeth, saw an incredible variety of Hawaiian marine life, and made a memory we’ll be talking about for the rest of our lives.Five stars isn’t enough. 20/10. Absolutely phenomenal. 🤙🌅🌊🤿

Great tour. Natalie and Koby were great guides and super friendly. The group is small - which was awesome & exactly what we were looking for. Highly recommend!

Captain Bee and crew were great. On our way out she spotted some spinner dolphins and stopped to give everyone a chance to see them jumping out of the water. The snorkeling was great. As a bonus a manta ray was spotted on our return. Would recommend SeaQuest again.

Kevin and his crew were amazing today. Good vibes and patience with a strong willed kiddo. We saw turtles and a manta ray, so cool. Thanks for making it a great experience!! Loved this adventure. Highly recommend!!!

Incredible experience! Highly recommend this company for your manta tour. Some advantages: since this is a larger group, if you end up not seeing any mantas, you can try again another night through the manta guarantee. I didn’t initially realize that going with a larger group would help with this. We initially booked with a smaller boat / tour group - did not see any mantas due to the conditions. But it was essentially impossible to rebook because the boats are so tiny that all the spots were already reserved for the next few nights with low likelihood of cancellations. With a larger boat, we feel this wouldn’t be an issue. We were actually so desperate to see mantas that we paid for a second tour in full last minute (this one!) and were SO lucky to have a beautiful manta sighting! The experience was great, with a super knowledgeable crew with a high emphasis on efficiency and safety. Even though it was a larger group, we were in and out of the water and on and off the boat quickly. This is a very well run and organized operation! There were also many crew members in the water with the group the entire time and were constantly watching for our safety and comfort - checking in when appropriate and helping folks with any snorkel issues or noodles / flotation that slipped away. It was great to feel the full support of the crew the entire time. The other advantage of a larger boat tour is that we had all the light boards connected together which provided a more stable experience in the waves in addition to generating a ton of light - which meant more plankton, more mantas and a larger area of visibility overall.

Our guides were wonderful! The fish were incredible. Our snack and lunch was delicious.