Big Island of Hawaii Dolphin & Whale Watching

My family and I had such an incredible day on our private fishing charter. We caught 9 fish! Brian and Tracy are wonderful guides. 100% recommend.

We thoroughly enjoyed our private boat trip with Captain Chad’s Charters on the Big Island. These guys know their stuff! We snorkeled beautiful reefs, saw dolphins and turtles and loved the snacks, especially the fresh pineapple! We were very comfortable on the boat and we were able to choose our activities. We much preferred this trip to one of the more commercial snorkeling trips with lots of people and booze. This felt intimate and you can tell they really aim to please! Book with Captain Chad’s on your next visit to Hawaii- well worth every penny!

We had the best experience! the crew was outstanding and friendly - made our time together such fun. we caught a 30lb Ono so everyone was happy!

Went to two amazing snorkle spots and saw SO much! Channing and Tepo were great! Super friendly and knowledgeable. The reefs were beautiful. Such a cool experience!

Our 6-hour charter with Ocean Kona Blue Boat Tours was the highlight of our Hawaii trip! Captain Kevin and Maddie were incredible—attentive, knowledgeable, and genuinely caring, especially when one of our boys got a little seasick. Every one of us caught fish, the snorkeling was fantastic, and Maddie even found beautiful shells for the kids to take home. Lunch was delicious, and we got to watch a pod of dolphins while we ate-so cool! Kevin was upfront about the rougher seas that morning and offered to refund the trip if we weren't comfortable sailing, but he made the entire experience safe and memorable. They truly treated us like family and gave us great recommendations for the rest of our time in Kona and on Maui. Our four boys are still talking about it!

Captain Kevin and first mate Traci were fantastic! We enjoyed our day on the water snorkeling, enjoying delicious sandwiches with homemade sourdough bread, and relaxing to a beautiful Hawaii sunset. If you want a 5 star day on the water in Kona, Ocean Blue is the way to go! From the perfect snorkeling in Kealakekua bay (Captain Cook’s) to spinner dolphins to sandbar sharks, this day boating had it all!

Family of 5 went with Captain Kevin and I would absolutely recommend to my family and friends. A must do! Excellent for beginners, intermediate or advanced fishers alike. Adult and kid friendly. Memories have no price. This is 💯 worth every penny. Don’t take it from me, try it yourself.

Great snorkel trop with Chad! Very comfortable and clean boat. Very knowledgeable about fish, reefs, and local history. Perfect day! Very windy and choppy, but boat handled well and he knows how to maneuver and drive his boat for a smooth ride! Provided freshwater rinse after snorkeling. Snacks and beverages offered, but we had brought our own. He even gave us some suggestions for local dinner places. Once again, great trip!👌👍😊 Thank you Chad@

We did two tours with Captain Chad's Charters - one was a day-time snorkeling tour and another was night-time manta ray experience. Both were fantastic! We especially enjoyed our conversations with Captain Ryan and the bits of Big Island history he shared, and his signature banana bread was to die for!!! Captain Chad’s skill in navigating challenging waters at night also gave us great peace of mind. Most importantly, special shout out to Yuta!!! He expertly and calmly guided us in snorkeling during the day and at night. We were able to see many incredible creatures while feeling safe since many of us are not used to swim in Pacific Ocean's powerful waves. PS. Beware of seasickness - take appropriate meds and have extra in hand just in case.

Sunset cruise to spread parents ashes. The captain Kevin and his first mate Tracy were fantastic. The boat was nice. We had a really great special time. Highly recommend this team.

From the first phone call with Tasha to the drop off at the marina, this was 5 stars all the way! Kevin and Tracy gave us an incredible day out snorkeling. When we arrived at the marina (with great directions and even a little map) they had pastries and coffee ready. After we all grabbed some and got our safety briefing we were off. We stopped first in a little cove that no one else was at and hopped out for some snorkeling. Tracy is a great guide and pointed out all of the neat things to see, even a turtle! She was super patient when I had some equipment issues (brought my own, switched to theirs). Back on the boat and we were off to Kealakekua. This is a very popular spot so there were already many boats there but it still didn’t feel overcrowded. Kevin showed us where to go. It was truly amazing! So many beautiful creatures. Back on the boat for lunch where we had poke bowls or sandwiches. Tasha bakes the sourdough bread. What an incredible treat! As we were starting to eat Kevin spies some spinner dolphins in the other side of the bay and took us close enough to watch them. Definitely one of the highlights of my trip! So amazing to see the babies jump out of the water! They are so tiny! On the way back we made a couple of stops where Tracy treated us to some history of the island. We learned so much! I cannot recommend this tour enough! Thank you Kevin, Tracy, and Tasha for giving us an incredible day and a lifetime of memories!

We are a family of 5 and had an amazing day out on the water with Captain Kevin and Mahina.We were able to go to the North for some fishing (3 goat fish and a yellow spotted one) and then went South for some snorkeling.The boat was so comfortable and clean and the crew made us feel right at home. They added extra touches like filleting our fish, lending us the Go Pro, and taking family photos.We would highly recommend Ocean Blue Kona and will see them when we come back next time!

We spent three adventurous hours on Captain Chad’s boat today with Ryan as our Captain and Ally as his assistant. We trolled for Ono fish on our way to the coral reefs where Ally helped us discover sea creatures including turtles, lipstick urchins and a five pointed star fish. April 2025

Captain Chad is the man!We went out for my birthday and wanted a private boat and a customizable tour. Chad was able to customize our day with all my favorite things- fishing, scuba diving, snorkeling, and dolphins! We caught an ono and he even filleted it for us! Not only was the boat just what we were looking for, the crew was 10/10 and reasonably priced!

My wife and I wanted to go fishing, but we didn't want to spend the whole day out on the water, and we definitely wanted to catch something for dinner. Captain Kevin Campbell and his mate Mahina gave us an awesome experience that we will never forget! For starters, we had the (quite spacious) boat entirely to ourselves (I don't know if this is always the case) and every portion of the trip was entirely catered to our desires, from the type of fish we went after, where we went, all the way down to the music we listened to. They had snacks and cold drinks for us, and they even charged my wife's phone for her! In regards to the actual fishing, we elected to try to catch some bottom feeders to make sure we had dinner, and we caught three striped snapper, trigger fish, goat fish, ringtail, and my wife even caught a lizardfish. It was more than we needed and the ones we kept were delicious! If I ever make it back to Kona, there is no question in my mind as to whom I would look up to take us out fishing!

Captain Chad was able to book us for a three hour tour which included fishing, sightseeing and snorkeling. He was very kind and patient with us and our children and was very engaging with the kids and made them feel safe and included. We were treated to some fresh pineapple and banana bread that he brought onboard for us and was exceptionally good at letting us know what we were seeing and where we were at and the type of fish we were catching. He was very knowledgeable and over all was really great to be around!!! We definitely will be going back to Captain Chad with more of our family when fishing season is in.