Big Island Snorkeling

Advanced reservations prior to arriving on the Big Island are required if you hope to join either boat on a morning tour! A credit card is required to guarantee your reservation, but no charges are made at the time of your order. You pay for the tour when you check in on the day of your cruise. There's no reason to wait ... make your reservation today so your space is guaranteed!

Snorkel at historic Kealakekua Bay, a site known for incredibly clear water, frolicking spinner dolphins, and healthy coral reefs teeming with colorful fish. The Fair Wind II has an exclusive mooring at this beautiful place, where you snorkel within sight of the Captain Cook Monument. This bay was the scene of the first Europeans landing in Hawaii in 1787. Captain Cook died here a few months later at the hands of some locals during an unfortunate skirmish over a dinghy.

Daily morning departures are at 9am from Keauhou Harbor, about 10 minutes south of downtown Kailua-Kona. The trip includes breakfast, BBQ lunch, and snorkel gear. The tour is 4.5 hours long. A cash bar is also available on-board.  FOR MORE DETAILS ON THE FAIR WIND SNORKEL TOUR CLICK HERE or reserve using the form at right.

CRUISE SHIP PASSENGERS

The Fair Wind is available for cruise ship passengers whose itinerary shows a 7am arrival in Kona, but this schedule is rather tight. A cab ride of 10-12 minutes from the cruise ship dock in Kona is required. Check-in time is 8:30am. Kona is a tendering situation, so ample time is required to make it to shore. Fair Wind recommends that cruise ship passengers take their sister ship the Hula Kai instead.

 

 

Hula Kai Morning Snorkel Tour:  $149 per passenger minimum age on the Hula Kai is 8

 

The Hula Kai is the Kona Coast's newest, most technologically advanced snorkel vessel. This boat uses  hydrofoil technology for improved stability and speed, and allows them to access more remote destinations including sea caves and lava flows that are less than 50 years old. Hula Kai is designed and built specifically for the ultimate snorkel and dive adventure.

Seating on board the boat is in comfortable lounge-styled seating with arm and head rests. The wide steps on each side of the boat provide easy access into the ocean. A fresh-water shower is available to rinse off when you finish your snorkeling. FOR MORE DETAILS ON THE HULA KAI SNORKEL TOUR CLICK HERE or reserve using the form at right.

CRUISE SHIP PASSENGERS

The Hula Kai is available for cruise ship passengers whose itinerary shows a 7am arrival in Kona. A cab ride of 10-12 minutes from the cruise ship dock in Kona is required. Check-in time is 9am. Kona is a tendering situation, so ample time is required to make it to shore. If your cruise ship is scheduled to arrive at 7am or is spending the previous night in Kona, this tour will fit your schedule.

 

Activity Tips

My wife and I snorkel a lot ... and it takes a lot to impress us. We own our own sailing catamaran, so we are used to going to places that aren't crowded and where the snorkeling is good on our home island of Maui. Whenever we go out on snorkel tours on the Big Island we are treated to conditions that we are able to find on our own boat. Great reef, and uncrowded snorkeling.

The Fair Wind and the Hula Kai are both excellent trips. We review each boat in detail on their respective pages on this website. Our purpose for presenting this page is to show you the best snorkel options for comparison sake. If you have never been to the Big Island before, I would say that my first choice would be to go out on the Fair Wind so you can snorkel beautiful Kealakekua Bay. If you've been there and done that before, then a trip on the Hula Kai is a must! You'll see far more of the Kona Coast than you ever imagined!

If you are a cruise ship passenger and your boat arrives in port at 7am, you have ample time to make the check-in for the Hula Kai and this is the tour that we recommend for you. The Fair Wind can be done, but the timing is tight. If you order the Fair Wind and you don't get there in time and miss the boat, they will charge your credit card in full for a no-show. Don't underestimate the time it takes to wait for a tender in Kona and make it to shore! The Hula Kai check-in is 30 minutes later and is a much safer bet!

Here is link to the Fair Wind page that has more details and a review of this trip. And here is a link to the Hula Kai page with more information about this new boat.

 

 

 

 

Big Island Snorkel Reservations

Upon submitting your activity reservation for processing, one copy is sent to your e-mail address so that you have a record of your order. We will make reservations for you and send an e-mail confirming all of the details. These confirmations are often sent a few minutes after your reservation, but some activities take longer to confirm than others. You will receive an e-mail confirmation by the end of the next business day at the latest. There are no tickets that you need to pick up prior to your event. Your e-mail confirmation will have all the details you need to check in and enjoy your selected activity. This saves you precious time when you arrive in Hawaii. 

A credit card is required to guarantee payment for your reservations, but in most cases WE DO NOT charge your credit card when your order is placed. Your credit card is typically charged five days before you leave for Hawaii, and a voucher is faxed to the vendor. Some activities are charged at the time of check-in and your e-mail confirmation will inform you if this is the case. If you cancel your activity after your credit card has been charged you will receive a refund less 10% to cover our credit card processing costs.

We do have one vendor that requires payment at the time that your reservation is made. These activities are clearly marked on our website with the words, "Payment required at the time of reservation."

After making reservations, you may reschedule or cancel your activity up until 48 hours prior to its start (a few activities have 72 hour cancellation policies ... see your confirmation e-mail for details). Within 48 hours of the start of your activity all reservations are final and non-refundable (unless the event is cancelled by the vendor due to weather or other factors). Due to our incredible climate here, weather cancellations are rare.  No-shows and cancellations without adequate notice are charged in full on the credit card used to secure the reservation and are non-refundable.