Anelakai Adventures — Attraction in Hawaii

I'd heard about this on another tour years ago. I'm not really an in the water person, but I love the ocean, and I've always loved rays. From the beginning, this was a wonderful experience. I had some questions about wetsuit sizes and procedures, so I called. A friendly voice answered all my questions and set me at ease. I booked a night trip for me and my fiance (who is more of a water person than me) on advice from my phone call. She explained you can pick the sunset trip and watch the sunset and see some rays but it tends to be a little busier with other boats, OR you pick the night trip with a little less people potentially being around. I opted for moonlight.

We got to the boat dock pretty easily. The canoe is parked at the boat ramp, so look for it there. Our guides were friendly, welcoming, and funny!

This night, the moon was working on full (3/4). The ocean was pretty calm, and it was mostly clear and gorgeous out. I use a rower for exercise, so the paddling was easy for me, but there was a woman in her 70s (maybe?) in front of me, and she did great too.

For those of you who might be intimidated: It was pretty easy to get in and out of the water. I can swim but not an awesome swimmer, and I'll admit to never having worn a snorkel (masks, not a snorkel). You can hang onto the side of the boat and shimmy down to the pvc bar if you want without swimming. It's a little more difficult to kick your legs out behind the boat with the ankle floats on, however, once I got all the equipment on and in the water it was pretty easy and surprisingly comfortable to hold on to the bar (just remember to relax). I would switch between bent at the elbows and straight, and that kept my arms from getting too tired because we were bobbing quite a bit even on this calm night. With tips from my guide, my snorkel had zero issues, no leaks, and I didn't swallow one bit of salt water (so don't be afraid to ask questions!). The short sleeved wetsuit top provided was comfortable and kept me warm, though it was really nice in the water that night, not too cold at all, just like a nice dip in a pool!

I would also say, yes, motion sickness could be an issue in the boat and even in the water. If you're prone, you might want to take something. (We both felt a bit woozy once out of the water) Our guides humorously advised all of us to keep all bodily fluids out of the kayak! Nobody had an issue there!

There were at least 4-5 other small groups out when we got there, but it didn't affect our experience at all

All of this is to get to the good part. Holy moly! What an experience that is, as others told me before I did it, is NOT AN EXPERIENCE TO MISS. These creatures are ethereal, otherworldly, gentle, and incredibly large. This night, per the guides, was an exceptional night. The rays were coming up close to the boat before we even got in the water. Several times, they came so close to us in the water they nearly touched us. There were somewhere between 5-8 of them. We had an action camera in a waterproof case (with a lanyard) and took 30 minutes of video (short video I will try to attach is- video of video- and is more for proof than quality here). It worked great. One in our group of 6 (not including guides) stayed in the boat and still got a spectacular view.

Getting back in the boat was also easy. I just shimmied over to my seat and climbed up the easy little ladder for getting in. Paddling back, despite having held onto a bar for a while, was easy (we felt it in our pecks the next day but were fully mobile, guess we need to do more chest presses, haha).

We got the souvenir towels. They're not too thick and were easy to pack (in case that's a reason you would hesitate to buy, I did a little). They are nicely colored and got us dry pretty quick. They are handy to have and an awesome souvenir for such an experience, especially if you're spending more time on the island. We were almost done but still got a chance to use them on the beach before we went.

Hands down, this is worth every penny. It's not something...

It all started with me searching for a tour that wasn't geared towards maximum amount of people crammed on a boat. I was looking for a more one on one interactive tour and came across Anelakai Adventures. The other bonus was it was done in an old traditional way by rowing out in a double hulled canoe. I gave Anelakai a phone call and asked multiple questions in which the very friendly lady on the other end of the phone answered them and provided more information than I asked for. She was great. I booked the Manta Ray tour right after I got off the phone.

Fast forward to the day of tour. I was already leary and nervous about being in the ocean and what the waves and currents would be like much less I hate having anything on my face such as masks, glasses etc. I know how to swim but have not swam in an ocean since i was 17, almost 40 years ago. The night of the tour it was raining pretty moderately which added even more to my anxiety. We rowed out to our location that the two guides had in mind. There were 2 guides and 5 of us taking the manta ray tour. I was hesitant at first to get in the water because I wanted to see how the others fared in the water. The guides were great at watching everyone and were very supportive and gave great encouragement. I eventually got into the water and got great footage of the Manta Rays. There was a slight current but it was very manageable. My struggle was wearing the mask and snorkel and took it off every few minutes as it felt claustrophobic. We saw multiple Manta Rays and at one point I counted 8 Manta Rays at once under the lights with faint shadows of more on the perimeter. It was a great experience seeing the Manta Rays within inches of your face and seeing so many. It was also great to experience rowing out and back in the canoe like the elders did. The most important thing about Anelakai were the guides. They were great, very communities, supportive and made you feel important. I would recommend Anelakai a thousand times more than the big boats taking 30 to 60 people out crammed on a boat and stacked on each other in the water. I will definitely book with Anelakai again when I return to Hawaii. Top notch outfit in my opinion. Thank you Anelakai for a...

What a unique and once in a lifetime experience! I read about this one on Trip Advisor after a local friend told me doing the manta rays was not a good ecological choice. I am so glad I found them because the whole experience from start to finish felt wholesome and non-invasive to the amazing animals of the sea. The rays come in for the lights that are drawing the plankton, but aside from that we were very well instructed about how to not negatively impact them - the guides were so clearly passionate to share the experience with us, but it was their nature to make sure that we understood how not to hurt them. One of our group asked the guide her name and she said "Anelakai" so I commented that the business was named after her. She was so young that it did not seem possible that she started the business but she shared that she had encouraged her father to start it when she was only four! because he seemed tired from work and a water business clearly suits this family! (And it doesn't get any more "support local" than that!). As others have said, we got the full experience with the beautiful, graceful things coming right up with jaws agape gracefully gulping in the abundant plankton. One of the ones we saw had a propellor injury which only solidifies my decision to go this route. Our whole group was just as delighted as I was. Sidepoint - my daughter is not terribly confident in the water and this boat gave her the opportunity to sit in the boat while the rays came to it and she was able to experience their majesty which would not have been possible in the gas/propeller boats where you need to get in and swim over to the lights. All in all a lovely, intimate experience that I will always cherish. Note: do wear swimwear as the wetsuits are jackets - you do not have to change into a full wetsuit; do take that seasickness med a half hour before you go - a friend had told me to, but I did not think I could get queasy since I was in the water, but somehow I did and wish I had taken it. Also, if you have an anxious member, consider renting a go-pro from Boss Frogs ($30/day) - my daughter got some incredible footage which enhanced her experience even when she was too uncomfortable to get...