Hilo Ocean Adventures — Attraction in Hawaii

This review is for a boat tour purchased in June. First of all - scheduling was a nightmare. I was given an option of a historical tour (on the company’s bigger boat) with a couple pit stops for snorkeling. I happily agreed to this option. I then received multiple calls changing my reservation leading up to the actual tour: one call the night before to let me know they were going to charge extra because we were taking the bigger boat rather than their standard snorkeling boat, one call in the morning to tell me they were switching which boat I was on to the smaller snorkeling boat (what did I pay extra for??), and then another call 30 minutes

Just yesterday my son (14) and I did the 2-tank shore dive with divemaster Gabriel. We had great conditions (fairly calm, great visibility) and Gabriel did a great job making it easy for us to get in and out of the water, which is no small task with the often sharp-yet-slippery shores on the big island.

First, the dive: I was really surprised at how much life and healthy coral we got to see on this dive. Based on my experience of the shoreline from the surface, I would have expected the Northeastern shore to be a rocky sheer drop pretty much everywhere, but our dive side (near Richardsons) was rocky getting in, then turned into a really nice 30-40' reef with much healthier coral than we saw near Kona. Tons of reef fish and, even more fun a LOT of sea turtles. The safety stop for our dive was at a turtle "cleaning station" where they like to hang out and get their backs cleaned by reef fish, so we always saw a bunch just chilling as well as cruising and even following us during the dive. I'd recommend this to anyone as a must-see, even if you just rent gear and dive it with a buddy.

Next, Gabriel, our divemaster - I was impressed from the start because he called me the day before and let me know that he was watching the conditions and there was a chance he'd have to call off if the surf was too high. I really appreciated the heads-up. Fortunately it wasn't, and we arrived a little early and got to the site earlier since conditions were expected to get rougher later in the day - it worked out great and we had fantastic conditions. I appreciate Gabriel being flexible and getting us the best experience.

Aside from being a really friendly and personable guy, Gabriel took great care of us. We felt safe and he did a great job with the buddy checks and dive plan. He was well prepared with spare mouthpiece/mask, etc as-needed and things went off without a hitch. If we had more time I'd love to explore more areas on this side of the...

Thank you, Matt!

We love Hilo Ocean Adventures! Its an amazing place with the best staff. In particular, we’d like to point out our swim instructor, Matt.

Matt has been wonderful with my twins, age eight. My son is autistic and Matt has made such progress with him! I feel like every lesson is a complete success and a step forward. My son was very hesitant at the start of lessons this summer, but Matt already has him floating on his back alone, doing short solo moves off the stairs and dunking his head underwater! Matt is endlessly patient with my son and has been able to pair my son’s obsession with letters right along into the lesson. If anyone reading this has an autistic child, you know what I mean! I can’t wait to see what level my son will be at by the end of summer.

Matt is also so amazing with my daughter. She is a more advanced swimmer than her brother and Matt switches between the kids seamlessly. My daughter is doing incredible things at her lessons. She’s swimming so confidently and learning more and more at every lesson. Matt knows just how to add new things into the lesson without it being too much. He’s really great at explaining and demonstrating so that my daughter knows exactly what she needs to do!

To top it all off, both of my kids love Matt as their instructor. He is considerate and friendly and genuine. He gets just as excited as I do when the kids “get it” or even simply try something new.

We are 100% thrilled that the kids are learning to swim with Matt! We love him so much! I appreciate him and feel really fortunate that he’s part of our...