Kona Boys, Inc. — Attraction in Hawaii

If you can only do one excursion or experience in Hawaii, this better be it! Frank and Evan are such a great team! This was an experience to be had! My party of 4 arrived in the morning and were eagerly greeted. We were even more excited to discover that we received a private kayak and snorkeling tour because no one else had signed up, a product of coming to Hawaii after spring break season and before Easter.

Frank fit us for snorkel gear and even had some prescription options for those who require glasses. We met Evan down by the shore for the paddle across Kealakekua Bay. it's a leisurely mile long paddle. Evan was amazing at getting everyone in our party into the kayaks including my older parents who definitely hesitated at the drop from the concrete loading dock into the kayak. But Evan was a pro and ready for everything!

We saw spinner dolphins and bottle-nosed dolphins as we crossed the bay. Everyone paddles in tandem kayaks. Evan tells you all about the history of the cliffs and just how special this place is. It has an amazing amount of history and significance for the Hawaiian people.

This is THE best snorkeling experience you'll have in the United States! The water is so clear and warm and there are soo many fish. I was blown away. And not to mention--I swam with bottle nosed dolphins are eagerly swimming among the people watching them. They were well within 10 feet of me. You can hear them talking below the surface. After an hour of snorkeling, Evan told us all about Captain Cook while we enjoyed a nice lunch. Getting into and out of the water for snorkeling is also not as simple as walking into the water. We had to jump off a concrete edge and then climb back up. Evan, again as professional as ever, is ready for the challenge! When he tells you to 'put your foot here' and reach for his hand, you'll say 'you want me to do what now?!' but I promise it all works out in the end!

This was one of my most favorite experiences in Kona and well worth the trip and the time! You will NOT regret it. Because only 2 companies have the permits to park their kayaks on the shore, this makes snorkeling with Kona Boys so special. The only other way around to this spot is by taking a long hike with your snorkel gear, or by doing a motor boat tour where they drop you off in the water. The boats aren't allowed to dock or anchor so you're stuck just floating in the water and using the boat ladder. Kayaking was a much less invasive experience and allowed you to enjoy the natural surroundings more.

For those that don't snorkel, you can still enjoy the kayak, the dolphin watching, the historical significance, and even seeing some fish just by looking through the water. There were so many yellow tangs that we thought they were folded yellowing leaves! There are some ruins from an old village there as well.

I would do this again in...

Our family of four had a wonderful experience on the "midday meander" kayak and snorkel tour. From when I first reached out to book (somewhat last minute, I admit), Ellie at the shop just could not have been more kind and helpful in going through available times and tour options. She thoughfully asked if there were any in our party with different abilities and clearly wanted to make sure we were set up to have the best possible experience. She let us know there were showers and an area to change at the park where we launch, which was a huge help given we were headed straight to KOA after kayaking. Ellie also handled our checkin prior to the trip, and was really kind, helping my 12yo get appropriately fitted with snorkel gear - thank you Ellie!

The tour itself was just fantastic! After driving down to the park from the shop (about 20 mins, and we had no problem finding parking midday), our wonderful guides, Bamm and Mike, had kayaks all set for us, and we headed out for the ~1 mile kayak across the beautiful bay. Our family has certainly kayaked and snorkeled before, but this was a first snorkeling directly from a kayak, I was a little nervous about how on Earth I was going to get back in the kayak from the water. Not to worry! Bamm's friendly help made this no problem at all - thank you! - and i just want to make sure to highlight this aspect, in case there are other folks with similar uncertainty. Do not worry - these guys are pros and couldn't be nicer!

The snorkeling itself lived up to the hype - amazing fish, beautiful coral, and we saw multiple large eels as well, which was a treat. We spent an hour in the water just exploring as we liked, with helpful suggestions from Bamm and Mike, then climbed back in and the group enjoyed a delicious snack of pineapple while Bamm explained the history of the bay, impacts of recent tsunami and coral bleaching events, and the collaborative efforts underway to reseed coral in the bay. This was super informative, and it's great to hear about how Kona Boys supports this work - we even saw the buoy for where the 'coral nursery' is for coral starts to be transplanted - fascinating.

Thank you Bamm, Mike, and Ellie for a fantastic day! We are already dreaming of being able to return to HI, and if we do, we will 100% book another trip with...

Wonderful morning magic kayak and snorkel at Captain Cook with prescription snorkel gear! This is one of the only kayak tour groups that has permits to land kayaks at Ka’awaloa Flats where the Captain Cook monument is located.

The prescription snorkel gear was a pleasant surprise! Both of my parents wear glasses and don't have contacts. With the prescription gear, they could actually see everything in detail when snorkeling. They even let us keep the prescription gear for another day at no extra charge. This was so helpful since we had a manta ray snorkel scheduled that night.

The snorkeling was phenomenal! The water is so clear and there are large schools of yellow tang hanging out in shallower areas as well as angelfish, butterfly fish, and sea urchins. Bamm and Forrest were fantastic, knowledgeable guides making sure everyone was safe and having a good time. They provide nice big sandwiches, juices, and cookies for lunch and also share about the history of Captain Cook before heading back to the other side of the bay.

The only downside is I wish this tour started even earlier. By the time everyone had been outfitted with snorkel gear, driven from their store to the pier, paddled across Kealakekua Bay, landed the kayaks, and gotten in the water, we only had about 10 minutes before hoards of other kayaks and large commercial boats descended. Since others have to tow their kayaks behind them when snorkeling, it's also very easy to get smacked...