Blue Dolphin Charters — Attraction in Kauai

Our party of 10 (2 families, plus grandparents) had a great time today on the Blue Dolphin Charters Na Pali snorkel tour and it was 100% thanks to Captain Evan and his amazing crew that consisted of Elia, JR, and Zek.

These guys worked nonstop during the trip to make sure everyone felt safe and taken care of. They served food and drinks to folks who couldn’t easily get to the counter, frequently helped the elderly up and down the stairs, and checked in on those who were getting seasick.

My 10-year old loved being at the front of the boat when it was going fast and really bouncing (felt like a bunch of mini drops on Splash Mountain). While fun and exciting, I didn’t want to be wet the entire time and was grateful to Zek for walking my son back up there and the rest of the crew for being so vigilant with everyone.

For those curious about general outline of the tour, here’s what to expect: check-in at 7am, walk over to the catamaran at around 7:10am, put shoes in a rack, get on the boat barefeet with your bags, find a seat either on the top deck or below, safety announcements, boat takes off and crew starts serving breakfast (warm cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit, juice/soda/water), boat accelerates to a vigorous speed for about an hour until we reach our snorkeling site (slowed down at some point to look at a pod of dolphins with new babies), snorkel for about an hour and continue moving along the rest of the Na Pali coast, opportunity to stand under a waterfall and take group photos, lunch is served (pulled pork, turkey wrap or tofu salad), then 1-hour trip back to port with cookies served along the way. Great narration and music throughout.

Some notes: • Definitely take medicine in advance if you are prone to seasickness. When the catamaran is moving fast, it dips and bounces a lot and I saw a few people get sick. My family took Dramamine beforehand which helped make the faster parts feel like a fun amusement park ride. • They provide snorkel gear but you can bring your own if you want. And while they offer a wide range of sizes for flippers, the smallest they have is 11-13 for young kids. You could bring your own for them but, in my opinion, it isn’t necessary since you’ll probably want to hold on to your little ones in the water. • If you’re not a strong swimmer, don’t let that deter you from snorkeling! They offer noodles, boards, inflatable vests and have a lifeguard on duty while you snorkel. Zek was ours and he not only traded masks with me when I was struggling with mine, but also dove down to get my snorkel when I dropped it. • Bring cash to tip the hard working crew. Their care and attentiveness to everyone really made this a really fun and memorable adventure for our family. And I was more than happy to generously tip...

We enjoyed a family of 9 Na’Pali dinner cruise this past Saturday. Captain Kai entertained the patrons with dry humor and an amazing commentary of Hawaiian history. At the beginning he spoke to the passengers about safety, boat rules (no shoes, life vests, up/down ladder etiquette) and the unsavory and highly unpopular topic of sea sickness. Let me be clear, the likelihood of you becoming sea sick is high as the open ocean is unforgiving, with large waves and rapidly changing winds and weather. PRO TIP: No matter what your history is and whether you have a history of motion sickness, take something for sea sickness. Best to be safe, there were no less than 6 people on our trip whose experience was ruined because they spent 3/4ths of the entire cruise green with their heads in a barf bag. Others flat out didn’t listen and follow instructions provided on what to do in the event of sea sickness ( go get air, focus on land and let a crew member know you are feeling ill so that they can assist) Instead they tried to muscle through and stay below decks and puked on the floor. The crew members, Jordan and Zeke were the unsung hero's of this evening as they mopped up the stomach contents of the foolish who were unprepared and stupid not to let crew members know that they were struggling. After the boat turned around we enjoyed a rapid motor sail back around the point where the bar was opened and dinner was served. It was mai Tai’s, wine and canned beer. And locally prepared traditional Hawaiian food (kalua pork, bbq teriyaki chicken, rice and a Cesear salad) and fresh cookies to close out. The sunset was magnificent and was a great way to spend the final 20 mins of this evening. The numerous whale sightings were amazing. But the real highlight of our evening was getting drunk on our airBnB lanai(porch) and reading all the one star reviews submitted by those who were unprepared because they either didn’t do research beforehand, didn’t read the email instructions with recommendations for attire and preparedness, and clearly had some unreasonable expectations of what a Hawaiian open ocean dinner cruise in the winter would be like. Overall, great experience. Highly recommended. Take the Dramamine, remove your shoes, bring sunscreen and a jacket. Expect to get wet and the ocean HAS waves…BIG Ones! Winter in the Hawaiian islands has great weather and monstrous waves…google Eddie Would Go. Have a great attitude and be NICE. It is not the crew or the companies fault if you feel ill, or if the waves are big or if...

This review is as much about Joe (Captain Joe), as it is about Blue Dolphin. We spent a little over a week on Kauai (wife, 17 y/o daughter, 14 y/o son). The first part of our trip we spent on the North Shore. While there our car wouldn't start. The battery was dead. We asked a family next to us in the parking lot if they might have jumper cables. They did not. So, I went back to my car and started looking for a roadside assistance company. After a couple of minutes that family came back and offered to drive me to the nearest hardware store so I could buy jumper cables. As we drove we talked about where I was from and what we had planned for our trip. I told them we were doing a Blue Dolphin Sunset Dinner Cruise. That is when I learned that the man who was driving me to the hardware store, was set to be our Captain for our dinner cruise, Captain Joe. Not many people would do what Joe and his family did. They had things to do, but they took time out of their day to help someone. What a great gesture.

Now, onto the Sunset Dinner Cruise. If I am being honest, my wife and daughter picked the trip. I would have gone for something a little more adventurous. However, this was no ordinary dinner cruise. I think the surf was a little more rough than usual, but wow, did that make it more fun!!! We stayed on the standing deck for the most part and it was great. We saw dolphins. We got soaked because we wanted to (if you didn't want to get wet, you could stay in the covered spots of the boat). We were the ONLY boat on the Na'Pali coast that day. Captain Joe, knows this water like the back of his hand. He's been doing it for 20 years. We had a GREAT time. The crew was amazing. The food is very good (chicken, pulled pork). Drinks are plentiful. I would recommend this experience to anyone. It was a 10 out of 10.

Joe is a great ambassador for Kauai. He IS Kauai. Selfless, fun, caring, knowledgeable and every other characteristic you can think of when you think of the best Kauai has to offer. Thank you Joe, and Blue Dolphin for making our trip to...