Captain Steve's Rafting — Attraction in Maui

We did the Lana’i Snorkel tour back in late September with Levi and Will.

We chose this tour following the recommendation of our hotel concierge, who seemed a cool and knowledgeable guy. We are happy we took his advice! Thanks Morgan!

What we probably loved the most about the tour is that it wasn’t crowded (the boat is not very large, which puts a healthy limit on the amount of people it can carry). As a consequence, the whole experience felt more personal, having the possibility to engage in conversations with the crew and the rest of the group.

The ride to Lana’i is itself a great experience. It gives you excellent views of both Maui and Lana’i and being on a speedboat, the bumpy ride and the wind on your face makes it a lot of fun. The good thing here is the experience of the crew, which makes you feel safe at all times. They will never push beyond the comfort zone of the group and never get you into risky situations.

Once we reached Lana’i we stopped for our first snorkel dive of the day. The place was lovely, full of corals and with excellent visibility. Being still early in the morning, we were the only boat in the area; it can’t get much better than this! In addition to the corals, we saw some green turtles and colourful fish, so we were more than satisfied.

After 45min or so, we got back on the boat and headed to a second snorkel site. Unfortunately the conditions in that area were not great (some waves made it a bit risky to snorkel there) so we headed somewhere else. Along the way we could see a group of bottleneck and spinner dolphins that came very close to the boat, enjoyed the view of the cliffs of Lana’i and also got close to some blowholes (compression chambers technically speaking).

The next snorkel site was also fun, although the visibility was not as great as in the first. It’s important to remember that while the crew does their best to take you to the best snorkel sites, they can’t guarantee perfect conditions. The ocean has the last word. Nonetheless, we also enjoyed this site and saw some beautiful fish in the area.

After 5 hours or so of fun, we headed back to Maui and enjoyed the ride once again, already thinking of the next time we would snorkel with these guys! Hope to see...

After MUCH research on the different ocean adventure companies, we went with Captain Steve's - TWICE - on our 6-day trip, and have nothing but wonderful things to say.

The first trip was the 2-hour whale watch with Capt Kevin and Lynn (not sure what her title is, but she was the one with all the incredible whale knowledge). We saw a mom/calf duo minutes into our trip and we continued to see whales the entire two hours, all the while learning fascinating things about the humpbacks. Both Alex and Lynn were friendly and funny as well.

Our second trip was the 6-hour deluxe snorkeling, this time with Capt Alex and Maureen. It typically goes to Lanai, but it was very windy in that area, which does not make for good snorkeling. We all appreciated their honesty and were happy to go where they recommended. On our way to calmer waters, we saw easily a dozen or so whales and the captain was so great about following our sightings and being laid-back. We snorkeled in one spot for an hour or so and even saw an endangered Hawaiian monk seal! We were greeted with fresh pineapple when we came back to the boat, then cruised over to another for more snorkeling and lunch (which is laid out by the crew and absolutely delicious), followed by more whale watching on the way back to the dock. We saw probably 30 or so whales and never once felt hurried by the crew. They are so knowledgeable, honest, and warm. It was a wonderful experience!

A couple things to note: this company uses "rafts" exclusively with about 20~ people per trip. Some people will end up sitting on the inner tube sides and it is a barefoot boat; your shoes will be taken (or you can put them in your own bag). We wanted this more intimate experience, but understand it isn't for everyone. No one was seasick on either of our trips.

Captain Steve's is ethical and incredibly respectful of the whales and other wildlife. We will be back next year! Don't forget to tip your crew - they work super hard to show you an...

We really enjoyed our 2 hour round trip outing with Captain Steve’s. At ~$60 per person it felt like a good value. Very organized check-in process. The boat is easy to get on and off for all ages and the captain was experienced. His first-mate, Jennifer, had extensive knowledge and experience with the humpback whale and offered a lot of really great info and facts which I found very interesting and really added to the trip. Take your patience. There is no guarantee of what you will see. We saw very little the first 45 minutes or so, but were very much rewarded for the last 45 minutes. Even then, it’s kind of a “right place, right time” scenario for how close the whales may come to the boat. But as Jennifer reinforced, we are only observing them and they are not performing for us. We saw A LOT of activity on our trip, heard a lot of above water whale sounds, got to see a full breach, and we even had one go under our boat! All in all it was a worthwhile adventure and we would do it again. Helpful tips: complete all pre-boarding paperwork ahead of time online; you may want to take a Dramamine if you are motion sensitive, but since the boat is very open to the air you should still be ok if you forget; and wear sunscreen because you won’t feel the sun while the boat is in motion. The company recommends a list of things on the website to bring and you can bring a bag on board. You will need to remove your shoes at the dock and can either leave them in a bag provided, or put them in your bag. There is parking in a lot on-site or on the street if it is full. ENJOY your time and please don’t forget to tip...