Captain Zodiac — Local services in Hawaii

We took the pelagic wildlife tour with Captain Deron and, despite hitting a home run on the wildlife front (loads of dolphins and pilot whales!), the tour itself was kind of a let down.

Having read great reviews of Captain Zodiac (and having super positive experiences on similar zodiac tours out of Kona in the past), we were really looking forward to getting out on the water and learning more about the ecology/geology/history of the area in a more intimate setting compared to the huge family-themed boats.

However, on our trip, the focus seemed centered on personal anecdotes about past encounters of the crew out at sea, when we were really hoping for more narration about where we were going, what we were doing, and other information about wildlife and history of the area.

Some of the members of our tour group were also friends of the captain (which is awesome!) but it felt like he was more concerned with showing them a good time than he was with making sure the rest of us were informed and comfortable. He spent a considerable amount of time catching up with his friends in private, side conversations, which seemed of little relevance to the rest of us.

Moreover, he seemed to give his friends preferential treatment in the water and didn't offer those who were less experienced swimmers with an opportunity to engage in the water the same way. I may be reading into it too much, but he mentioned on several occasions that he "didn't trust us" in the water the same way he did his friends (though he did let some of us jump in).

Lastly, I don't know if we just ran out of time (or he forgot) but there was no food or water offered on our trip. We didn't get back until 1:30 and the boat ride back to Kona was over an hour, at high speeds, and no stopping. I love hitting the bumps and the adventure aspect of the zodiac, but the people at the back of the boat weren't able to access their water or gear for the entire trip back.

Bottom line, the wildlife was fantastic, but the tour experience itself felt unprofessional and the communication was pretty poor. We would have loved it had the captain been more inclusive and informative. It's clear the guy knows his stuff, but maybe he was just having an off-day?

On a side note, our assistant captain(?) Tyler was super friendly and inclusive and totally...

I have to say I'm a little surprised by the impeccable rating.

We did the 5-hour "beat the crowds" snorkel tour. Were told to arrive 15min early but ended up just waiting around at the shop. Scheduled for 10-3 but actually ended by 2:30. The boat ride with marine life sightings was fantastic -- we thought the open-air speedboat was perfect and didn't feel unsafe. The 2 snorkel drops (45min-1h long, can hop back on the boat early if wanted) were amazing -- despite unfortunately no octopus in sight.

We didn't think Captain Rick and Shelby were the best guides, however. Shelby felt rather aloof and unapproachable (not sure if she was having a bad day?), and honestly I had to wonder what she realistically added to the tour. Captain Rick was more enthusiastic/upbeat but also didn't offer much that felt personal -- just rote information that one can tell he's repeated a thousand times. We had a Japanese family on our tour that barely spoke English, and the guides didn't do much to make sure they understood.

The above probably would've evened out to 3.5-4 stars, BUT we were burned -- literally -- by the guides actually discouraging us from re-applying sunscreen prior to the 2nd drop. I was about to grab my reef-safe sunscreen after lunch, and Captain Rick said "I wouldn't". The reasoning was that, unless we were going to sit around and wait for 10min, the sunscreen would just wash right off and be bad for the reefs. What they DIDN'T emphasize was the intensity -- and REAL DANGER -- of UV at 1-2pm at a location so close to the equator!!! Of course I should've just ignored them and put on sunscreen regardless (even if it meant waiting 10min), but if they had even offhandedly suggested the importance of sun safety (which I should think is KEY in what they do!) I would've second-thought jumping right back in for another hour of snorkeling -- and then both myself and my spouse getting the absolute worst sunburns of our lives. Worst of all, this happened on the FIRST day of our trip, which really made the rest of our vacation much less enjoyable than it should've been. We're now back after a week, and the peeling is just horrific. Honestly wish we could leave a better rating, but...

Thrilling, beautiful, informative, upbeat, and awe inspiring. We did the Beat the Crowd tour. Capt. Zodiac was intentional with our safety, respect for the culture (ancient to modern), and utmost regard for the creatures and environment we were there to observe. The water in Kealakekua Bay is the clearest I’ve ever experienced. The Beat the Crowd tour was exactly right. When we arrived there were plenty of other boats and snorkelers, but within 30 minutes they disappeared like magic and it was just us and some kayakers. We saw plenty of humpbacks and false killer whales on the way to the bay, which was exciting. The captains, Erin and Marco, were informative, playful, highly professional, safety -oriented, and positive. If I were considering this tour I’d want to know a couple of things: the description of the tour is flexible. We didn’t get back into the water after lunch. We stopped to watch the false killer whales, so I think that cut into our snorkel time, I think it’s at the capt’s discretion. It was okay, but considering that we were on a snorkel tour I was a little surprised. Lunch is half a sandwich, fresh fruit, a bag of chips, and a bag of cookies, with a soda, juice or water. The last, and maybe most important consideration is that the zodiac ride is BUMPY, fast, absolutely no shade, long, and no bathroom once you leave the dock. We spent maybe 2 hours at the snorkel site (including lunch), another thing to keep in mind. Non of the considerations were deal breakers for us, we highly recommend Capt. Zodiac, Erin, and Marco and we’d tour through them again...