Ehu and Kai Adventures — Local services in Hawaii

KAYAKING IN KEALAKEKUA BAY WITHOUT A GUIDED TOUR: My family of four (2 adults and 2 teenagers) rented 2 two-person kayaks here, and this allowed us to kayak on our own (and on our own schedule) to the reefs in front of the Captain Cook monument. We could therefore leave on our own schedule and kayak to the areas we wanted rather than being part of a 3.5-4 hour guided kayak tour offered by other companies (frankly too long for us - we were gone a total of 2.25 hours). BOOKING: you can book online for different pickup times so more flexible than a tour (you should absolutely try to book online). Kayak rental here is also much less expensive than a guided tour and you can keep the kayaks until 7pm if you want. EQUIPMENT: stable, 2 person kayaks in good condition. We brought our own snorkel gear. They provide wet bags to hold possessions and life vests. Bring hats and water. They have a simple cabana at checkin at the end of a road that goes to the water. EXPERIENCE: 1) Kayaking the bay is fairly easy ~20min across if you go directly but you can also take a more leisurely route around the bay cliffs. Our 14 and 17yo's were able to navigate and paddle their kayak without difficulty. 2) You snorkel from the kayak and are not supposed to go up on the land by the monument (some people did but they aren't supposed to). I had never done this before, but it was fairly easy to put on my gear. I then towed both kayaks with a rope while snorkeling. The only issue is that there are many snorkelers there so one has to navigate around people and other kayaks/boats. Remember to secure the paddles on the kayak before snorkeling so they don't fall out ! 3) Getting back in the kayak from the water may be difficult for an individual with physical limitations or weak upper body (but my wife was able to do it, and she can't even do 10 pushups). If you have a 2 person kayak, then the 1st person on board can assist but you need to lean back to avoid capsizing. 4) The reef is on a fairly sharp dropoff and attracts a good variety of fish 5) If you want to see dolphins, you have a better chance earlier in the AM (they "sleep" between 10-2 apparently). Other kayakers said they saw dolphins but we unfortunately did not. PARKING: You park on the sides of a road back from the pickup point - short walking distance. But parking is limited and I had to park on the perpendicular road above the other road. OVERALL: We had a great experience going on our own and we are more novice kayakers and snorkelers. Booking is easy and the equipment is good quality. Parking on the roadside was the only annoyance that you should be...

The Best Family filled Day in Kona! Highly recommended if you like to snorkel and explore at on your own pace & time. This was such a deal because they give you the kayak for the whole day! We did return by noon and felt our 3 hour trip was worth every dollar spent. FIrst I tried booking on line and needed 2 double kayak’s and they only had one available. So I called and the guy told me to go ahead and book the one kayak on-line and he will make sure another double kayak will be there for our 9am trip. We showed up the next morning and everything was taken care of. We pulled up to the sight and someone came over to our car, got our name and told us to unload all our items and to park the car back up the road. Not a far walk at all. They handed us dry bags to keep our stuff dry, these will attached to the boat. Perfect for phone, keys, wallet and other items you don’t want to leave in your car. We had our own snorkeling equipment but if you need it they had plenty. This is a family owned business that they run off their family property and you can tell that care about your experience. Super nice family, never rushed us and made sure we had all the safety and details down, even explaining the orientation and what to look for upon returning. Rufus loaded and attached everything to our Kayak and explained how to reattach to make sure we didn’t lose any gear. Super clean launching site and Rufus loaded the kayak right into the water and helped us in. It took about 20 mins to get to Captain Cook’s snorkeling spot and hardly anyone was there! We had the whole place to ourselves for about the first hour. Then all the party snorkeling boats showed up and we just swam over to the other side and had that area all to ourselves. Saw an eel, octopus, tons of different fish and some beautiful coral formations. We were told not to bring the boat onto the land and it really wasn’t a big deal at all. We just tried the two boats together and swam around towing them behind us. Total cost for the two boats for 4 People was $150.00. Would absolutely do this again and look forward to coming back in spring of 2019. Next time I would be a little more prepared with drinks and snacks so we could have taken a break and maybe added another hour to our...

Day 3 of Vacation - The adventurous activities continue! I booked a kayaking experience same day through their website. There were 5 of us in total, so I rented two 2 seated kayak and one 1 seated kayak.

Parking: There is no parking lot. You cannot park near the location bc it's private property. We noticed there was an extremely small street parking alongside the dirt and trees down the road. After driving back n forth for 15 min, we finally found a spot after someone left.

Ambiance/Environment: After struggling for parking, we walked to the actual location. There were many homes, and this specific location was basically in the front of their house. They had a beautiful view of the ocean. The shore was rocky, so watch your step.

Service: We checked in with one of the two persons that was assisting with the kayaks. After we checked in, they informed us they didn't have another 2 seated kayak, and they didn't have a 1 seated kayak. Pretty disappointed, but we settled for a 2 seated kayak and a 3 seated kayak.

Experience: This was our first time kayaking. They gave us a water bag for each kayak to place our items in. It's a large bag, so you'll be able to fit some pieces of clothing, electronics, shoes, etc. They also have life jackets if needed. One of the workers gave a detailed explanation on how to find their location and what to do & not do with the kayaks. He didn't really explain how to kayak, but we basically self taught ourselves. Prepare your arms and shoulders bc you'll be needing them! The Captain Cook Monument is far. If you plan on leaving your kayak, make sure you're not near the rocks bc you'll have a difficult time getting out. After 2 hours of kayaking, we were ready to head back. It was a difficult time finding our way back. The distinction of the dark banana tree was not enough bc everything started looking the same after a while. We eventually found our way back to the location after being lost for 30 min, but I'd suggest for them to place a more obvious landmark.

Pricing: I spent $232.50 for the kayak rentals. Despite them not having the kayaks we originally rented and getting lost otw back, I think this experience is worth it. Kayak rentals are all day, but we only had them for a...