Eka Canoe Adventures — Local services in Hawaii

Amazing. Magical. All the words you see in other 5 star reviews hold true. It really is incredible to have these massive creatures swim so close to you that they sometimes brush up against you. We were out on the water with several other companies and here are some of the things I liked about Eka:

1. small group (the canoe only holds like 12 people). It really was a super quick trip out & we were in the water.
2. crew was awesome. Really took time to make sure everyone was comfortable in the water, checked in on us frequently, provided great information, knew the rays by name!
3. their website is honest. While you are technically "snorkeling" in reality, you are floating on the water, hanging onto the "light bar" that attracts the rays and looking down at them (you don't get to swim around on your own) See their video, which is a view from the boat but you can see the "snorkelers" at around 1:23. Several other sites show video that was shot by a scuba diver, which is misleading as that's not the experience you get.

Some of the other companies seemed a bit more "organized" with vans full of wetsuits and quick turnarounds between groups. One of the boats had hot cocoa for their folks. If that's the experience you want, then maybe Eka isn't for you.

There are a few things that I wish I had known prior. Putting them here because I think people will find it helpful

1. No particular place to park. You'll probably have to park along the road heading in and walk down - leave extra time for that.
2. There are lots of other companies that leave from the same area, so you'll see all sorts of people walking around. Everyone is pretty friendly and will point you where to go (if they know...ask a "guide" not a fellow tourist), but it's a little chaotic. They warned us they might be running late (and they were, which was good.) They are pretty chill but you may have some anxiety when you're trying to figure out exactly where to go.
3. there is a public restroom near the launch... but it closes around 8pm. No other public...

Let me start by saying you should absolutely book a swim with the manta rays experience. But if I do it again I won’t book with Eka Canoe.

The gentleman and gal that are native to Hawaii were so friendly and fantastic but most of the time we interacted with the guy who jumped in the water with us. While he wasn’t rude he also wasn’t friendly. We were on the end of the board in the water and we were basically ignored. He never checked on us or told us any facts on the manta rays. 100% ignored. He did interact with others closer to him. Don’t book a trip based on a smaller boat size. Once in the water you link up with other boats and become one giant group. I was also a little disappointed that we were out in the boat and got to business. There was no talking about the history and relevance of the canoe yo Hawaii. It was one of the reasons I choose them. Also the towels we were suggested to bring were thrown in the middle of the boat which is just an open platform of wood, which was wet before we even started. So the towels were wet when handed back to us. It would have been much better to leave on the golf cart where we met the crew.

I’m not trying to be overly picky here. I’m just really disappointed how it felt like we were just ushered in and ignored. It felt like give us your money and move on. Not a personalized experience that I paid $600 for (3 people). The water is very cold! So while you are holding on to the bird and shivering your arms become very tired. To not have the guy check on myself or my 2 kids once to make sure we were ok was disappointing. When it was done there was no announcement that we were heading back to the boat. I did hear the guy yell to the other group that we had “linked up to” to disconnect us. I’m still looking in the water for more manta rays and next thing I know we are by the canoe and starting to get back on. We saw 6 manta rays. Still totally cool but opportunity with the crew in the...

We had the best manta snorkel experience possible with Eka Canoe Adventures! Danielle, our guide in the water, and captain Kalani were awesome. We were staying at the Sheraton Kona Resort, so we saw that the early snorkeling times were packed with boats and snorkelers (same number of mantas spread out much wider = less for each snorkeler to see). This is why we chose a later time. We were rewarded with only the two of us in the Canoe going out and a manageable number of snorkelers in the water from another boat. When we first got in, there sea was cloudy with microscopic life! It took less than 5 minutes to see our first manta ray, and then within a few minutes there were 2 manta, followed by 3, then 4, then 5, then 6. These giants would do acrobatic summersaults coming within a few inches of our masks. It was amazing! While we were watching this spectacle, we didn't have a chance to notice how much less cloudy the water was getting, but realized it when Danielle moved us to a new cloudy area. Soon the mantas followed to the new rich feeding ground. A few at first, but then there were too many Mantas to count! I can't explain in words how fantastic it was! We were then visited by a pod of dolphins! Danielle and my husband both saw them just beyond my feet. I was completely saturated in the acrobatic show in front of my face, but kept feeling something rough on the soles of feet, which I dismissed as my feet somehow rubbing up against my husband's hairy leg. However, it was one or more dolphins sliding by my feet! We moved several times throughout our time in the water, and each time we saw beautiful acrobatic manta show! We chose Eka Canoe Adventures because we were referred by a friend (and we wanted to the Hawaiian Canoe experience), and we had a better experience than I could have...