Wild Hawai‘i Ocean Adventures — Local services in Hawaii

This was an amazing excursion for us! Capt. Brett is a true professional, with decades of local knowledge it was clear that he is operating with a level of competence that is probably unrivaled in Hawaii. The boat is so much fun, cruising everywhere at 30mph and even just for kicks we traveled at over 40mph at times. Not only is this speed fun but it's effective.

Within the first hour of our trip we already found a pod of pilot whales to swim with. They had not been sighted much in preceding weeks so it was a big deal. Several successful drops with them and Capt. Brett was ready to take us to the next opportunity. Which by the way was more than 10 miles out at "F" buoy where we had an in water encounter with rough toothed dolphins and an oceanic white tip shark. Our in-water guide, Ron, was fantastic and carried so much energy and enthusiasm. We felt very safe next to him as he guided us around the shark and dolphins in 10,000 feet of water.

After we left the buoy, Brett found more pilot whales for us. It was another fantastic drop and skillful spotting. Obviously the trip was already going great but Capt. decided to try and finish things off by seeing if any hammerheads were schooling. We did manage to find one and we stuck it out for 30 minutes to see if a school appeared, but it was too early in the day. Nevertheless, we appreciated the effort!

On the way in Capt. Brett showed us the capability of this US Navy Seal RIB with its highly maneuverable turns and handling. It made me want to get a boat like this for myself!

If you value your time, Wild Hawaii Ocean Adventures is the FASTEST and one of the most CAPABLE operators on the Big Island. Bang for the buck it can't be beat. And Capt. Brett along with water guide Ron were top notch and...

Brian and Ryan of Wild Hawaii Ocean Adventures saved our night. We couldn't thank them enough. We were booked with another company who cancelled our tour without telling us, and we were leaving for the airport the next day. So we started calling the other companies at the harbor. We found Wild Hawaii and met Brian and Ryan by their boat who were already getting their other customers ready. They said they would make it work for us. Not only they took us, they made it a most memorable night of snorkeling with mantas for us. My children saw many mantas; they were thoroughly amazed and delighted. I was a ride-along but I could see several mantas from the boat. The boat ride itself was almost already worth it. They had the most unusual boat -- a military boat which they drove with high speed and turns. The boat ride experience was unlike anything we ever had before, and not sure when we will come across something similar again. Brian and Ryan were also quite professional. They didn't try to oversell the tour, but just told us what to expect and to respect the mantas. One could feel their love for marine life. My children were also amazed by how Ryan could dive down to the ocean floor about 30 feet down and put a flashlight there without any diving gears. My son is a petite 10 year old. Ryan and Brian kept on giving him encouragement throughout the tour. We had a most wonderful night....

I cannot say enough good things about these guys! This ended up being a life changing experience that kick started my new found obsession with freediving. I normally hate touristy snorkeling excursions, but luckily, this is not one of those, it's an exhilarating Off Shore Blue Water Adventure, in which we were surrounded by white tip sharks, swimming with beautiful pilot whales, and spotting humpback whales all day. When we were first departed I had thought it was strange that some people had done this same tour 4 times in one week, but by the end, I was ready to come back the next day. I also loved the boat, it was fast yet very comfortable, the "seats" allow you to be secured in standing position, so your legs act as shock absorbers and the Captin was a badass. Perhaps the best part was Jason, our shark bodyguard, he can be a little intense, but this is truly an intense situation so his guidance and care was invaluable. Seriously, just listen to Jason, he will keep you safe and in the middle of the action, and if you are into underwater photography, check out the photos by Jason Lafferty, he is quite literally one of the best...