Island Water Sports Hawaii — Local services in Honolulu

ABSOLUTELY RUDE Japanese guide onboard (racist?). We booked with Bob's Hawaii Adventure the day before, but found out we were going with Island Watersports. Bob's didn't have enough people for a tour. Found out at check in (thank god we were early). They tried to reach us on our cell, but couldn't check our voicemail internationally. I didn't get the email that they said they sent me; only the initial confirmation.

We got onboard and the Japanese guide strolled on and started telling everyone to take off their shoes and put into the storage bin. Reason? If they fly off into the water, we can't get them. Unlikely, but appreciated the gesture, so we complied. Honestly didn't even realize she was staff and wondered why she was bossing people around, because she was just wearing a bikini with a wrap and a straw hat. The boat started moving and the captain gave the welcome and instructions in English, including for us to go get a wetsuit top WHENEVER WE LIKED.

HERE'S THE HIGHLIGHT:

When he finished, I got up to look for a wetsuit in my size without giving much thought to the Japanese translation happening. (My brain was trying to recall which side the captain told us the sizing lable was on.) The Japanese guide stopped in the middle of her translation, turned to me, and RIPPED (and I'm not exaggerating even one bit) the wetsuit out of my hands and off the hanger. She FLUNG the wetsuit on top of the whole rack, all the while raising her voice and telling me in an accusatory tone, "I will get you one later. Sit down." One. I am not a dog. Two. I don't think I'm big enough to block anyone's view of a WHOLE rack of wetsuits. Three. You can ask me politely, and I would’ve happily apologize and go back to my seat. Same result, but she opted for one most telling of her true attitude.

When I sat down, I was so shocked I didn't even say anything. (A little disappointed in myself.) But I noticed another guy who also went up to the rack as me, was still putting on his wetsuit. A few others on the boat already had them on. So, I didn't see why she was only rude to me. I prefer to think it wasn't because of my race, because it sure felt like it. (I confirmed with the captain after if we can get wetsuits at any time and he said yes.)

As promised, she got me the wetsuit after her translation. But, she THREW it onto the bench beside me without a word. FABULOUS start to an excursion my whole family was looking forward to.

IRONICALLY, when the captain spoke again to tell us more, she and the other, younger, Japanese guide, started chitchatting in front of us. It was hard to hear so we asked her, "Sorry, can you stop talking? Because we can't hear."

We had an alright time given the other staff were kind enough. Fairly certain I heard her recommending a 10% tip in her Japanese "bye and hope you had a good time" speech. (I can recognize some Japanese after taking it in high school and having recently visited Japan.) Maybe that's why she only catered to her group and sabotaged the rest. However, we found out later from friends that Bob's Hawaii Adventure lowers you with the scooter into the water in a full (not half) wetsuit, and longer duration on the boat for snorkeling while you wait. With Island Watersports, you hold onto the ladder on the side of the boat, grasp the rim of the helmet and dive in and out of the helmet. Not the best, not the worst (in terms of getting in the water), but could be better. The pictures and video clip were a value though.

TL;DR Bob's Hawaii Adventure sold us off to Island Watersports. Rude Japanese guide onboard ripped wetsuit out of my hand, raised her voice at me and told me to sit down, and threw it beside me after. Ruined an otherwise good experience. Bob's Hawaii Adventure would've been a better alternative (you don't dive into the helmet; they lower you in AFTER you get into the scooter on the boat). If you're afraid of water or of one rude person ruining your experience, PLEASE don't take this tour. There's are...

This was my first time participating in any kind of water sport activity so I was a little nervous at first but I had a blast riding the submarine scooters. I purchased the deal on Groupon ($98/each) and booked the tour by email. Booking was easy and the staff answered any questions I had promptly.

A group of us got on their boat and they took us to the location of the submarine scooters. I took a Dramamine about an hour before so I didn't get any motion sickness. The boat ride was very smooth nonetheless. Getting in the submarine scooter was very easy and the divers are there to help you every step of the way. If you can't swim let the divers know but don't worry they will make you feel very safe.

They tie a little bag of fish food in front of each scooter so that the fishes swim right up to you! I think we were riding on the scooters for approximately 20 minutes or so. The scooters are super slow but easy to drive. The divers will give you directions underwater to either take pictures or to tell you to head over to a certain spot. Each little group took turns so while we waited they had life vests, snorkel gear, and fins for us to use to swim around the ocean. The best part was we saw 3-4 sea turtles swimming around us and we got to swim right next to them! They aren't shy at all! It was so amazing!

They also provide chips and water in case you get hungry and thirsty. Also, if you don't have a great underwater camera I would recommend buying the pictures they take for you. Very good quality. We get all 100-something pictures for about $70 (split among 6 people). It was a steal!

Overall, amazing experience. I recommend to anyone who is new to...

9am booking. Rang at 8:05 as forecast was high seas, strong winds and rain. Was told tour was proceeding but if we wished to reschedule we could do so but at a cost of $73 for our party of 4. In our party of 4 we have 2 experienced scuba divers and one of those an experienced kite surfer. Basically we watch weather and weather forecasts. A tour operator should also do same and be experienced in such. So we turned up at our Uber return expense of $70 so as we are not the ones cancelling and losing the full rate paid. Commonsense told us that the tour would not go ahead but company told us that it would be. We arrive at boat at 8:40 to be told that the tour was cancelled due to the weather ... no kiddin!!! That’s why we friggin called first! Was told that the conditions were ok at 8am. No they were not. It didn’t take a genius to know the conditions were not suitable. We left a message at 7:05 on their answering machine as the conditions were showing to be poor then. They never returned our call. The scuba diving business next door to these people told us they cancelled that day 24 hours prior cause they too can read a forecast and charts. Whilst we will be receiving a refund for the tour, Island Watersports flatly refuse to reimburse us for Uber to and from despite our prior phone call to them, they never called us to cancel even after they had decided to, we felt in our prior call to them they wanted us to reschedule or cancel so as they could charge us more. We are not angry for the cancellation, we are not angry with the activity, we are angry because of their lack of systems in...