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Booking in advance is highly recommended. It will also maximize your changes of getting the tour date and time you prefer. You should plan to make your reservations prior to arrival to Kauai as certain times of year there is no availability once you arrive to Kauai. In addition, plan your reservation with us early during your time on Kauai, as tours are operated on a weather permitting basis and the information you learn on our tours will be valuable for the rest of your time on Kauai!
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Snorkeling is swimming with fins, a mask, and a tube called a snorkel that allows you to have
your face down in the water and still breathe while enjoying the marine life. -
With any extreme sport, there are always exceptions and potential risk. However, in general
snorkeling with a guide is very safe. We provide Boogie Boards, Noodles, Wetsuits and
Snorkel Vest to help ensure everyone doesn’t struggle to stay on the surface. In addition, our
guides are always close buy and will keep a watchful eye out for you and your group! -
Do you have to swim like Michael Phelps and win an olympic gold medal…no. But to be
successful on our Zodiac Boat Snorkel this should NOT be your first attempt at swimming. If
this will be your first attempt at swimming, please consider our Guided Shore Snorkel instead! -
No! Beginners are welcome on both of our tours. If you have never stepped foot in the ocean
or a swimming pool, please consider our Guided Shore Snorkel. -
YES! We do have a tour that can accommodate just about anyone in your group. Our Guided Shore Snorkels are great opportunities for families to experience the ocean together with children 4 years and up! Our South Island Zodiac Boat Adventure welcomes kiddos 5 years and older, however, this is more of an adventure and not recommended for someone’s first time in the ocean. Our NaPali Coast Sea Cave Tour Adventure welcomes passengers 7 years and older. Our “Kupuna” (definition: “wise ones”) are welcome on all tours, however, must be aware that the Zodiac Boat Tours are more adventure where they must be able to handle the bounce of the ride and climbing in the ladder after snorkeling. We recommend that people with chronic back issues or light mobility issues enjoy the Guided Shore Snorkel Tour.
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Yes! (From the shore). For safety reasons our vessel is NOT recommended for expectant
mothers. Please consider joining us for the Guided Shore Snorkel instead. -
Space is limited as we keep our groups small. Non-snorkelers are welcome on the trip, but there is no reduced price if you choose not to snorkel.
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YES! We do offer private charters of the vessels as well as private guided shore tours for families, wedding parties, celebrations of life and small or large groups wanting the boat/tour to themselves. Many times, private charters need to be reserved well in advanced.
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The island is home to beautiful reefs that provide a home for some 200 or so indigenous Hawaiian marine species. You will have the opportunity to spot wonderful coral reefs, colorful reef fish, sea turtles, dolphins and on occasion monk seals, rays and in seasons humpback whales! Marine life is wild and we will never be able to guarantee what you see, but we can guarantee a good time!
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We maintain a respectful distance form humpback whales and do not swim with the spinner dolphins. For your safety and the safety of the animals, you are not allowed to touch the wildlife we encounter. Turtles are vulnerable to drowning when approached aggressively by humans. But more importantly, we don’t want to be the reason they would change their behavior. This better preserves the natural habitats for the marine life for future snorkelers, like yourself. We will also not feed the fish during our snorkels for the same reason.
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No company can ever guarantee seeing marine life for the simple fact that it is wild and may
not stay in the same location we last saw them. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the sighting of
any marine life while on tour with us. HOWEVER, for our snorkel tours, the locations we go are
pretty common locations to see the turtles and our crew will do our best to show you when we
see them! -
We typically do not see sharks on our trips as many species prefer deeper waters. If we do happen to encounter any, it will typically be the reef sharks which are quite shy of humans and harmless.
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Yes, all of the gear is provided including wetsuits. You are welcome to bring your own equipment, but there will be no discount on the price. If you would like to bring your own gear, we can supplement what you may need. However, we do prohibit full face masks on our tours. These devices have increased safety concerns and we cannot incur liability of these on our tours.
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You can, however, it is a potential for you to lose your contacts. You can always ask your guide
for a prescription mask to keep your contacts safe in your room. -
Although they are not provided, you are welcome to bring a camera with you on your snorkeling adventure. There is an abundance of life in the waters we explore on our adventure tours, and you never know what you’re going to see! We do sell water proof phone cases at our office as well for those who want to use their phone cameras. Stop by before any tour or at check-in to see our selection.
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Yes, we provide dry bags for your personal belongings, however, there is a limited amount of room, so please only bring what you need.
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The Guided Shore Snorkel Tours and the South Island Zodiac Boat Adventures all take place in Poipu area. The day’s weather and reef conditions will dictate where exactly we snorkel, but for the boat adventures we’ll spend more time in the water than on the boat. Normally, we will travel under 10 minutes to get to the snorkeling site. If we encounter spinner dolphins in the morning and whales in season, it may be longer. Usually our passengers don’t mind the exciting diversions!
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Our NaPali Eco Tour and Sea Cave Adventures depart from Kekaha which is the closest harbor to the NaPali Coast. This means you get to the fun and beauty much faster! Generally it takes about an hour to reach the coast once we leave the harbor. Leaving from Kauai’s West Side shaves off one hour of travel time to the NaPali Coast, so you’ll enjoy more time on the coast and in the water snorkeling at fabulous, uncrowded snorkeling sites.
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All of our Zodiac Boat Tours are conducted on one of our two 25′ Rigid Hull Zodiac Boat. “Hokupa’a” and “Ho’okahi”. We are coast guard certified for up to 14 passengers. These are same style of boats used by Navy Seals and US Coastguard known for its speed and maneuverability in the waters. This proves to be extremely useful for our Zodiac Boat Snorkel tours as it allows us to reach the snorkel locations more effectively and directly than the larger catamarans. We do sit much closer to the water, so there’s a higher chance of experiencing a “REFRESHING” splash or two on the tours before you take the splash for snorkeling.
Our vessels do not have a cover or top for shade, which is by design for best coastline viewing. Hats, sunscreen and/or sun shirts are recommended.
These boats provide adventure and excitement on our tours. If you’re expecting a luxury cruise in your Sunday best, this is not the tour for you. Please ensure to follow our cancellation policy should you need to reschedule or cancel for any reason.
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Our guided shore snorkels last between 30-45 minutes of actual snorkeling. Our zodiac boats are fast and therefore spend more time in the water than most other tours. We let nature rule the show, but will often spend 45 minutes at each snorkel site on the South Island Tours and 45-60 min on our NaPali Tours.
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If you are prone to motion sickness it is always a possibility when in moving water. Even more
so from the boat. We definitely recommend taking something ahead of time as we are unable
to provide any refunds for sea sickness. A few helpful hints to help prevent motion sickness if
you are unsure if it will affect you: limit acidic foods such as coffee, pineapple and citrus fruits
and juices prior to snorkeling. If you have extreme motion sickness, we recommend our
Guided Shore Snorkel instead.
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Our snorkel tours usually run rain or shine in moderate weather conditions. However, we may cancel the activity up to just before the tour in the event of severe or unsafe weather conditions. We always maintain the safety and integrity of our tours. However, please allow our experienced team to make the call in the event of weather. Please do not rely on weather forecasting apps. These do not always reflect conditions where our tours take place. Likewise, what is happening in Princeville or Kapaa or Lihue is NOT accurate representation of what is happening in Poipu. Many times we will have sun and blue skies while it’s unfavorable in the other parts of the island.If we cancel the tour, all reservations will be allowed to reschedule if we have availability during your stay, or will receive a refund in full.
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If you choose to cancel the tour for whatever reason, you will need to make sure to do it OUTSIDE our cancellation period of 24 hours. Tours cancelled less than 24 hours prior to the scheduled date/time of the tour or guests who do not show up to the scheduled tour will be charged 100% of the tour total. (Time is calculated to the minute! If your tour is at 8am, you have until 7:59am Hawaii Time the day before.)
If you have booked through a third party, your financial contract is with whoever you made your reservation with and you will need to contact them for a refund or to ensure you’re not charged.
However, if you need to reschedule your tour and are within the 24 hour cancellation period, there will be a reschedule fee added to your reservation. Once a reservation has been rescheduled there is not a new 24 hour cancellation period. It will be considered a final reservation not eligible for a refund. (If your original reservation was through a third party, you will need to pay us directly with a credit card for the reschedule fee PRIOR to being rescheduled).
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For our Guided Shore Snorkel tour we limit to a maximum of 8 snorkelers per 1 guide.
For our Guided Zodiac Boat Snorkel we limit to a maximum of 14 passengers per 1 guide and
1 captain. -
There is no restroom on our boats. It is preferred you use the restrooms at the meeting spot before the start of the tour, as there will not be a bathroom to use once the tour begins.
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Yes, parking is available at no charge. Specific directions will be included in the confirmation details after you have made your reservation.
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Gratuity is not included, nor is it expected. If, however, you would like to leave gratuity for your captain and/or guides you are more than welcome to do so in Cash or Credit Card and will be much appreciated.