Sea Paradise

Did the morning snorkel to captain cook monument. Small group and great crew of two (Tanner and Tyson). Breakfast and lunch are pretty basic (muffins and sandwiches). But went for the sun and snorkeling. Would do it again.

What a fantastic three hours we had on a recent afternoon Snack & Snorkel excursion with Sea Paradise. It was just something we threw on as a last minute thing to fill our last afternoon in Hawaii, but it ended up being the highlight of the whole trip. On the way to the Captain Cook monument snorkel area, we were treated to whales, multiple. Shortly afterwards, we came upon a large pod of dolphins, some of which swim right in front of the boat, providing excellent viewing, and another couple of which did flips into the air for us.
The snorkel site itself was absolutely amazing; as if someone had stocked a big aquarium «to the gills» with fish for us to see. My husband and daughter even saw an octopus and an eel. After the snorkel, you could use the boat’s warm water shower, which felt amazing. On the trip home, we came upon a large grouping of hammerhead sharks. An employee who had come along just for this purpose, jumped into the water and snorkeled with them. Fortunately without incident! It was really amazing to see them so close up, fins sticking up out of the water Jaws-​style. Apparently our timing was just right to see the big group of hammerhead sharks (even one of the employees got out their camera to document it).
We were especially lucky with the wildlife sightings, but even on a normal day I’m sure the snorkeling would be just as incredible, and the employees just as professional. The boat had restrooms and both shaded and unshaded areas, and the snacks and refreshments were very nice. The included snorkel gear was perfectly good. I’d recommend remembering to bring a complete change of dry clothes for after snorkeling, including a sweater or jacket. There is a minimum number of people required to run the trip (something low, as our boat wasn’t in the slightest bit crowded), so keep that in mind when planning your trip — it would be a real shame to miss this.

Just got back from second tour with Sea Paradise. We went on the Sunset Manta Ray tour as a family with two young kids (ages 2 and 5). Bonus that little one under four was free! Capt. Jim steered the ship. Kelly was an excellent marine naturalist. And Jack was great at the bar and for hanging out with me and my kids while husband was in the water. We felt extremely safe. Kids were given life jackets which put me at ease. It is an awe-​inspiring experience to see the giant sea creatures swoop gracefully through the water while we hang onto the flotation device. Thrilling and frightening all at once. I had a great time with Sea Paradise on the manta ray snorkel tour four years ago and so we decided to sail with them again. Thank you for an excellent tour!

Great group of people! A fantastic day of snorkeling, whales and even hammerhead sharks. The crew was awesome. Thanks Captain Jim, Bradley, and Leah!

Wow! What a great snorkeling excursion! I liked that it was a smaller boat and not so crowded. Made all the difference. Personable, professional and ONO in every way. One of the couples on the trip said that this was the BEST money spent! And I agree!
We took the morning trip, and hopped on board the Hokuhele catamaran (there’s netting in the front — fun fun! And plenty of seats for great viewing). The captain Jim, and deckhands Jack and Leah were totally mah-​velous! We had plenty of hot and cold drinks, fruit and sliced pound cakes (my favorite is the Hawaiian fruit one but the poppy seed, chocolate, ok all the rest were fresh and delicious).
There were 2 snorkeling spots — the first one at the Captain Cook Monument — BEST SNORKELING IN KONA but you have to take a boat to it or hike a long long way! Clear, tons of fish and other sealife. Jack and Leah were especially helpful and considerate to beginner snorkelers too. They had boogie boards with a clear insert so a child could use it and see all the sealife. And paddle boards too. Aloha spirit all the way! We had 45 minutes in the water, and came out to a delicious lunch of Maui onion potato chips, salad, sandwich fixings with nice meats, cheeses, pickles, condiments and even pickles. Altogether a delicious and satisfying and VERY filling lunch.
Great Hawaiian style music played. We sailed and excursion-​ed more. Then more snorkeling — this time we were close to the same spot, but amazing how different the sea life was! Tons of fish, and so much fun. Hot water showers to rinse off too :) Nice :)
Guess what — the food and drinks were great — but to top it off, fresh cookies were provided towards the end of the cruise.
The crew kept an eagle eye on all of us in the water and we could still be very adventurous. I felt safe, very cared for and enjoyed myself tremendously. Thank you for a wonderful snorkeling excursion!

I’ve done both Fair Winds and Sea Paradise. Both have fun crews and good food, and the snorkeling can’t be beat. I do have to say I really liked the smaller boat and number of snorkelers on Sea Paradise (12 snorkelers on a beautiful Friday morning). Moreover the crew (Nick, Jack, and the captain) went above and beyond to make sure we had a great trip – several close up humpback sightings, dolphins, lots of history, and zero shark attacks. Plus the captain was charming and salty with sea stories and ended up sailing off with my wife, which is why I gave this review five stars instead of four.

Our best day on the Big Island.
The morning sail and snorkel tour was fantastic! Captain and Crew were exceptionally kind and gracious. Affable and engaging, they also knew how to leave us alone to enjoy our time on board and in the water.
The Hokuhele is a broad and stable catamaran so the cruising was comfortable and without sea-​sickness. Food and drink were plentiful and nicely done.
Snorkeling at Kealakekua Bay was nothing short of amazing! Tremendous clarity, diversity, and color.
Highly recommended for those interested in a very well done tour in an exception environment.

Awesome crew! We did the Manta ray night snorkel and unfortunately we didn’t see any the night we went. They are guaranteed so they gave us another night to come out within 7 days. So we did and boy was it worth it! This is an experience of a lifetime snorkeling and seeing mantas! We saw Lefty and many others! Cannot wait to come back again next year!

Went on a birthday vacation for my Mom and brought my cousin with us. We booked the morning snorkel and had Captain Jim and Deckhand Leah whom were both excellent.
The boat was clean and snacks and lunch were provided. The crew was very friendly and informative and genuinely concerned with making sure we were having a good time.
We all agreed that this was some of the best snorkeling we had ever done and signed up for the night time Manta Ray snorkel with a very generous discount for being return customers.
The Manta Ray tour was excellent as well. They swam within feet or maybe even inches of me.
We all had a blast and if we come back we will definitely be returning to Sea Paradise.
Thanks guys for such a great time!

5 stars for a great trip with a really fun crew. Can’t beat the snorkeling, food, music, and even fishing you get to experience with this company. I would gladly recommend Sea Paradise to my family or friends.

Awesome manta ray tour! I loved it! All the crew was really professional and knowledgeable! Vicky was a great captain, really helpful for any question or concern we could have. Troy did an awesome presentation of what we were about to see and gave us the right advice not to freak out in the water. Mark and Kelsey were awesome and helping around in the water, always on point on whatever could happen! They all as a team made my experience unforgivable ! Thanks a lot Sea Paradise for having such wonderful crew! And I recommend anyone to do that tour! You will not regret it!

We took a group out to swim with manta rays. We had a wonderful experience and had a lot of fun. The crew were all really nice and helpful. The boat ride out was really relaxing and pleasant.
Swimming with the manta rays was, of course, amazing. I am so glad we decided to do it.
The boat ride back a couple people got a little sea sick, but that is not Sea Paradise’s fault, the water was really choppy and once we got moving, it subsided.
They provide sodas and snacks for the ride out and ride back, which is a nice surprise.
It was really fun and I’d check into other tours they provide if I return to Kona.

This is an updated review.
We did the morning snorkel with this company and all and all it was fine…
I’m rating the night snorkel we did, TERRIBLE! We are getting ready for the Manta Snorkel and I am very nervous, so as we take off I try to make conversation with my captain, just to get my mind off things and see how «comforting» she is… What a rude rude witch! She gave me the dirtiest look, said she had no idea was I was talking about and completely dismissed me… After that, I kind of looked around an realized that out of the 4 crew members, captain included, one of them had her boyfriend there and the only guy on board had brought a «friend» in that he was clearly into. When I came to realized that one of the crew couldn’t care any less about anyone in the boat (captain) and the other two were so distracted, I started to freak out way more, and I said out loud to my husband, if I panic out there, I know no one will help me since they are very much not here for people like me. They proved me right… Knowing I was nervous I got to go out last. Once I saw a Manta a couple times I freaked out, I was ready to come back to the boat. One of the crew tried to talk me through it and then kinda left me when some Dolphins showed up, she was very very nice but after I called for someone to help me back to the boat it took a good 3 minutes of me panicking before anyone came to get me, three crew members stood at the boat saying, «Someone wants to come back!» (We were only about 3 – 5 feet from the boat at this point). The girl that brought me back said I could go back out whenever I’d like… When I got back onto the boat I just took a breather, I hadn’t decided if I wanted to go back out, once I heard people laughing I really did. I asked the captain and she kinda blew me off saying there would only be about ten minutes left, then I chased another girl down and asked her how long and I’d like to go out and she said you should just take your swim suit off there is only about 5 minutes left. Needless to say I never got to go back out, I was very upset, these people didn’t care that I was nervous to swim with a 14′-16′ animal. When we got back on the boat my husband waited at the little bar for about 5 minutes, he wanted to get me something to drink but the guy at the bar was so busy flirty with his friend, he was ignoring everyone else. This all happened September 19^th, today is October 9^th, we have tried everyday and sometimes every other day to get a hold of the manager, Jaime and to this day we haven’t gotten a phone call back from her, we have told several people our story and we’ve heard nothing. If they don’t like to deal with nervous people, their ad should say that. They were completely rude and unprofessional. Half of them were way to into someone else to pay attention to anyone else. Because of our shitty experience, we will continue to call until we get our money back.

We had a wonderful snorkeling tour with Sea Paradise. The crew made the trip a fantastic experience.

Helpful and courteous staff! Enjoyed my times going out on the Manta Ray snorkel. First time this last trip we didn’t see any mantas. I’d been on a manta ray snorkel with another company a few years ago so I knew the usual amount of time we would be in the water. This company had us out there for a lot longer, I could tell they were trying anything they could to attract the mantas. I watched as crew divers were using portable lights to get interest, toward the end they were swimming pretty far out. We were surrounded by fire worms which can sting and needle fish so it wasn’t the best experience, but that’s nature, couldn’t be helped.
We knew that being skunked was a possibility and we had a big group (8), so we went early on our trip in case a do-​over was necessary. Very happy to say that when I called the next day, to rebook they were able to book us on night of our choosing.
Second night, we saw three mantas, my family loved them and all previous memories of the fire worms were erased.
I read a few complaints about thoroughness in the discussion of the creatures before the dive. I don’t think that’s fair as it is not customary for snorkel trips to have a biologist or expert on board. Usually, the divers and crew know from experience which is great. The first night we were just told the basics about the creatures, second night way better, a lot more information. I chalk this part up to some crew members working harder for their tip, which I will say worked on my family. That said, this isn’t elementary school or Sea World, so don’t expect them break into a full lecture. If you or your family want to know about these creatures, do some online research before you board.
Also, go to the Sheraton’s bar, the one that attracted the mantas in the first place. We went the night in between our dives and it was fun to see where the boats come in from a different perspective and they have a manta video and informational display.

This is an experience of a lifetime. The morning snorkel was so much fun that we signed up for the manta ray night cruise. The boat was awesome and the crew was friendly. Seeing the other huge boats out in the water made me realize how happy I was going with Sea Paradise. There wasn’t a ton of people on our snorkel trip so it was nice and relaxing.
at about 1:30 into this video you can see what the boat is like and what snorkeling with the fish and manta rays is like.

My husband and I did the Manta Ray night snorkel. The overall experience was great, but we were a bit sad at how short a time we were able to actually be in the water with the mantas (about 45 mins in total). The staff were nice, but came off a bit nonchalant, and one of them was offering to take pictures of those who had cameras during the snorkel, but never offered us– this would have been a souvenir that we would have much appreciated. Would recommend to see the beautiful mantas, but I think they could put in a bit of extra effort in terms of how things are run.
Also, they did not spend much time explaining the biology of Manta’s (other than how to sex them and how they move in water). We were told that at the end of the tour we would get a brief but more detailed talk about the Manta’s, but this was never done.

My daughter and I went on the «deluxe morning snorkel». The staff was very friendly and helpful, we had a nice half day sailing with two stops of about an hour each to snorkel. Since we are both beginners this was more than enough; after 30 minutes of snorkeling, we were quite tired. We saw some beautiful fishes, but we were not lucky enough to see some dolphins.
It was a nice experience but if I was to do it again, I would definitively choose the afternoon snorkel. The difference between morning and afternoon seems to be the length of the excursion (long enough in the afternoon one at least for me) and the breakfast and lunch provided in the morning one. The food was basic (muffins for breakfast, sandwich and salad for lunch) but good enough, still, in my case I don’t think it is worth the difference in price.
Being on a catamaran was nice, it felt more intimate that other motor boats we saw.
We had a good time and I would recommend Sea Paradise if you want to experience sailing and snorkeling.

We went on the morning snorkel last week and couldn’t have asked for a better crew, boat and snorkeling experience. Sea Paradise is top notch!
Gina, Nick and Dane welcomed us aboard and laid out a nice breakfast as we set out for Captain Cook’s snorkeling spot. The crew were fantastic about spotting and shouting out whale sightings along the way.
Once we got to the first snorkeling spot, I realized just how lucky we were to be with Sea Paradise. Our small comfortable boat peacefully pulled into the Captain Cook memorial cove alongside a few kayaks and Zodiac boats.
We had just over 20 people on board, and were introduced to the cove with a great overview of the area, The crew took great care to keep us safe during our swim and pointed out the best coral to check out. Gina was even kind enough to babysit my 7-​month old niece for use while we snorkeled for a bit. Seriously amazing client service!
Luckily we also got into the water before the big party boat (Fair Winds) showed up with 75 people on board and flooded the waters. We saw tons of fish and even a pod of a dozen spinner dolphins Dane gave us a quick lesson on.
Dane’s story about Captain Cook is also not to be missed!
After a great lunch and another snorkeling spot we headed back (about a 45 minute ride) and bought our crew a drink at the local café Akule Supply Company.
Highlight of the trip for sure! If you’re considering a snorkeling trip this is the one to do. And, they offer ½ off discounts for multiple books and 25% off for groups of 6 or more. Great deal!

Love love loved our morning boat your /​snorkel!
We saw whales, dolphins, tons of fish while snorkeling & on the way back the Sea Paradise caught an Ono fish!
Even without all the lucky bonuses we had a blast.
My hubs & I took our 4&6 yr olds and worried they might get bored for 4 hours and Alicia assured us they’d have a blast and they DID!
The crew was super helpful, nice & funny (dominic & Alicia). Food was great and they had plenty. HIGHLY RECOMMEND these guys! DO IT!