Snorkel Bob’s Mauna Lani

We’ve been going to Snorkel Bob’s every year we’ve come to the big island… For the past 6 years! The guy that works there (it’s always been the same… White beard, white hair) has a reputation with us for how ornery he always is. We bring our business back there because they do a good job with the equipment. We walked in today to rent some equipment and instead of being greated with «Welcome! I’m going to help these customers and I’ll be right with you» it was «Folks, it’s going to be at least 15 minutes until I can even start to help you. You can go out and sit by the fountain or the restrooms are around the corner». All about the delivery! We decided this time we had enough supporting his ornery attitude and didn’t want to support it again. Great place, ornery guy! No thanks.

We went into Snorkel Bob’s to get directions. As it turned out, we used their services to book a trip to swim with the Manta Rays. Ed provided quality service and was fun and friendly. This is always a credit to the company, but it just seemed so natural to him to be engaging and helpful. We highly recommend Snorkel Bob’s and Ed for great customer service! Mahalo Ed!
Margo and Diane

Great shop and quick in/​out. A plus for me is the prescription goggles they have. They have a drop box for offhours which is nice.

I vacationed to the Mauna Lani this last March for a vacation I didn’t have much time to plan for. I was referred to Snorkel Bob’s (the location in the Shops at Mauna Lani) and was very happy with their service. The first day I was there I knew I needed to get snorkel gear so that I could start my week of adventures! The employee was very helpful and gave me tips on where to find great beaches! I was very impressed by the organization and cleanliness of all the products as well!
I was just very happy because Snorkel Bob’s set me up with an amazing gear and great service. The next time I’m on the Big Island I’ll definitely be going back to Snorkel Bob’s again!

We had the best service for all 7 of us. We love the location, for its close to places with the best snorkeling on the island,

Great gear, and Peter was very helpful! We have gone to a Snorkel Bob’s to rent our snorkel gear on every trip to Hawaii and have never been disappointed.

6÷9÷2015
Stopped by early on my vacation to get a snorkel keeper for my wife. No other customers were there at the time. The older gentlemen who was working there acted like I was wasting his time. Very rude. A few days later when I needed a new mask, I stopped by the store. It was crowded as it looked like a snorkel tour was about go out. When I explained to the same guy that I was not with the snorkel tour and that I wanted to buy a mask, he TOLD me to go sit down. Again, very, very rude. Obviously, this place is doing so well that they do not need to treat customers well. I promptly left.

The best snorkel equipment available and a dedicated, helpful staff. Ed and Pete are great. I wouldn’t rent equipment anywhere else. Save yourself the hassle and rent the best stuff. Their weekly rate is reasonable and you’ll have the best snorkeling experience imaginable. Don’t cheat yourself and use the sub standard equipment provided by the boats and tours. Take your own set along. They make it easy to jump between islands. The best!

Great gear (we had to buy new masks) that we can’t wait to try. The silicone in the masks is surgical grade, which is much better than the originals we had. Not sure if that’s a thing for every mask these days but we are stoked about he quality and value.
The staff is incredibly friendly and knowledgeable and friendly. We got tons of great advice from the owner on what to do while we were on the island, including a map that he highlighted for us. This place made us feel so welcome. We are really happy with it and would recommend it to anyone.

Very impressed by this place. Ed is your guy! He was very knowledgable about not only the great snorkel places but lots of history about HAWAII in general. We had the time of our lives!!! Mahalo Ed!

We just returned from Kona and were lucky to have met Ed at Snorkel Bob’s in Mauna Launi. He has lived on the island for over fifty years and knows everything about it. As a result he suggested some incredible itineraries maximizing our experience in Hawaii. Trust what he says.

Ed was very helpful and friendly. Gave us price options. They also gave us great beach suggestions. Equipment for week 2 masks, 2 sets of flippers 2chairs, and 2 boogie boards for $ 132.

Ed was extremely helpful & so was the other staff member the other day.

Peter was super helpful and directed us to some great beaches. We saw tons of different finish and some large schools of pretty fish too! Beach 49. He also warned us we would probably have to run to the beach because of the mixture of black sand. He was right.

The good: Customer service was really good. The guy obviously knew a lot about the equipment and has a lot of experience snorkeling; he was able to help us choose our gear and he also had some great suggestions about places for beginners to go snorkeling.
The bad: Classic bait and switch. The advertisements for this place say you can get snorkeling gear for $ 9/​week, then it shows pictures of some normal snorkel masks and fins. When you get there, you realize that the $ 9/​week gets you the super old-​school oval mask with rubber sealing that leaks (per the guy at the shop). In order to get the equipment pictured in the ad, that actually works, it was more like $ 35/​week. Pretty slimy advertising to put «$ 9/​week» right next to a picture of equipment that is three times that…

Rented snorkel gear and chairs from the Mauni Lani store this past week. Worst experience in customer service I have experienced in a long time. The fellow who assisted with snorkel gear choices (white guy, 50’s?) was obnoxiously rude the three times it was necessary to interact with him, to the point that my grown sons refused to re-​enter the store the 3^rd time rather than risk what they considered an almost inevitable bad scene (good choice on their part, since the individual was once again overtly rude). Every one of the rude experiences were conducted in front of other customers in the store.
Also, when I rented the chairs (2^nd visit — same guy, same obnoxious behavior in front of other customers), I was told the special rental cost was $ 25/​week for two chairs. Because I was in a hurry when I returned the chairs, I simply pocketed the return receipt and did not get around to reviewing it till I returned home 2 days later. That’s when I discovered an UNDISCLOSED $ 18 USAGE fee! WTF — a USAGE fee in addition to the rental fee, that no one felt ethically bound to discuss when disclosing the rental cost upon initial inquiry?
A warning to other travelers: anticipate obnoxious customer service and deliberately hidden extra fees.

Had we known there was a Snorkel Bob’s location at the Mauna Lani shopping center, we wouldn’t have to drive to Ali’i Drive location along 19 South (about 20+ miles from our resort) to rent our snorkel gear.
On the first day when we went to the other location, Kenny told us about this location and that we could return our gear here instead of driving down South again. Turns out that one of the life preservers wasn’t inflating and so the next day we came to this location to exchange the damaged life preserver.
Peter who was managing the store then told us how to properly inflate the life preserver, duh! Kenny! correct instructions would have helped. 3 cheers for Peter: he was extremely friendly, very helpful, gave us some really cool tips and also shared some lychees from his backyard! He also helped us book our Captain Cook tour which turned out to be fantastic btw!
There was someone else who was also working there, her name was Renelyn (sorry if I got the spelling wrong) but she was helpful too and told us how to get to Beach 69! Another review on Beach 69 coming up soon!
The snorkel gear they have here is good quality, reasonable prices and flexible drop off timings and locations