Kona Snorkel - Captain Zodiac or Sea Hawaii rafting?

[priya08]

Hello all, just wondering which snorkel and overall experience is better in Kona? Captain Zodiac or Sea Hawaii Rafting? If you can give me the positives and negatives of both, that will let us decide better. Thanks in advance :)

[minimom5]

Our Capt. Zodiac tour was one of the highlights of our entire trip ! They did a great job and the snorkeling was amazing ! The raft was so much fun and we got to see lots of Spinner Dolphins that swam right alongside the raft and jumped right in front of us! I would definitely recommend Capt. Zodiac for an unforgettable experience !

[mrfeeto]

You know, I'm glad you asked this. I'm trying to decide the exact same thing. From what I can tell, Kris and his team at Sea Hawaii Rafting provides basically an identical experience to Captain Zodiac. He is getting the same great reviews, too. He just hasn't been doing it as long and isn't partnered with the cruise lines, so you hear more about Captain Zodiac. They both depart from the docks near POA's port (unlike Fair Winds, Seaquest, Dolphin Discoveries, etc.), so they're convenient. Since Captain Zodiac does more business, it looks like he has a fleet of older Zodiacs, where as Sea Hawaii has one newer Zodiac. Not sure when your trip is, but let us know what you decide!

[sungoddezz]

We booked Sea Hawaii Rafting for myself, DH and DD (26). We will be going on May 12th so I can let everyone know how it went when we get back. My sister went with them last summer and highly recommended them. The only thing I'm worried about is getting back into the raft with the ladder, but they said it was an easy entry and exit.

[J&RLOVESTOCRUISE]

Could you please give me the internet site for Sea Hawaii Rafting?

Thanks

[mrfeeto]

You can just do a Google search.

 

Here you go, though:

 

About:

http://www.seahawaiirafting.com/about.html

 

Kealakekua Bay Tour (like Captain Zodiac):

http://www.seahawaiirafting.com/tours.html#kba

 

Captain Zodiac:

http://www.captainzodiac.com/index.html

[priya08]

Thank you all for replying! I think I agree with mrfeeto that it would be an almost identical tour except the fact that sea hawaii rafting are not that popular yet. When I was searching for reviews, I found that people had booked them via Roberts tour. That might be the other reason that we are unable to find their direct tour reviews.

 

We are going to be in Kona on Apr 30th (Apr 27th, Rhapsody of the Seas) and we have already booked Captain Zodiac. I came across Sea Hawaii rafting after we booked Capt Zodiac. The reason I am looking to book them is that they start their tour at 9am as opposed to Capt Zodiac who start at 8:30am. With our ship reaching Kona at 8am (and then tender) I think it will be more of a peace of mind if we book Sea Hawaii rafting. What do you guys think?

[bronxite]

Please let me know how easy it is to get back into the boat, that is my only concern. Does the ladder go under the water at all. Please let us know as this is one of the trips we were planning with Roberts. Enjoy..

[priya08]

Please let me know how easy it is to get back into the boat, that is my only concern. Does the ladder go under the water at all. Please let us know as this is one of the trips we were planning with Roberts. Enjoy..

 

I sure will :)

[J&RLOVESTOCRUISE]

You can just do a Google search.

 

Here you go, though:

 

About:

http://www.seahawaiirafting.com/about.html

 

Kealakekua Bay Tour (like Captain Zodiac):

http://www.seahawaiirafting.com/tours.html#kba

 

Captain Zodiac:

http://www.captainzodiac.com/index.html

 

 

Thank you

[mousey]

Our Capt. Zodiac tour was one of the highlights of our entire trip ! They did a great job and the snorkeling was amazing ! The raft was so much fun and we got to see lots of Spinner Dolphins that swam right alongside the raft and jumped right in front of us! I would definitely recommend Capt. Zodiac for an unforgettable experience !

 

I agree 100%. This was the best shore excursion I've ever been on! We saw lots of fish and an eel. Lots of dolphins, a huge pod of whales, lava tubes, blow holes, wild parrots and some odd-looking crabs! It was awsome! Can't say enough good things about them!:D The ladder was under water and it was easy to get on and off the boat. I am 63 yrs. old and a little "round" and I had no problem at all. The other thing I liked about our excursion was that our Zodiac raft had a canopy overhead that protected us from the sun and other boats and rafts I saw in the same snorkeling area as us didn't.

[J&RLOVESTOCRUISE]

I agree 100%. This was the best shore excursion I've ever been on! We saw lots of fish and an eel. Lots of dolphins, a huge pod of whales, lava tubes, blow holes, wild parrots and some odd-looking crabs! It was awsome! Can't say enough good things about them!:D The ladder was under water and it was easy to get on and off the boat. I am 63 yrs. old and a little "round" and I had no problem at all.

 

 

 

Thank you for your post it makes me be more at ease about this tour!

[MC40528]

I just did this the Week of April 10, 2010. It was the best excursion of our cruise.

 

We booked via Roberts, so we were on the Sea Hawaii Rafting tour, rather than Captain Zodiac. If I ever make it back, I would just book direct through Sea Hawaii Rafting DOT com (no spaces). It would probably save you a few dollars. Captain Kris was outstanding. Sea Hawaii Rafting goes on the same route/snorkle spot as the Captain Zodiac Tours.

 

From what I remember, the ladder to get back in the boat extended at least 2-3 rungs into the water. I don't recall having any sort of problem getting back in. They put an unbrella up, once we got to the snorkle spot.

 

My observation as to why I would recommend Sea Hawaii Rafting:

1. Tour left at 9:00am rather than 8:00-8:30am . No rush to get up early and have to catch tender. Got back around 2. Tour leaves and returns to the pier, right where the tender drops you off.

2. Likely to have more room on the raft, unless the tour is full. Captain Zodiac was full (18-20 people) with all those that booked through the ship. We only had 12 people.

3. Leisurely pace. Captain Kris was very patient to let us stay and see the dolphins. The Zodiac boats didn't stick around long. (They have to get back for the afternoon tour). Sea Hawaii Rafting only does one tour. So by the time we got to the snokling, the Captain Zodiac tours were headed back. We had plenty of time to snorkle ( at least an hour). By the lava tubes there is a blow hole. Kris kept the boat there until the waves cooperated so we could really see it go. The Zodiac tour just moved on after 30 seconds.

4. Captain Kris was very friendly and down to earth. He was always concerned about everyone's comfort and that they were having a good time. Gave us plenty of history and information to keep it fun. Plenty of water, juice, soda, chips, snacks, fresh fruit to eat.

[sungoddezz]

Thanks for your review MC. We will be going on the same tour with sea hawaii rafting in less than 2 weeks. I've been in "training" going up and down the ladder at my aqua fit class instead of using the stairs so its good to hear that you didn't have any problems getting in and out of the raft. I'm so excited and can't wait till we fly out next Friday.

[Sargent_Schultz]

We went with Captain Zodiac and it was great. Both companies do the same tour, Captain Zodiac being the larger company, me thinks. We saw a Sea Quest boat at the snorkel site.

 

 

There is nothing wrong with the Captain Zodiac boats - that is a non-factor.

 

 

In my observation, Captain Zodiac ran multiple boats - not all of them full - ours wasn't. If enough people were ready to go, off they went. They always try to have at least one boat going, but have the ability to send a number at staggered times.

 

If you want a real bargain and are willing to take a chance, one could book Captain Zodiac in port for $62 and Sea Quest for $46. For $46, I would jump on Sea Quest, since, they do the same tour.

 

 

For pictures from the Captain Zodiac tour (which would be much the same with either company), see here:

 

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Enjoy!

[priya08]

Thank you all for replying. We just got back from the cruise yesterday and had a wonderful time. As mentioned earlier, that we had booked Sea Hawaii Rafting for our 9am tour. It was raining that morning and the tour got cancelled but I would still recommend them for 2 reasons.

 

1) Because of the weather, the tender we got into did not leave for 45 mins and as a result we got to the pier at 9:05 am and we thought we surely missed our tour. The girl from that company was waiting for us in the rain with an umbrella to let us know that the tour got cancelled due to the weather and that there would be almost no visibility.

 

2) They could still have ran the boat to make money but they were nice enough to cancel it and not disappoint us at the snorkel sight.

 

I was pretty disappointed anyways since that was the only thing we had planned for the day. But disappointed at the weather and not them. So we rented our own snorkel gear and snorkeled at Turtle beach but it got quite cold so we returned back to the ship.

 

Priya

[bronxite]

Thanks for your review MC. We will be going on the same tour with sea hawaii rafting in less than 2 weeks. I've been in "training" going up and down the ladder at my aqua fit class instead of using the stairs so its good to hear that you didn't have any problems getting in and out of the raft. I'm so excited and can't wait till we fly out next Friday.

 

I take aqua classes as well and have had double knee replacements with full moveability. I never thought about training that way to do the ladder as I really do want to do the sea raft but my concern was how hard was it to get up the ladder. Thanks for the advice.:o

[sungoddezz]

We're just back from our Hawaii Vacation and we did the Sea Hawaii Rafting/Roberts Hawaii snorkel tour on May 12th. I would highly recommend this tour. Intially I was a bit nervous if I could handle the speed of the raft and getting in and out of it but after the first few minutes of hanging on for dear life, I started to relax and just enjoyed the ride. We stopped at an area that was filled with dolphins and they swam under and around the raft. Then we went onto the Kealakekua snorkel area and spent about an hour and a half snorkeling there. They provided us with all the equipment and even had RX masks which I appreciated. They also have floation belts and noodles. You have to slide off the raft to get into the water but if I can do it anyone can and use the ladder to get back up onto the raft. I didn't find any difficulty in getting back into the raft and the crew are so helpful if you do need any. The also provided us with sodas, juice and an assortment of chip snacks. The guides were so informative about the history of the island as well as entertaining. While snorkeling my daughter actually got to swim with some dolphins that got close to the area that she was in. She said it was an experience she will never forget. After the snorkel area we were taken to look at some lava caves and a tour of the coast line. Overall it was a fantastic day!