Coral Reef Snorkel Adventures

The manta swim was nice, but I would not book with this company again. Very frustrating experience.
we booked for the 8:30 swim, but was told no one else booked that trip and that the only option was a refund or for me and my boyfriend to go out on separate boats. I asked if we would be together in the water and they said yes, but never clarified that we would not be together because you need to stay on your own light raft. My boyfriend is terrified of the ocean and only agreed because he thought I would be near him and we would have gotten a refund if they would have told us the real answer, which is no, you won’t be together in the water.
The thing that upset me the most is we were told the 8:30 trip was canceled, but when we got to shore they had a group ready to go. It seems that we were separated and put on different boats for the purpose of fitting more people in and making more money.

Zachary and Shannon led us on our excursion and were very patient with our young children. They were able to lead us to the Dolphins within minutes. We spent approx 2 hrs in the water and about 3 hrs on the boat.
Candidly, the crew has no control over sea life. And even though we saw Dolphins immediately, the crew made sure to keep searching for additional pods.
The crew never made us feel like they we needed to get out of the water and get back to the dock because they had something else to do. Great customer service. Thank you Ron for fitting is in on short notice. Highly recommend using these guys again!

We couldn’t get on a snorkel with Coral Reef because they were underbooked, however — they were great about getting us on a charter with another company and we had a fabulous time. They were really great about communicating with us all along the way the status of our trip. We really appreciated all that they did to make the trip happen for us.

We did a combo dolphin swim and manta ray night dive. One of the top five experiences of my life! My friend recommended them since their group size is smaller than most of their competitors. It felt very personal and we had a great time. Highly recommended

I have had many adventures in Hawaii over the years and this was by far my favorite. My family signed up for the manta ray snorkel. The boat ride was wonderful, it’s a smaller boat, so they only book up to 6 people, but it’s pretty spacious. There is space to sit in the back, in the front on the bow, under the top deck, or down in the cabin. The boat ride to the snorkel spot is about 20 minutes. When we got there there were about 15 other boats close together in one cove. It seems like this is really the best spot for seeing the Mantas, so all the boats come here. All the other boats had at least 12 people, many had more. Our boat only had our captain Zack, and our guide Shannon, and the three people in my family. It was great to have a more intimate experience and not feel like one of the masses.
As we waited for the sun to set Captain Zack told us all about the manta rays and showed us pictures. He was great at making sure everyone felt comfortable and knew exactly what to expect. He showed us pictures of the individual markings so we could tell which mantas we were seeing in the water. We got all set up with wet suits and snorkels.
The minute the sun set we hopped in the water. Shannon was awesome. We held onto handles on a surfboard with lights and Shannon just dragged us around looking for the best spots to see the mantas. Our surfboard had white lights and most of the others had blue. It turned out that the mantas preferred the lights on our board and we had an amazing time with the mantas coming up really close, within a foot or so of our faces to feed on the plankton near our lights. The other boards came up close to ours so they could see the mantas under us. Shannon kept checking in to make sure everyone was doing ok throughout the whole thing. We all loved it!
From what I saw, each company pretty much has the same setup. They all have surfboards, lights, wetsuits, etc. And they are all in the exact same location, within feet of each other. The main difference was that the other companies have far more people so there is less one-​on-​one attention, and for whatever reason the other companies use blue lights which don’t seem to attract the mantas as well, or at least it was that way the night we were there. The other difference was the price. When I looked around, Coral Reef was the least expensive. This was the main reason I chose them, not knowing anything about any of the companies. Compared to the other big boats, offering the same thing with many more people, it is a steal of a deal. Especially in Hawaii where it seems like everything is overpriced. The whole trip lasted 2 ½ hours and they even had homemade macadamia nut brownies!

Good service, well organized. It is a small boat, up to 8 guests, and I liked this personal experience. We snorkeled with mantas and with dolphins. Definitively small group made both trips more enjoyable.

Captain Ron and Erin are the best! We swam with the Dolphins in several different locations. Erin swims right along with us, and captain Ron blot us to great locations. I highly recommend going with them!

Great company, have used them on 2 occasions ~2 years apart, great service both times. My last visit Feb 2016 there were only 2 of us and they still took out the boat and showed us a great time (usually the boat take up to 6). Samson and Zack did a great job, stopped when they spotted some humpbacks on the way out and overall made the trip memorable.

I was on vacation with my family and tried to book a last minute whale watching tour and Coral Reef Adventures was the only one that had an opening. They were significantly cheaper than some of the other options available so I figured what was there to lose.
I am really glad I booked them because it turned out to be one of the highlights of my vacation. Justin and Jessica were really professional and knowledgable. As soon as we left the dock, we ran into a pod of dolphins. Justin has a good eye and was able to spot and direct is towards a lot of marine life. Jessica was informative and we learned a lot of facts and tidbits from her.
Within half an hour we were able to see some humpback whales as well. Since we saw a few pods of dolphins and quite a few whales within 45 minutes and we were the only group on the boat, the crew suggested that we could also go snorkeling. I was not expecting that but Justin took us to a beautiful coral reef about 500 feet off of the shoreline. Jessica got into the water with us and even taught my sister how to handle snorkeling gear because she had never snorkeled before. While we were snorkeling, Jessica told us to sit quietly and listen to try to hear the whales singing. It was an amazing experience sitting in the water listening to them.
After snorkeling, we got back on the boat and looked for another group of whales. When we found them, the crew lowered a microphone so we could listen to them sing.
Justin and Jessica went above and beyond and my family was really glad we went with Coral Reef Adventures!

Amazing! The most thrilling & breathtaking experience of my life! Sampson and Justin were very friendly and helpful especially when I panicked for a second because we were surrounded by 10 manta’s. We took the 7:45 manta snorkel and I would highly recommend! Plus the homemade brownies hit the spot after the swim

This was an absolutely amazing experience. Obviously, swimming with manta rays is awesome by itself but I’m very happy we went with Coral reef adventures. Our guide Samson and the captain Justin were friendly and knowledgeable. They both contributed to our great time. Justin pulled the boat over when we saw dolphins so we could get a better look. Samson even found a prescription snorkel mask for my mom so she could see without her glasses. She said she’s never been able to see that well during snorkeling before. I think the fact that we were in a smaller group than the other companies made the trip much better.

AMAZING! That’s all that comes to mind when I think of the experience we had. SO worth the price!
— There were SO many dolphins!
— The crew, Justin and Erin, were so helpful, attentive and nice! They worked so hard to get us to the best spots.
— The smaller grouping let you get closer to the dolphins; they don’t scare off as easily with less people.
— You get a free lunch: sandwiches, chips and don’t miss out on the delicious homemade brownies!
— We also saw a manta ray!
Some helpful info:
— No bathrooms on the boat, so go potty before.
— You will be getting in and out of the boat quite a few times. Makes your arms a little sore.
— Bring sunscreen. No shade on the boat.
— Be adventurous!
— If you wander a bit from the boat don’t worry, they’ll come get you.
— Bring an underwater camera!
To sum up IT WAS AMAZING! :D

I’ll make mine short and sweet. Me and the BF almost cancelled this excursion (bc I read on the internet that Dolphins were ass holes), but I’m glad I didn’t!
Erin and Captain Ron were really nice. Erin was very protective, and made sure my goggles fit me, I had a floaty tube, and yelled at a guy who almost bonked the BF! LOL!
I also get motion sickness super bad. So I took no one the night before and the morning. I also used their acupressure bracelet, and I did not get the sickness!
Price was about $ 150 a person, and we got soooo close to the Dolphins that I could probably reach out and touch them! They literally swam right underneath me!
The party size was small too – just us two. So book with them, and you won’t regret it!

Awesome manta ray night snorkel!
We had a great time with Carl and Kira on this night snorkeling trip. They were so nice and made us feel welcomed on board. They explained everything and provided us with everything we needed (gear, food, snacks, information about rays). We saw 3 manta rays this night and it was an awesome experience. Another plus: they have a small boat and the group has only 6 people. We saw other boats with groups up to 20 people. Our group was more intimate and much easier for us to navigate with the board!

The preceding day, we were worried if our boat would set sail. I received a message from Erin stating that no one else reserved our day and Coral Reef wanted to reschedule us. Since no other day worked in our schedule, Coral Reef decided to set sail for us anyways. And we couldn’t have been happier.
Erin and Capt. Carl were there and ready to launch the boat the moment we arrived at a minute or two past 8:00 am.
Thanks to Erin and Carl’s ability to spot pods of dolphins, my SO and I were able to jump in and be passed by dolphins in the wild (off the west coast of Kona) until we were spent.
Enroute to each spot we were fed and entertained with knowledge of Hawaii. The pineapple Erin brought along was delicious.
Then we were taken to a coral reef only accessible by boat for about half an hour or so. We didn’t see any manta rays, but one while we were still above water. That didn’t stop us from really enjoying ourselves in this aquatic adventure.
Because of Erin & Carl’s personal care, skill and diligence in finding dolphins this was the highlight of our action packed Hawaiian escapade. I’d like to think our swimming skill and ability to hop in and out of the boat rapidly played a part, but in actuality, it certainly helps to be able to move quickly.

My husband and I took my sister and brother in law to the 8 AM Dolphin swim in March 2015 and we had a wonderful time. We saw about 300 dolphins, both Spinner and Spotted with babies!
The dolphins completely ignore you for the most part. They just swim by and do their own thing. One time I got a little nervous because I thought one was staring me down and swimming right towards me, but the little guy went right by. At times they got so close that if I reached out my arm I could have touched one.
The water was amazingly clear and warm! They captain was super nice (I cant remember his name) and Erin was also very helpful. She gets in the water with you and tells you where to swim to see the incoming pods. Eventually she got comfortable with our swimming abilities and let us go out on our own.
The only thing I would have done differently is get a private boat. The other 2 people that were there got really sick and thew up over the side of the boat a few times.
On the way back to the harbor we saw 3 humpback whales, 2 full grown and one baby. They were SUPER close to us. It was a perfect way to end the trip.

We did the 8am swim with the dolphins and it was our favorite activity. Erin and Capt. Ron took awesome care of us snorkeling newbs. If you haven’t snorkeled before, they can give you a noodle that’ll help you float but you don’t actually need since the water is super calm.
They’ll take you out and find pods of dolphins. Tons of dolphins. I never realized that so many would hang out by the shore but we ended up diving in the center of a 30−50+ group of dolphins and they just did their own thing while we tried to keep up. They’re friendly and not like those dolphins (bottlenose) you’ve heard about on the news that want to hump sea lions. Don’t worry you’re gonna be A-​ok.
When they passed us by we would just climb back into the boat, follow them and get back into the water.
An hour or two in and we were pretty pooped so after devouring what looked like an entire pineapple, Capt Ron gave us a small tour by boat and showed some sweet spots to visit on our own time.
I can’t recommend these guys highly enough. Erin and Capt Ron rocked.
Try to put on some sun block prior to getting these b/​c I didn’t use enough and got completely baked by the sun despite sitting in the shade on the boat on the way back.
Don’t forget to bring a towel!

We went on the manta ray snorkel last night (5÷3÷15) and it was absolutely the most amazing experience ever! So many people had told us that this was a must-​do and we’re so absolutely happy to have gone with Coral Reef Snorkel Adventures. Kiera & Justin are awesome. They were funny, informative, hard-​working… I seriously can’t say enough great things about them. They even stopped for us to see a school of dolphins.
We saw another company packing about 10 – 15 people onto a boat. The max for Coral Reef Snorkel Adventures if 6. This allows for great communication and fast set up (because trust me, the moment you get out on the water, you want to get into the water as quickly as possible). They also provided full wet suits (long sleeve/​long legs), which was much appreciated in the frigid water & windy conditions. We were in the water for almost an hour! Once back on board, there was water, soft drinks & those famous brownies I kept reading about on all the reviews. They’re seriously so good, I understand now why so many people mention them.
Overall, if you’re going to the Big Island, you must snorkel with the mantas. And if you must snorkel with the mantas, you MUST go with Coral Reef Snorkel Adventures.

One of the most memorable experiences of our lives! My boyfriend and I went on a Dolphin tour in March 2015 and it was absolutely awesome!
As the tour outlines, we swam with wild dolphins! It was so fun! Our guides, Kit and Jane were great too!
I highly recommend this tour.

This review is for the Manta Ray Night Snorkel. I’m serious this was one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life, I was so impressed! Bucket list worthy? Absolutely. Kira was awesome, personable and so informative throughout our trip to the manta location. It was because of her we felt comfortable and relaxed. There was only one other couple besides my boyfriend and I on this trip. I really loved the privacy and small group which was the primary reason I booked with this company. We will be back to do the dolphin swim for sure next time we are on the big island.