Splashers Ocean Adventures

We signed up for the night manta dive through our hotel. To sum up this whole experience in a word UGH.
We booked this on our last night and the mantas didn’t show. It was supposed to be the highlight of the trip. Can’t tell you how incredibly disappointed we were. No one from the booking company or concierge warned us that there’s a 10% chance of no show or we would’ve booked it earlier.
The staff weren’t very friendly and just seemed like they wanted to be done with it and go home. Especially the captain.
I’m a non-​swimmer and told them that in hopes they would keep an eye on me. I was pretty much on my own the minute we got into the water.
1. Two takeaways from this. Book this excursion earlier on in case the mantas pull a no show. The company will let you rebook on the same trip.
2. Go with Sea Quest. We had a wonderful snorkeling experience win them and they have an earlier evening dive…7pm vs. 8pm. It increases your chances of seeing the mantas. Good luck!
Giving 3 stars because the mantas not showing wasn’t their fault but the service/​enthusiasm was definitely lacking.

Wanted to do this on a rec by a friend. Contacted a good friend who’s a Expedia concierge/​local expert on Oahu and said the ones in Kona all recommended this company. Great. Call.
Enjoyed the amazing night manta dive last night with an awesome crew. Towel n change of clothes or jacket is all you need to bring, they provide everything else. Dre was super helpful & informative, other guys were good too but forgot their names.
Their boat is a bigger zodiac so keep that in mind. Anyone can do the actual ‘snorkeling’ as it’s mostly just laying face down with a floater holding on to the pvc pipes that surround the boards w/​lights shining down. After a 20 – 25 min mostly easy going trip we arrived at the location fronting the Sheraton. live music could also be easily heard from the hotel as well, bonus! Saw anywhere from 5 – 10 different mantas & they were there from beginning to end. They were HUGE! Always felt safe, though those mantas do come surprisingly close to you, but they have nothing that can harm you. Definitely bring your underwater camera or borrow one of their go pros.
At the end of the trip they talked about other tours they do, definitely will do the dolphin trip the next time here. Highly recommended. Don’t forget to Tip da boys!

Again another night at Splashers! We love Shontel but tonight Elana was our amazing waitress. Great recommendations and service. Food is always wonderful but shhh don’t want to be so busy we can’t get in :)
Tomorrow breakfast reserved with Shontel. We will always be back to Splashers, our favorite in Kona !
Mahalo, Laura and Arnold

Manta Ray snorkel was awesome! We actually had to go twice since no Mantas showed up the first night. Each night we had a completely different experience.
The first night started out ok with the Captain driving the boat north towards the airport. There were tons of fish but unfortunately no Mantas. It seemed like one of the crew members and the captain didn’t get along. He kept asking her to do things and she kept making passive aggressive comments to him. We thought this was humorous, but could see how others would think it was unprofessional. Maybe they were just disappointed there were no Mantas.
Rebooking was a breeze and the second night was a lot more fun. It started with the captain radioing someone to see if any Mantas had been spotted near the airport. He got word that none had been seen so we headed south to a different spot. We saw 2 different Mantas and got the experience of a lifetime.
We would definitely recommend this trip to anyone wanting to experience something unlike anything else.

Took my girlfriend out for a snorkel day and swim with dolphins and had an absolute blast!
My girlfriend was a little nervous about jumping in the water fast when we were by the dolphins but afterwards we took a journey to Captain Cook area where we saw the monument and had plenty of time to snorkel by the reef. She had enough courage then to get in the water and snorkel and it was beautiful! Water was crystal clear and the tropical fish were vibrant and beautiful. The coral was also beautiful.
Afterwards were we treated to a sandwich, drinks, and chips.
If thats not enough, we took a little tour of the volcano formations on our way back to port. Even givin history lesson on both Captain Cook story and the lava formations. (Pele goddess of fire)
Got drenched on the way back but thats ok it felt great! :-)
Long wonderful days for the $$.
Thanks again. We look forward to doing it again when we return to the big island.
–anthony and renee
Excursion date: 5÷11÷16

We went out with Dre and had a great experience with the manta ray adventure. We took the late trip and saw five mantas, inched from our faces! The staff was friendly and helpful. We highly recommend this company for your vacation adventures.

Excellent manta ray night snorkel… the mantas arrived the second we got it the water! James and Kathleen were great! Their knowledge of the animals really added an unexpected plus for the trip. I highly recommend this company to everyone.

We returned and went for the late manta trip and recommend it over the earlier one. You are more likely to see mantas because the earlier trips can let the captain know which location had the most mantas.
We also did the snorkel trip. We saw hundreds of dolphins, a couple of whales, and them lots of fish and corral.
Dre was great. He checked on everyone to help ensure they had a good experience
We will go again.

We loved our Captain Cook Cove snorkeling cruise with Splashers! We swam with two pods of wild dolphins out in the ocean and boated alongside whales! And visited the best coral and fish snorkeling at Captain Cooks. Splashers is very Eco friendly — making sure we didn’t disturb the wildlife. They fed us snacks and lunch. All in all the highlight of our 8 days in and around Kona. When we first saw the boat we were nervous as it looked like a large raft — but it was amazingly fast, comfortable and super easy to get in and out of the water.

We did 2 different adventures with Splashers and both were excellent. If you ever thought «I wish I knew someone local that would treat me like a friend»? I could go on and on about them but all you need to know is they are the real thing. Small but experienced. Reasonable price for any adventure and a friend you will want to come back to again.

Captain Josh & Dr. Dre were the bomb dot com. They took us out for hours and the most impressive part was the way they were very aware of how we impact the sea life and the environment. Two better guides you could not find. Mahalo guys~ mermaid and her #lovetribe

A+++ all the way.
Saw lots of mantas, one manta even did a special underbelly flip show for us.
Snacks and juice on board, and they provide all the gear you need.
Watching the sunset dip below the horizon was awesome in this location!
The staff were great and super nice.
Small downside is that the location where the group met was slightly hard to find.

What an adventure! I was so nervous to go on this night dive and thought I would be cold and terrified. How wrong I was. This was such an amazing experience. Kathleen and James put everyone at ease from the start. The boat ride over was exhilarating and when we got into the water, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The mantas are so majestic and breathtaking. They come so close to you. I was in awe the entire time. At one point, there were 12 mantas in the water and their ascent and descent into the sea was like a beautiful dance. This adventure was a bargain for an experience you will never forget. Kathleen and James are wonderful. On the boat ride home, we saw the stars in the sky and they were bright and beautiful. A fitting ending to a memorable night. This is a must do.

It said the check-​in time was 8:30 and the leave time was at 9, we got there 15 minutes late at 8:45 and the boat had already left. We called them asking them to come back to shore, and they said there was nothing they could do. They were rude and unapologetic, and I’ve never experienced worse customer service!

James and Kathleen took very good care of us. Knew where the dolphins were, got us there and back safely. They are both very experienced and nice. Had a nice lunch for us as well. Highly recommended! Dolphins were amazing. They are wild animals behaving as they should, nothing like Flipper lol! One pair passed within 5′ of me and looked me in the eye. I know it’s kinda sappy but it was awesome!
The whole group enjoyed it. Would definitely go again and ask for them both. They worked together well. Call them!

This group is legit and knows their stuff. They were able to calm me down when I freaked out about the deep water and pointed me towards the dolphins!
Ended up loving it and would go again! The snacks weren’t too bad either: P

What a fantastic day! We were deciding between Splashers and another boat. The other boat had restrooms, a slide and a Bbq, but we were told that Splashers would make stops to see the dolphins up close. Captain James did just that. He told a great story about Captain Cook. I believe the woman assisting us was Kathleen. She was very nice and helpful.
The boat moves very quickly and it does bounce quite s bit. They do caution you that if you have a bad back, you should go. I tightened up my abs the whole time and didn’t let my back take any of the impact.
We had a great time! Thank you!

I had decided I would never snorkel with manta rays. I’ve snorkeled many times before, but never with anything that big. I was worried about my safety and how I would react seeing a large creature so close. But, I didn’t want to miss out, so I had my partner make reservations for two. I decided that I could just stay on the boat if I couldn’t muster the courage to get in the water.
We arrived early to meet our guide — I can’t remember her name but she seemed to have an eastern European accent. She is the reason I ended up snorkeling with manta rays! She made me feel so comfortable as she explained everything about the Kona manta rays, why they are so amazing and why they are so unique. She made us laugh and gave us enough information about how to be respectful of the animal where I knew I could get in the water comfortably. Unfortunately, our trip that night was canceled due to bad weather. We re-​booked the next day and were able to go out.
See the manta rays up close was an amazing experience. The mantas can get very close which is a little nerve wrecking but mostly just exciting.
We paid $ 100 per person for our trip and I believe every penny was worth it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

This was an amazing experience ! Seeing the manta rays come up right under you and then flip was so cool! It was a little scary being in the middle of the ocean at night but we saw lots of fish and around 6 different manta rays. Our guide Kathleen told us that some of these amazing creatures we saw were around 11 feet wide. The boat went pretty fast and was a bit choppy so if you get sea sick make sure you do something to prepare !

My first ever snorkeling experience and I had an awesome time with these guys on the Dolphin Snorkel. The captain gave our group a thorough breakdown of the experience at the beginning and lead us out to Captain Cook, which is apparently the best reef in Hawaii Islands for snorkeling. I loved that we made multiple stops along the coast to check out different areas in addition to seeing dolphins close up. When we got to that reef, there was plenty of time to explore and enjoy the sights. Light snacks and drinks were provided as well to keep us fueled.
I’d highly recommend these guys to anyone visiting the Big Island.