All Reviews for Kailua-Kona

Loved it and felt safe.

Marcus our tour guide was Amazing! Really knowledgeable about the stars and facts regarding them. He was very friendly and patient with the kids! The only reason this doesn’t have a 5 star rating is because the food was blah.

My husband and I went on this manta ray night snorkel and had a great time. The crew and captain were very helpful and knowledgeable. A once in a lifetime experience we recommend.

Captain Tony and his crew were so wonderful! They were funny and so informative. I would definitely do it again! They were so sweet to our two year old who was part of the snorkeling also. Make sure you take cash to tip them well because they definitely deserve it! The whole trip the captain and his trip hangout with everyone and cut up fresh fruit for everyone while serving drinks and making sure everyone is comfortable and has what they need. Definitely one of our top favorite things we did on the Big Island

So much fun. The location was beautiful, the crew was friendly and the service was great...oh and the plant based menu was delicious. Seeing dolphins made the day. I learned that orcas pass through Hawaiian waters and as a result the dolphins were swimming in and we were lucky enough to see them. Would have been fun to have paddleboards. We all loved it! Thank you.

Nice ride in the ocean at night, beautiful skyline and warm ocean.
Rays pass by few inches from you, possibly enjoying themself as well.

My husband and I took our 15yr old son. We enjoyed the food, good portions and several options were available. The show was fascinating, and the performers were enjoying themselves which made the show even better. Would highly recommend.

Overall, awesome experience! After reading reviews, I was super nervous about the validity of this site, especially considering that this site was able to get me tickets to a Luau that was sold out on all other sites. I called the venue to be reassured that this was a real site, and they confirmed it's validity! We showed up to the luau, had an amazing experience, and had 0 complications! Def. recommended!

It was an amazing snorkeling adventure. My husband and I have never gone snorkeling the crew was amazing. They were helpful and very funny. I suggest doing this. You get to see many different types of animals and sights

Tour guides were great, nice, and informative. Sadly did not see any manta rays on our cruise. They said this was highly unusual but still disappointing to not see any. They offered for us to go back on a future tour, but we were leaving the island and they do not offer any refunds.

We left late and were, as far as I could tell, the last boat to arrive. The place was pretty packed with people from the other boats. The ocean is pretty big so I'm not sure if we were so clustered because there's one particular spot that is best or because of some other reason. For the safety of the manta rays and possibly for your own safety, you don't actually get to swim in the water but rather your entire group are always holding on to a shared flotation device. It's not a good thing or a bad thing but something you should be aware of before signing up.
We saw one manta ray, which was a nice experience. Right after we saw it, the crew packed us up and headed back to the harbor. These are wild creatures so it's not like you're guaranteed to see them but I was expecting the crew to keep us there a bit longer. Anyway, my kids liked it, but I still wouldn't recommend this experience.

Not quite what I expected as you don’t get to snorkel around but breathtaking and amazing to watch those beautiful creatures at night in the light, it’s like they are dancing for you!

Super fun boat ride with great boat crew. Mata rays were fun adventure

Nice people running the boat, but there were SO many boats out there, and other boats had bigger/brighter lights - so they were all "oo-ing" over manta at their sites, and we were on the outskirts, only saw a handful flying by. No barrel rolls under us.

The worst part is you have to take such a long boatride to get out there, and we had to then get into the water and line up on a raft thing waiting at least 10 minutes in the cold water just waiting for sunset to get dark. We could've at least waited until closer to when out it was dark and the rays would come.

Plus my son and I also got seasick, since the waves were so bad - and it wasn't even the ocean that caused it, it was the motion of all the boats coming in. At least 10 other boats out there, figthing to see the manta.

Would definitely not do it again, for the torture in the process.

Staff was very helpful especially with one in our party who just rode along and needed assistance getting on and off boat. Boat was a little crowded but staff very efficient at getting everyone into water. Manta rays swam just beneath us and seemed close enough to touch!

Beautiful setting facing ocean, Show was entertaining, staff was attentive, Food was plentiful and good but not outstanding. Mai tais were tasty but seemed watered down.

Lovely evening and views with informative narration and entertainment and great food.

My husband and I got to experience this activity five years ago for the first time and we knew we had to bring our kids this time. Our kids liked the food and the family enjoyed the entertainment. It was great seeing Derek again (the musician/singer). He sang pearly shell again per our request :)

This was an event booking for my family. My 4 year old and 14 year old both equally enjoyed it. My for year old loved learning the hula. Food was plentiful and the story told was wonderful. All of the staff were efficient and super sweet.

We had a great time viewing the sunset with our amazing guides Kekoa and Travis. There are a lot of companies that run these tours, but our guides made this one the best of them all. They were both very knowledgeable with a great sense of humor. Most of all, however, Kekoa and Travis have big smiles and even bigger hearts. They brought the spirit of Mauna Kea and o'hana into this experience. The sunset from the summit was miraculous, the lasagna and brownie absolutely delicious and the star gazing was out of this world!

We loved all the cultural dances and the food was amazing! Great experience on our honeymoon.

This experience is one of a kind - having manta rays come right up to you as they feed on plankton in the bay! We were provided with a wet suit (top only for adults, body suit for children), snorkel, and mask.

Once anchored, you will slip into the water at the back of the boat, swim over to the lighted surfboards with handles, grip the handles and let your body float flat on the surface. They will give you a pool noodle to help with this. The manta rays will come right up to the surfboard and gently roll over as they feed on plankton that the light illuminates. I will add that it may seem like a short amount of time (about 30 minutes), but by the time they brought us in, I had started to get cold and my arms started aching from holding the handles the whole time. It was worth it for the experience.

If you are not a strong swimmer, they will offer to help you.

All the members of the crew on my boat were great! Very friendly and helpful. Thank you so much!

My one concern is regarding the number of other boats and people also participating in the same activity. There were quite a few and my concern was for the safety and protection of the manta rays. However, it does seem that the manta rays are not in danger and gain something out of the experience themselves because it provides a better opportunity for feeding that they would not have otherwise. The crew also show a great respect and love for them as well.

We had the best time, the crew was fantastic, nice boat, brand new wetsuits, we enjoyed this trip so much. And the hot chocolate after the swim was a perfect touch! We saw I think 5-7 mantas and they were with us the entire dive.

The manta rays were incredible to swim with and the crew did an excellent job. You are taken care of the moment you get on to the boat until the moment you get back. This adventure takes you out with light boards to see the manta rays come swim around you. It was well done.

First tour we had on our trip and it was awesome! The crew was very informative and friendly. Can’t wait to go again! The fresh pineapple they served us was a wonderful end to the trip. Scott definitely knew his stuff!

I so wanna go again. Very fun and entertaining.
Love the food and music and dancing.

Amazing crew who shared humor, but were extremely focused on safety and total enjoyment for each guest. Thank you Captain Scott, Bryce, and the entire Ikuka Team for this amazing experience. We will definitely be returning. Mahalo!

My husband and I had a great time on this sunset cruise! The staff were fantastic and the views were spectacular! Highly recommend

This was such an awesome experience! My family and I had such a great time. It was a little scary at first but you get over it really quick once you see the mantas! The crew was also awesome. They made everyone comfortable and constantly checked on us to make sure we were on in the water! 10/10!

Great crew, gorgeous day for a sail. Plenty of flying fish, dolphin sightings and even a few whales!