All Reviews for Marine Wildlife Encounters

We loved the whole experience of learning about Lanai, getting to see a pod of spinner dolphins, snorkeling in two locations (one that had a bunch of sea turtles), and getting great service with food and beverages throughout! Captain Kiwi and Alison were great- entertained us, taught us things, and made sure we had fun while being safe!

Awesome experience! The crew were all knowledgeable and helpful, and they made everything so seamless! We even saw sea turtles and were able to spend some extra time snorkeling around them! Only con is that the location may be hard to find. They're located at the very back of the parking lot, and check in is on the actual boat along the deck. Would 100% recommend!

Had a fantastic time on this Shark Tour. The staff was friendly, knowledgeable and fun to spend time with.
You will definitely see and experience sharks up close and personal.
Make sure you bring towels and water. Although the fee states water is included, we did not receive any.
I highly recommend this tour!

We pick this tour due to the awesome reviews, and they are all true! In addition to the incredible experience of seeing the sharks, the ladies really made this tour fabulous. Great teamwork, crew extremely helpful, professional, and very friendly...

What a wonderful sunset cruise. The crew was amazing and catered to everyone’s needs. The appetizers were extremely tasty to go along with the live music on the ukulele. Our family had a great time and would highly recommend booking a cruise with this team on your trip to Maui! The price is very reasonable compared to other cruises.

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.

Unique way to experience the ocean in maui. It offers sights most people won't get the opportunity to see. Seemed fish were accustomed to the sub and curiosity drove some to come up and stare inside. The only reason not to take the tour is if you are claustrophobic or suffer from motion sickness.

The whole experience was well done. Captain Danielle and her crew mate were knowledgeable, kind and helpful. We saw tons of mantas doing endless barrel rolls inches from our masks!!! The boat ride is brief and we spent plenty of time in the water on the light-board. FYI- You need to be able to climb up a 3-rung boat ladder to get out of the water, it went fine with our tour but I could imagine that might be tough for some. Well worth the time and money!!

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.

This was by far my favorite activity of the trip! Loved swimming cageless with the sharks and the pictures they gave us were amazing! Exciting and spiritual at the same time. Would love to do it again….

We were hoping there would be a couple of stops to increase chances of seeing the turtles and dolphins… other than that, great experience, lovely reef with schools of colorful fish, and the crew is fantastic…

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.

We really enjoyed our experience with Pacific Whale Foundation- we went on a snorkel cruise a couple of days prior to dinner cruise and had a blast. Solid staff with lots of Passion and knowledge about the oceans and specifically Maui.
The Dinner cruise was nice but we were all fairly disappointed in the food servings and 3 of our steaks were basically blood rare and we ordered them MR. it was too late to get them back on the grill. first course was a delicious good size at artichoke spinach dip. Or something close to that. It’s was tasty and plentiful but just a few pieces of bread for the whole thing and there was so much dip and no seconds on bread !? Kind of ridiculous, especially for the price of the dinner. The salad of mixed greens and some veggies was served with very tasty dressing … sure would have been nice to have some bread with that .. then came our entrees … so small ! A petit steak and one piece of chicken or a few prawns … small portions of protein then this outrageous amount of carrots. And a scoop of purple sweet pot mash which was tasty too. Drinks were okay- not great. Very sugary. … Mai tais , margaritas or wine were some of the choices.
Brownies for dessert were delish !
It was beautiful to cruise Lahaina area and eat on the water. Just wish the food was more plentiful - it’s really felt skimpy with all those carrots … just seemed like they were cutting corners. We ate when we got home. That should tell you something.
The staff wonderful , sweet, nice energy.

Fiancé and I had a lot of fun, there were plenty of fish to see (some of them swam right up to us), and the crew was great. We definitely recommend this.

This was such a wonderful adventure. My daughter and I enjoyed the trip out on the water. The guides are knowledgeable and friendly.

First time and loved every moment! Our guide, Jordan, was professional and ensured we had the best time. We cannot wait to do this again!

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!

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 way to start the vacation. My sons and I really enjoyed the experience. The guys were professional and made it fun for everyone. Highly recommended.

This was absolutely one of the best 2 hours we spent in Maui! The staff on board was truly fantastic and the live music was delightful! All of this despite losing my phone overboard. ‍♀️

The crew was friendly, knowledgeable, and professional, and seeing the mantas up close was an amazing experience. We would so this again, no question!

This tour exceeded our expectations! We thought we might see 1-2 sharks, but there were dozens! It was amazing! The captain and his mate were both helpful and friendly.

This was an extraordinary experience. I loved every minute watching the majestic mantas doing their thing. The staff was incredibly nice, safe, knowledgeable and accommodating. I would ten out of ten recommend this!

This has been the most thrilling adventure ever snorkeling with this big creatures!!! Loved it and loved the reggae music on the boat ride out to the snorkel area.

My family (especially my children) thoroughly enjoyed swimming with the dolphins. They were apprehensive before we got there, but once we met our guide, (Alisha), she made us all feel at ease. It was a really enjoyable experience! We didn’t want it to end. The work they do with the dolphins is amazing and the staff is very friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable. Such a great cause and experience. Definitely recommend and would go again. We felt Covid-safe and safe with the dolphins. Such amazing and smart animals.

First Ill start and say the Rays were awesome. So many showed up and the crew was teaching us facts while we were out there.
The beginning was a little different though. When we arrived at the shop it was very unorganized, the area to get a wet suite top was very dark and scattered, there was very little instruction getting on boat and captain didn't seem to really wanna be there.
I would pick a different company if we did it again.

Over all great experience. The boat and crew were great, we seen several mantas even though it was kinda rainy. Went with family and older children. 16 and 19 y/o daughters they loved it.

This excursion was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done! I’ve been to the Big Island 4 times prior and never did this, but I now highly recommend it! It will truest blow your mind to see these beautiful creatures! Trever, Diego, Captain Wayne and all the other crew that I can’t remember their name, sorry, were very helpful and knowledgeable about the Manta Rays. The rays came within inches of us! Very cool! Highly recommend!

Our experience couldn’t be any better. Thank you!!

From the boat ride to the Underwater Scooter ride this was a fabulous outing. The scooters were so much fun for everyone. Our group of 4 ages ranged from 19 to 67 years old and we all enjoyed it. We highly recommend! We would definitely do this again. Very well organized.