All Reviews for Marine Wildlife Encounters

I participated with my mother. At first, I was really worried about whether we would see any whales, but within 20 minutes of the boat departing, we encountered our first one! When I looked in the direction the captain indicated, I quickly spotted it blowing water high into the air. After that, we had several more encounters! Among them, there were two whales snuggling together like a mother and her calf. I was moved to meet wild whales off the coast of Honolulu. On the way back, I also participated in a lei-making class and received a lei as a keepsake. I would love to join again if I have the chance.

母と二人で参加しました。初めは本当にくじらが見られるのか不安でしたが船が出港してから２０分もたたずに一頭目に遭遇！キャプテンが指示してくれた方向を見ると高く潮を吹いてていたのですぐに見つけられました。それからもぞくぞく遭遇！中には親子のように二頭寄り添っているくじらも。野生のくじらにホノルル沖で出会えて感動しました。帰りの船の中でレイ作りのクラスにも参加、レイも記念に頂きました。またチャンスがあったら参加したいです。

In the distance, I could see small tails and spouts. I was satisfied since I saw them about 3 to 4 times, but I wished they had been closer.

遠くに小さく、しっぽや潮吹きが見られました。３～４回は見られたので一応満足ですが、もっと近くだったら良かったのにと思いました。

The crew/divers were excellent and professional and friendly as was the Skipper. We had an awesome time, saw beautiful marine life and lots of turtles. A great day!! Thanks again guys!!

It was amazing.
During the roughly two-hour voyage through rough waves, we were able to see five whales.
The drink service was great, and the staff's performance was very friendly and enjoyable.
You definitely need motion sickness medication. Also, it gets cold, and when you go to the front, you can get splashed by the waves, so a towel and rain gear are essential.
There was one staff member of Japanese descent who provided boarding instructions in Japanese, but after that, it was all about enjoying the sea, the whales, and the beer.
Also, when boarding, you go barefoot. You leave your shoes on the pier, so you don't need heavy footwear.

最高でした。
波の荒い中、約２時間の航海、五頭のクジラに合うことができました。
飲み物サービスもよく、スタッフの演出も大変フレンドリーで楽しめました。
酔い止めは、必ず必要です。 また寒く 前方にでると波もかなりかぶるのでタオル・レインウエアーは必携でしょう。
スタッフに日系人が、一人で日本語での乗船案内はしてくれましたが、あとは海とクジラとビールを楽しむモードでOKです。
尚、乗船するときは、裸足です。靴は、桟橋においていきますのでごっつい靴はいりません。

We were very lucky to see the whales appear numerous times right in front of our window as we were eating our lunch. We chose a table furthest from the buffet line, but it was definitely worth it making the trip. It was a beautiful afternoon, the waves were calm and no body from our party got sea sick. Food was amazing! The ukelele, hula and lei making cultural activities on board gave people of all ages and cultures a chance to experience a taste of Hawaii.

I took my family on this excursion and was delighted as everyone was. Tour guide was witty and very informative. Boat ride to sub was added bonus. We were busy keeping up with all of the different fish species passing by our observation ports in the sub!
Sub was quite comfortable. Premium ride was excellent. I highly recommend taking this tour. You won't be disappointed !

I have always wanted to swim with the sharks. This was an incredible experience! It was definitely a thrill seeking adventure that I would do again!

I participated in a tour that included breakfast. It was convenient to have a plan where they picked me up at the hotel. The breakfast was delicious, and I was impressed by the beautiful sight of the whale's spout and tail. I was back at the hotel by 11:30, which allowed me to do some sightseeing in the afternoon. I think it's a great plan.

朝食食付きのツアーに参加しました。ホテルまで迎えに来てもらうプランで移動も楽でした。朝食も美味しく、クジラは潮吹きと尾ビレがキレイに見えて感動でした。11:30にはホテルに戻れて午後の観光もでき良いプランだと思います。

Fabulous weather and sightings more than we could count, including turtle! Food geared more for oriental tastes. Even though guides tried to control crowds for eating, it was caos! Bring your own food if you have specific needs or tastes. Crew friendly and helpful. Conservationist on board VERY knowledgeable.

I was about to give up when I couldn't find any whales and was preparing to return to port. Then, I spotted a whale spouting water. They extended the cruise time and slowed down the boat. After that, I was able to see it spout several times, and I also caught a glimpse of its distinctive tail. The excitement of finally seeing the whale was overwhelming. On top of that, a sea turtle swam by gracefully. The view of Waikiki from the sea was beautiful, and I think it's great to enjoy a leisurely cruise while waiting for the whales.

クジラはなかなか見つからず、間もなく帰港してしまうと諦めかけていた時でした。
クジラが潮を吹くのを見つけました。
クルーズ時間を延長し、船のスピードを落としてくださいました。
その後、何回か潮を吹くのが見られ、
あの特徴的な尾も見えました。
ずっと待っていたクジラの登場に、感動も高まりました。
おまけに、ユラユラ泳ぐ海亀も現れました。
海からのワイキキの景色も美しく、
のんびりとクジラを待つクルージングを楽しむのが良いと思います。

I participated in my first trip to Hawaii with my family. We took a taxi from our hotel in Waikiki to the pier, checked in, and boarded the ship! I was a bit anxious about the language barrier since everything was in English, but there were Japanese announcements, so I didn't have much trouble. There were quite a few Japanese guests as well. The cruise started in the morning with great weather, and since we chose a plan without meals, we stayed on the top deck enjoying the sea and the scenery. As for the whales... we saw them! We could see the spouts and dorsal fins every few minutes, and it felt like we were cruising alongside them, which was very pleasant; I wanted to keep watching. I also hope to see them jump next time!

初めてのハワイ旅行で家族と一緒に参加しました。ワイキキのホテルからタクシーで船着場まで行きチェックインして乗船！英語ばかりだったらと少し不安でしたが日本語のアナウンスもあったので大して困ることもありませんでした。日本人客もけっこういました。朝からのクルーズで天気も良く、食事なしのプランにしたのでずっと一番上のフロアにいて海と景色を楽しみました。肝心のクジラですが、、、見えました！何分か置きに潮吹きや背びれが見えて一緒に平行してクルーズしているようでとても気持ちが良く、ずっと見ていたいなーと思いました。ジャンプも見てみたいと思いましたが次回に期待します！

This was exactly what we were hoping for. It would have only been better if we saw dolphins as well. The staff was friendly and knowledgable, the food was great, and the whales were perfect!

Great job!

It was an amazing time !! Was more than we could have ever hoped for !! We highly recommend this to anyone who comes to hAwaii

This was a great experience. Very knowledgable naturalist. The first cruise out we didn't see any whales, but they guarantee sightings, so they gave everyone a voucher for a free second trip. I went right back out on the lunch cruise and we saw a bunch of whales! We even followed (at a respectful distance) a mom and baby for about an hour. She breached right in front of our boat! The food was very good (especially because I originally signed up for the breakfast cruise so I wasn't counting on eating). Staff was great, I'd recommend this to anybody!

I was able to see dolphins and sea turtles up close! It was truly moving. They were really close, almost within reach. I want to go again.

イルカもウミガメもこれでもかといくぐらい観れました!!
感動します。
ホント触れそうな距離にいます。
また行きたいです。

It was an amazing way to spend the day out on the bay! I have heard so much about how beautiful whale watching is, and they are not wrong. The captain and the naturalists on board knew everything and anything there is about humpback whales. They even have library books on their tables for everyone to read and learn. Lunch was great with an endless buffet of local food. The whales were awesome! They were flapping their tales every 5 minutes. We found a pod of about 6 whales. None of them however jumped or stood out of the water, but that is not a problem. We were fortunate to have found them in 20 minutes of departure. We had a good 2 hours of observing and trying to take as much pictures as we could.

I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast while searching for whales and relaxing by the shores of Waikiki. There were staff members who took photos for us, making the experience even more enjoyable.

のんびり朝食を食べクジラを探したりワイキキの海岸沿いを眺めながらゆったりゆらゆら　写真を撮ってくれるスタッフさんもいたりして気持ちよく過ごせました

I intentionally chose the Navatek and participated. It was a great decision! The number of people was just right, and I think we were in a spot where everyone could see well. When someone spotted a whale, we quickly moved to that position. We even encountered a large group of dolphins that felt almost like a performance! Although we couldn't see the whale in its entirety (is that how it usually is?), I was able to confirm it with my own eyes!

あえてナバテック号を選んで、参加しました。
大正解！
人数的にもちょうどよく、みんなが見えやすい場所にいたと思います。
誰かが、クジラの気配を見つけると、割と小回り良くそのポジションに移動しました。
演出？！と思うくらいのイルカの大群にも出会え、、、肝心のクジラも姿丸ごとは観れませんでしたが（そうそうそういうもの？）
この目でしっかりと確認できました！！

Roy and I really enjoyed ourself, the guys were all great, we have been on a few different whale watch tours thru out the years, and by all means this was the best, we got to experience at least 40 sightings of whales, was simple wonderful. Will tell all our friends that visit Oahu, while we were on the boat we first saw several turtles, had to laugh cuz the guys said to look for trash cans lids, that was the green sea turtles and we saw about five of them, also the snacks they served were great I ate a lot of the fresh fruit and had a beer that they had available on tap. We will be sure to pass the word on of the great time we had and have passed out a few of the extra business cards we had. Great time.
Mahalo. Roy and Trish brooks

This was not a good experience for me because one of the crew members was rude at the beginning so it kind of ruined my trip. There was no lunch, they had some chips, an assortment of drinks and granola bars. We did not see too much whales but I guess it's not up to the crew, it is whenever whales want to get out of the water which in our case there wasn't that much to see. The boat was nice and I like the nets in the front, it was kind of fun to sit and watch the ocean from there. Drinks were good too. Captain was very good at maneuvering the boat. The boat was clean and acceptable. I think they could work on better manners for the crew and it won't be too bad.

Our whale excursion was a great experience. Our crew, Anthony, Carlos and Bret were very knowledgeable, friendly and fun. We saw two pods of whales. All in all, it was a great day. I would highly recommend this activity to anyone.

I felt安心 (at ease) participating since I had used it before. I didn't get seasick last time, but for some reason, despite taking motion sickness medication this time, I ended up feeling nauseous (+_+). However, I encountered a group of about 30 cute dolphins, and I saw plenty of turtles, so I was very satisfied! I want to go to Hawaii to swim with dolphins using Dolphin Academy again in the future☆ Next time, I will definitely take stronger motion sickness medication!

以前にも利用したことがあったので安心して参加しました。
以前はボートで酔わなかったのですが、酔い止め飲んだにも関わらず今回はなぜか酔ってしまいました(+_+)
でもかわいいイルカ30頭くらいの群れに遭遇できたし、
カメもいっぱい見れたので大満足！
今後もイルカ中学を利用してイルカと泳ぎにハワイに行きたいです☆
次回は強めの酔い止め必須で行きます！

I was able to see a lot of whales! The prior explanation by the tour guide was in English, and then there was an announcement in Japanese, which made it easy to understand.
The reason for the four-star rating is the weather. Unfortunately, it happened to be cloudy with rain, which was disappointing. Thanks to the meal plan, I was able to warm up my chilled body with coffee and tea, which was a great help!

たくさんくじらを見ることができました！事前の説明も添乗員さんが英語でした後に日本でアナウンスが流れ、分かりやすかったです。
☆４の理由は天気。たまたま天気が曇りのち雨と悪かったのが残念でした。食事付きプランにしたおかげでコーヒーや紅茶で雨で冷えた身体を温めることができ、助かりました！

I was able to see the tail fin and spouting a few times, but it was disappointing that I couldn't see them well because they were far away. I didn't know there was a rule that you can't get closer than 100 meters. It's understandable since it's nature. The sea was calm, and I enjoyed the cruise. The photo sales were a bit too expensive, so I didn't buy any.

尾ビレと潮吹きが何回か見れましたが、遠くて良く見えなかったのが残念でした。100m以内迄近づくことができないルールがあるとは知らなかった。自然相手なので仕方無し。海は穏やかでクルーズは楽しめた。写真販売はちょっと高過ぎて買わず。

On February 6, we went on the late morning whale watching tour. The winds had been 20 - 30 MPH earlier that week and the water had not settled down. In spite of this, Captain Josh and the crew gave us a great time. We were close enough to the humpback whales that I could catch their bodies with my camera. Plus it was fun seeing the whales blow water into the air.

I was impressed by the captain knowing both fluent English and Japanese and being very safety conscience.

The Crew was great. They pointed out whales, got us drinks and gave us great info on the whales. I also appreciated the shuttle picking us up and dropping us off.

All in all, it was a great trip. If I go Back to Hawaii, I will probably book another trip on this boat. I would highly recommend this captain and crew to anyone who wants a great day on the water.

They were awesome! It was a great day! Even if we had never seen whales we still would have enjoyed the trip. Our captain Anthony and crew members Brett and Carlos were great hosts, informative and relaxed just as we like it.

The weather was very nice, but I couldn't see any whales. I did see dolphins, but it was disappointing. I would have liked a more detailed explanation based on my level of knowledge.

天気は非常によかったのですが、クジラには会えませんでした。イルカには会えましたが、残念でした。解説の方も自分が知っている知識レベルで、もう少し詳しい解説が聞きたかったです。

I was able to see the whale's tail, back, and spouting. Four dolphins were jumping. It was moving.

クジラの尾びれ、背中、潮吹き、見れました。
イルカが4頭、ジャンプしていました。
感動しました。

Wow!! We did the afternoon whale watch on February 12, 2015. First, we are so happy we booked this tour instead of one of the large cruise-like ships. Everything was fantastic and exceeded our expectations from the very start. Our crew (Jacob, Julia, David and Dave) were phenomenal! Each was outgoing, friendly and very knowledgeable. They made sure each person was attended to and were in constant contact with each other as well as the passengers. We were so fortunate to have perfect weather/sea conditions and only 7 passengers, including ourselves, for the cruise. Because of its size, the catamaran easily maneuvered to change course when we spotted whales, which was often! Not only did our crew point out sightings, but also explained why whales did certain things, their habits and shared past whale experiences. We even got to see a sea turtle when we were heading back to the marina. We were so happy we booked with this company. The cruise was intimate and fun and the drinks were great, too! If you want a top-notch, personal experience, book here!! Even if we hadn't been so lucky to see so many whales, the sailing experience with these great people would have been well worth it!

We had a great time. The boat was on the smaller side, which was good...we could maneuver and move towards sighted whales more quickly and easier than the large vessels could. there were about 12 total guest on the boat with 4 total crew members, so the tour was very intimate. We enjoyed the friendliness and knowledge of the staff. Light snacks and refreshments were provided, and alcohol was available for $1 or $2 for those who wanted it. There was plenty of room in the covered area of the boat as well as the front deck. We spent the majority out on the deck, as the views from there were remarkable. One woman got seasick and the crew did what they could to help her out. I'd recommend Dramamine beforehand just in case! Regarding the actual whale sightings, we probably saw about 6 whales in the time that we were out there. Most of the time we would see the large fin protruding from the water a few times, and then we'd see the tale come up before the whale made a deep dive into the water. We saw one turtle as well. No spinner dolphins when we were out but I believe that those are a common sighting as well. The whales we saw were anywhere from 50-100 yards away, so we felt like we were pretty close, without being on top of them (they are huge!). Overall, we had a fantastic time. Just being out on the boat was worth the price, and the multiple sightings made it a great trip. Staff does not ask for tips, but we thought it was appropriate to leave one since they were so accommodating. I would certainly recommend to a friend!