This was the most amazing experience I have had in my life. I know that part of the thrill for me…read morewas just being on a boat in Hawaii and being so close to the deep blue water. It was gorgeous. But I really want to emphasize how excited we were to be able to see whales at such a close proximity to the boat. We followed a trio of whales (from a distance, of course) for about an hour and got so many thrills from seeing them coming up for air and show off for us. And we saw one breach. I hope that our captain (I apologize that I completely forgot his name, but he goes by two initials) is have a great experience in Alaska. He mentioned he would be going up there to fish. I know the herring were spawning up there and that is quite an exciting time for the local Natives who thrive on the herring roe. I highly recommend Bob Marlin charters and hope to go back there some day.

AMAZING! This was by far the BEST whale watching Experian my life! I always thought it was better…read moreon Maui... but noooo you just have to be on the right side of the island with the right captain to take you! OMG it was absolutely a dream come true with the experience today, hanging out with the whale pods EVERYWHERE and getting to see the baby whale just having fun. Thank you GE for taking us last minute on a day before holiday! This is a must do on the island Price is very reasonable and GE is an amazing captain! MAHALO

We went out with the team and had an amazing time! You could almost say it went swimmingly…read more After a 15 minute boat ride out, the captain and his crew tied us off and started calling in the sharks with underwater noisemakers (jars with something inside to shake and rattle). While the sharks are very wild, they are trained to come to the sound of the rattle due to decades of Hawaiian crabbers fishing in that area. We were in the water about 30-45 minutes and had sharks swimming around us the entire time. In total we had 4-5 Galapagos Sharks and 1 blacktip shark. The sharks were all around us and swam up to almost within touching distance ( I recommend that you don't pet the sea puppies i.e. sharks). My underwater camera isn't as nice as the ones they own but you can see how close and pretty the sharks were. I highly recommend going out with Hawaii Ocean Adventure Teams to swim with the sharks if you're feeling brave enough!!

I saw two or three boats come in with cages on the back of their boats and several each boat. It…read moreoccurred to me that they had gone out for a shark adventure, albeit from a cage. it is best to get up close these amazing creatures. The crew was gracious, accommodating, and provided a great and educational experience, us deeper appreciation for the need for oceanic and environmental conservation. And along the way, swimming with 15 to 18 sharks bonus.

I was recommended to Honu Diving and boy was I grateful! Jarrod was awesome! He was accommodating…read moreand extremely helpful. He has a great laid back and professional personality. He was punctual and prepared. He pointed out many fish that I might not have noticed. I would dive with him anytime I come to Hawaii!

This was by far the most amazing experience i have had being on Oahu ...Greg and Allan were…read moreawesome. I had a very bad panic moment trying b to adjust to breathing in the water. Greg helped me through it and I was able to calm down for the rest of the day. .. the sea life was astonishing... The water was the most beautiful blue words cant describe...I cant wait to go back and get my certification with them!!!!

A year late posting this review but I had the most amazing experience diving with Big Kahuna Water…read moreSports! This was only my second time ever diving - first time diving was only a few days before this at a very introductory level at Magic Island Beach. This dive was more advanced as we went out on 2 dives off of a boat. There were two groups on the boat we went out on. There was a more advanced group of divers who were finishing their Advanced Diver certification and my group who had myself and 2 others who had dived before but not in a long time and needed a refresher. Our instructor (it was a year ago so unfortunately forgot his name!) was really friendly and helpful. I was a bit nervous but he calmed my nerves, explained everything thoroughly, and made sure we were all comfortable and taken care of. He showed us a ton of really cool ocean life underwater and we got to see tons of urchins, eels, and even an octopus! He took some amazing photos and videos as well. This discovery dive was so much fun I decided to go for my PADI certification after this!! 1 year later I am PADI Open Water Diver certified and definitely continuing to dive whenever I can!! Super grateful to Big Kahuna and my dive instructor for igniting this new passion!!!

I took my 11 year old son to get his OW and my 16 year old daughter to get her AOW. Kaleb is the…read moreowner and was so helpful with coordinating our dive dates as a family. I was able to join the dives as a certified diver. Ed was the kids instructor and we all enjoyed diving with him. He was very patient and clearly communicated the dive lesson skills and goals for each dive. Our boat diver was Captain Demitri (Capt. D) and he was another fantastic person that made my kids have an awesome dive experience. A+ for all of these guys at Hawaiian Diving Adventures for there excellent customer service! You dont need to go anywhere else for any of your diving needs.

Callum is an awesome coach and trainer first time with my husband and daughter scuba diving…read moreadventure!! Since it's been 12-15 years since my last dive, I truly appreciate Callum's simple/clear instruction. He gave us all confidence before even that first dive; a terrific experience, for sure. The whole team was careful and appropriate for planning the best time for a dive, given the recent storms. Captain D is super friendly and drives the boat to areas that we could see dolphins- no one was in a hurry that we had to be back to the port, knowing that we wanted to see dolphins and maybe a whale off in the distance. Shannon M from Ashland, OR

We booked a trip to HI to do our referral dives to get PADI certified. We were lucky enough to find…read moreAustin. He was awesome!! He made my two girls 13 and 10 years old feel safe and comfortable in the open ocean. He was extremely knowledgable, patient and had really good, positive energy to help the girls gain confidence on their first dives. He had a vast knowledge of where things were underwater and what we should see while we were there. We got to see sea turtles, white tip sharks, and many fish gathering around the coral reefs. He helped us complete the referral dive tests with flying colors! We would highly recommend him as a diving guide or instructor. He took pictures for us of all of the highlights so we didn't even have to worry about the camera. Very organized and informative the whole way through. Excellent!

I was visiting the North Shore and wanted to try my hand at surfing. At 52, I have many fears and…read morePeter, the surf instructor that runs this business, was fantastic at putting me at ease, giving me easy to learn steps to get my body standing on a surfboard, and guided the surfboard and me within the water so I didn't have to worry about getting hit by a rogue wave. He has a great way of teaching and I would highly recommend it to anyone that is visiting that area. I DID get up on a wave or two! And I actually feel more confident to continue my surfing journey here in S.CA where I live.

Went on a morning paddleboard trip with Pete. The whole family was up and paddling almost…read moreimmediately, having never tried it before. He was a great instructor, honestly wanting us to enjoy ourselves. Highly recommend for a fun, relaxing excursion.

We had the absolute time of our lives on our very first scuba diving adventure with Reef Pirates…read moreDiving! As complete beginners, this family dive turned out to be the absolute highlight of our trip to Hawaii. Marina was simply incredible--professional, warm, incredibly patient, and attentive. Thanks to her guidance, our children had a magical underwater journey. My daughter loved it so much that she even took off her fins and danced at the bottom of the ocean! What touched us most was how Marina cared for my wife. My wife doesn't know how to swim and was initially terrified of going into the ocean. Marina gently eased her fears with immense patience and expertise. Encouraged by Marina, my wife eventually let go of the line and went for a confident "stroll" right through the coral reefs. It was a huge milestone for her. The team's professionalism really showed when I made a beginner's mistake. Forgetting the instructions to equalize slowly while descending, I let go of the line and sank too fast, which caused severe head pain. Marina and Greg acted immediately and guided me safely back to the surface with complete composure and care. To wrap up a perfect day, they even helped us fill out our official certification paperwork after we got back to shore. This was hands-down our family's best memory in Hawaii. Thank you so much, Marina and Greg, for making our first dive so safe, joyful, and unforgettable!

Let me first start by saying the review would be a five star review if it were not for Marina, one…read moreof the dive guides. Let me go through the positive aspects first, then, I will cover the areas for improvement. First, the dive service is great for beginners. I did one previous dive in Moorea and they didn't explain anything. This time, Reef Pirates did a good job of explaining the physics and the safety procedures of diving. Also, there were several practice drills in shallow water before diving deeper, and so I think they did a good job of following proper safety and dive procedures. The guides, Dray and Marina, had over 10 and 20 years of experience, respectively, and definitely knew their stuff. Dray, who was my dive guide, was excellent. In comparison to Marina, the two have polar opposite personalities. Dray is very outgoing and friendly. I felt really safe with him as my guide and he did a good job at showing us creatures underwater. I'd highly recommend Dray if you can get him. Marina, on the other hand, is very stern and serious. I had originally been scheduled to dive with her, but I failed a shallow water test and so she sent me to Dray's group (thank God because Dray was way better). My main issue with Marina came down to the photography / videography that I purchased for $95 beforehand, but moreover, her bad attitude. After the dive was over, Marina told me she needed time to color-correct the video footage before sending it to me. Okay, I thought. Sounds fine to me. But when I received the files, she added a slow-motion effect to all of the videos right in the middle. This effectively made the video footage unusable for my purposes, and since I did not request any special effects added to the videos at the time of purchase, I requested she send the unedited videos without the slow motion effects. Marina told me she immediately deleted the originals without obtaining a final acceptance from the client. This was her first mistake. Never delete your originals until the client accepts them. Then, my real gripe was with her attitude, and she went on to say that she was doing me a "favor out of the kindness of her heart" by giving me the files, and that she had washed her hands of the responsibility of videography, and attempted to transfer the responsibility to Dray, which was pretty poor character of her throwing her colleague under the bus like that. I told her that it was not a favor she was doing for me and that she owed me videography services, and I showed her my receipt for the $95 photography/videography. She basically told me to ask Dray for any questions about these services. I requested a refund, but she declined it. Rather than making a big deal about it, I chalked it up as a loss and moved on with my life. Still, I thought it was pretty low of Marina to try and blame Dray for her mistake. Besides, some of us have to work in jobs where we get held accountable for our mistakes, so I don't have a lot of sympathy for her. The other issue with the videos and photos, not as big a deal, was they were all in "portrait" orientation (as opposed to landscape orientation). For my purposes, this also made the videos and photos unusable, for me at least. Thankfully I brought my own GoPro and had some usable footage of the turtles. In the end, I'd recommend taking your own GoPro and filming yourself, saving the $95. The diving is great and we saw many turtles. In this regard, I'd give Reef Pirates a five star review but had to take off 2 stars because of Marina.