The dive master, Forrest, was very knowledgeable about the ecology of the reef, fish, corals and other creatures, he helped make my husbands dive very safe & enjoyable. read more

Extremely disappointed!! It's either horrible management/owners or they are just straight up shaddy people when it comes to refunds. I PAID for a 2 tank dive for several people and right before the day of the dive Hilo Ocean Adventures called to cancel. I asked for a refund and was told it would take up to 2 weeks for the refund. The people at the counter have all been nice but explained they were not able to do the refund and that the owners would have to do that. 2 weeks went by and no refund. Long story short, over 2 months I called the company numerous times regarding the refund, physically went into the shop asking about it and even e mailed the owner myself asking about my refund. No replies or a call back EVER! I finally had to submit the issue to my bank so they could report it as fraud. read more

This was a magical day. Our boat captain Kimo was warm and welcoming. He was comfortable with the terrain and took us to beautiful waters. It was a bright clear Hilo day. I felt safe protected and confident on the boat and while snorkeling. The fish were plenty. We got to see the state fish, while out with our excellent knowledgeable dive guide Manda. She was thoughtful and an expert diver as well. Kimo took us to swim through a herd of spinner dolphins. They had babies in tow and were playful and graceful. I highly recommend this trip for the timid or the go big or go home adventurer. Thank you for fresh cold local juices and smart nutritious snacks. We never ate. We were to busy with the multitude of turtles and spinner dolphins. Manda kept watch over our family while providing direction under the water. She knew the cracks and crevasse that the turtles and colorful fish communed. They both made a delightful big adventure day in the deep blue water out of Hilo. Thank you so much Kimo and Manda. We can't wait to return to Hilo and head out on our next deep blue adventure. read more

Beautiful day whale watching! Kimo is a great Captain...experienced, very knowledgeable and fun! Saw several whales, one breached completely out of the water! Thank you for making my husband's birthday Awesome. read more

I wouldn't recommend this trip to anyone. The inflatable raft was in poor condition with no handles to hold on to. One person in our party was unable to attend do to the precarious boarding process. No whales were seen after an hour and a half ride in a dangerous "boat" on rough waters. We have been on many side trips on cruises this was the absolute worse not to mention the vessel we were in was unsafe. We were not even informed of where life jackets were in case of an emergency. Totally inexcusable. read more

Just wrapped up my wife's first dive, and it was more than expected. An amazing dive, plus we got lucky and got to swim with dolphins. A great welcoming space that was a fantastic trip. Only downside is I got seasick, but I can't blame them for that; they gave me ginger to help settle my stomach and everyone looked away when I vomited. Great group of people. read more

Awesome business!! The process of renting (paperwork) went really fast. Not sure of the girl that helped me (from Austin TX) but she was very nice and helpful. She had a injury to her arm but still helped me load the boards onto my jeep. They provided padding and tiedowns. When I returned the boards, the check-in process was fast as well. Everyone was extremely friendly. When we take our next vacation, I will for sure return to this business for all of our vacation activity needs. Thanks!! read more

The associate that helped us Sammi, was delightful. She was VERY knowledgeable and kind. She was very sweet.

With no reason given, the company canceled our dive trip the day before we were supposed to go. We were told it could take up to thirty days to receive a refund. They offered to reschedule the trip, but we had no time left to do it. I would look elsewhere if I were to return to Hawaii. read more

My husband and I went kayaking with them on our last day in Hawaii. Our guide Matt was awesome and we'd highly recommend. He definitely made our last outing very memorable and we'll never forget the laughs. read more

We showed up on time and were met by the instructor for sea turtle snorkeling. Since we were the only two on the tour the guide asked us to drive our car to the beach. Weird but okay. We met there and had a brief lesson. The beach they took us to was an extremely popular surfers beach. Great for surfing. Terrible for snorkeling. We did not see any turtles and hardly any fish on the tour. No anti fog and no floatation devices were provided. I'm an experienced swimmer and the tide was fierce and not enjoyable at all. The guide was trying her best to make something out of a bad day in the water but I would not recommend this tour. There are too many great places to go snorkeling in Hawaii to spend your time and money here. read more

The BEST diving company. You can't go wrong with this group of exceptional employees. Writing this review as a huge thank you for an incredible experience getting my open water scuba certification and back again for a boat dive! David is a phenomenal scuba instructor with a long list of credentials. I am so happy I waited until now to get my certification. David made me feel comfortable and confident in all the skills I learned over the 3 days to get certified. He was super professional and also made me feel like my learning experience was his number one priority. I could not wait to dive again and the group worked hard to accommodate my work schedule in order to get me back in the water with a boat dive. Prior to my certification, Brent and Nicole worked super hard to get me set up last minute with PADI to complete my online training before I was able to get into the water. They also followed up with me after and made themselves available to me whenever I asked questions. When I went back for a boat dive, Capt. Kimo took us to some great spots and made our experience very enjoyable. He is truly a great guy to learn from and to be around. He knows the area really well and has the best stories.. and snacks!Capt. Kimo and David made an awesome team to lead our dive and spend the day with. Never once did I feel rushed on any of my dives with this crew. Definitely recommend this company and especially David as a scuba instructor/ dive leader! You will not be disappointed! read more

Went out on the boat with Kimo who was an awesome guide. We ran into a pod of 50 dolphins! It was an experience of a lifetime. They were swimming beside us and jumping and flipping and I managed to take a great video of it all. The boat was just three guests so it's not one of those big boats with tons of people. Stand out experience of my month in Hawaii read more

Chad was a great dive master and took us to some awesome spots! Highly recommend Hilo and this dive shop if you are coming to Hawaii

I highly recommend this for family's and friends we had a great time and our instructor was the best you can tell he loved what he does!.

We booked the black sand beach Turtle snorkel trip. I wish I remembered the names of our guides because I would like to call them out as being really good. My low review is not about the guides at all. We called to book the trip for our party of 12. They told us they can only do 6 at a time so we asked if the other half of the group could come and hang out at the beach and wait for there turn since it was a beach dive. They said oh no there isn't really place for that on the beach we take you to. Well turns out this beach is a public beach where our Hotel told us to go to for snorkeling and swimming. We didn't even need to book this company as we Could have done this ourselves with our whole party. We weren't happy so they did accommodate us and took the whole group which was nice but at the end of the day we felt like we paid for nothing more than we could have done ourselves. If you have never snorkeled before then maybe this would be good for you but we felt very misled. We did see turtles on the rocks which was cool but again we would have seen them without spending over 120 dollars a person. But again the guides were super nice and it wasn't there fault. Live and learn read more

Snorkeled on a semi-private snorkel+turtle watch. Very good time, our guide was knowledgeable and mostly let us go and explore once we got started and showed we were good to go. Can recommend without reservations. read more

I booked a beach snorkel that cost around 61 USD for a guided two hour beach snorkel. We went to Richardson beach Park. The guide was a graduate marine biologist and as such had ample knowledge about the coral and fish in the area. He took great care in ensuring that my flippers and snorkel mask were right for my feet and face. Despite the rain and the water being choppy, we were able to see some brightly coloured yellow fish and cauliflower shaped coral. We also walked over to a little pond area to spot some Hawaiian Green sea turtles. You get a bottle of water and some pretzels after your snorkel. As Richardson beach Park is quite small, I would recommend that you hire your own gear and go for snorkelling with a partner as that would be a cheaper option. But if you're on your own and afraid for your safety, then the guided snorkel is appropriate. read more

Fantastic!!!! I was on the fence with the cost but after going in to see the available scuba times and getting to meet The scuba instructor I was sold. They were super nice and the rental equipment was superclean and looked very new. They also knew the best spots to go to, Not only will I definitely go back next time I'm in town But i will recommend this to any and everyone in the area!! read more

First of all, this place got our reservation time wrong We filled out paperwork and indicated our medical problems and were told we would be able to dive Then after an hour passed our instructor was still not there He gives us more paperwork to fill out and we AGAIN indicate our medical problems Then we are told to lie about our medical problems so we don't have to go see a doctor and have the doctor sign off on our medical problems. With the long wait, and the misleading information I highly suggest you go elsewhere read more

This was my first time ever in the ocean and my husband is also a novice. Our guides were David and Dylan, and they were both great. David was funny and Dylan was super personable; I loved talking with her. They took us to a small, but nice, black sand beach. They walked us through, step by step, and didn't even act bored or impatient with our lack of experience lol. We snokeled around for a while before grabbing some snacks and drinks. Afterwards, we took a short walk to the "turtle hot tub," where we got to see about 5 turtles just chillin'. Overall, it was a good experience. One thing to note: use LOTS of sunscreen on the back of your legs! When we first arrived though, we felt very rushed. The email said to check in 10 minutes early, so we got there about 15 minutes early, just to be safe. We arrived around 9:15 to check in for our 9:30 tour. David was rushing around, saying we're running late. Once we got all settled in, things started to calm down a bit. After learning the basics in the water, we were supposed to go beyond the little cove to the main part of the reef. However, the surf was pretty high and the guides didn't want to risk our safety (understandably). The entire tour was supposed to last 3 hours until 12:30. I checked my watch as we left the shop, and it was only 11:30. So, for a total of about an hour of actual snorkeling in pretty shallow water without going to the "main attraction" area, we paid about $220 (for 2 adults before taxes)... Would we pay that much again for the same thing? No... Were we disappointed? A little, yes... Did we still have a good time? Yes. read more

My husband and I did the Wailoa River tour, which was fun and really laid back. We had never gone kayaking before, and we had no issues with it. We each got individual kayaks so we could explore independently, which was nice. It was a little shorter than we expected (only around an hour on the water and we really took our time paddling around) and we were hoping for a little more history and information as we kayaked along, but we still had a good time. We were the only ones on this tour, so it was a nice personalized experience. I think if we came back, we would just rent a kayak instead of doing a guided tour, but it was helpful to have someone there for our first time. read more

Bobby (Dive Master) and Kimo (Captain) helped make our dive experience great. Despite rocky waters I had a great time exploring the Hilo side. My daughter unfortunately got sea sick and wasn't able to join us, so now looking at doing some shore dives instead. On top of this, we had to reschedule several times and the shop was very accomodating. Thank you! That means a lot to me. read more

The entire staff are real sweethearts. We did two different experiences with them, the beach snorkel and the Hamakua boat tour and thoroughly enjoyed both. Our guides Matt and Kimo were attentive and knowledgeable. read more

Awesome day, awesome diving. Great group, I'd highly recommend this outfit. I was diving, but they do whale watch and dolphin snorkels. Even go fishing. read more

Went on my second kayak trip on Friday with Devon!!!!! It was fun, safe, and exciting!!!! Looking to see which adventure I'm going book next!!! Thank you Devon and Hilo Ocean adventure!!!! read more

Tyler was our diving instructor throughout our whole certification and he was AMAZING. Me and my boyfriend had an amazing time learning how to scuba dive with him. He went above and beyond accommodating us and took us to amazing dive sites. He's also incredibly knowledgeable about fish!! I'm so happy we spent 3 days in Hawaii getting our certification with him. Tyler, you're the best and hope to meet again in Hawaii or California! read more

Great kayaking tour of Hilo with Danielle. It was beautiful and our guide was nice. She gave great tips on things to do!

Captain Kimo and Julia were wonderful! Enjoyed our snorkeling trip very much. I would recommend it for anyone.

We went to 2 establishments in downtown Hilo to rent SUPs. The first one was very rude, almost as if they didn't want our business. Then we stopped at Hilo Ocean Adventures. The 2 staff members were knowledgeable, very nice, and very helpful. They had the aloha spirit. We felt very comfortable asking them for information. When we brought the equipment back, we were ready to wash things off, and they said no need, they would take care. They also offered a kamaina discount on some trinkets we bought, as we are local. Great experience. read more

My child has had almost 30 swim lessons here and can barely tread water. Instructors are inconsistent - our first one was great but the others have been meh at best - and there's no way to choose who you will get. They seem to have a very high swim instructor turnover so not sure how exactly they have "expert" instructors. They recently almost doubled the price to $40 for 30 minutes and it's definitely not worth it. We won't be continuing. There are many better and more affordable options out there. read more

The day was perfect! My friend was visiting from the mainland and had never been on a boat before. The staff made him feel very comfortable and we had a wonderful time. The best was the huge pod of whales we saw! read more

Brandon pick us up and drove us to our dive destination. Helpful and informative. Newly certified divers and an old, non diver, he was attentive to all. Definitely call him when in the Hilo area. read more

Hilo Ocean Adventures - My daughter diving - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

NOT Recommended. First of all the staff were all very courteous. Kimo the Guide was super nice. This review is not personal in any way. Wife and I brought the mother-in-law on the tour and there was another couple on honeymoon from NY. We departed Hilo in a small Zodiac raft all sitting on the sides of the raft. We went about 100 yards into Hilo Bay in the pouring rain and then just sat there for an hour and fifteen minutes listening nonstop to the guide give his own historical version of what he said "may have happened" to Hawaii starting in 345BC. Finally after 95 painful minutes he started motoring out of the breakwaters and up the coast. Once out of the breakwaters we encountered significant ocean swells, wave action, pouring rain and wind. Being from Kona as swimmers, scuba divers and surfers my wife and I actually didn't mind. The NY couple however were noticeably uncomfortable as was the mother-in-law.. As we observed them turning white, we asked them how they were doing and they responded that they were "terrified." They said they did not know how to swim and were having difficulty holding on to the torn hand holds of the raft to keep from rolling overboard. As the poorly maintained raft lurched up and down the large swells and the wave action they tried to hold onto the hand holds. They did not have life jackets on, did not know how to swim and were terrified. The guide continued nonetheless a few miles up the coast to see a couple of insignificant small runoffs or waterfalls before returning back through the pounding waves to the dock where the shocked honeymooners could not get off the raft fast enough. They were speechless. The whole two hours was a boring waste of time for us but for the mother-in-law and the two honeymooners it was an absolute terrifying nightmare. UNSAFE EQUIPMENT & OPERATION: The zodiac had only one motor despite going out into the open ocean, no radio, life jackets were the cheap CG Type 1 and inaccessible if one fell off the zodiac in rough seas as they were all stacked at the rear of the boat. There had been no safety briefing. The worst part was there were very few operable handholds as many had been torn off or were unusable. As a commercial operation catering to tourists the equipment and operation was unsafe and unacceptable. The nonchalant reaction of the guide to the terrified guests only added to their fear. This will certainly haunt the honeymooners who were traumatized by this experience for years to come. This tour can be classified as boring or terrifying depending on your own perspective but in any event it is risky and unsafe, certainly not worth the money. read more

For this being my first ocean Dive, I was very impressed how professional and friendly the dive instructor, boat captian and dive master were while diving, the complimentary snacks and drinks was nice during our decompression time and over all my experience was one I will aleayd remember. When I come back to visit hawaii again this will be the only dive shop I go to for diving tours. Thank you for a great experience and a great dive. read more

Hilo Ocean Adventures - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

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I travel the country and World for Disaster Services. Days off are far and few between. I was fortunate to get one here on this blessed Island. I spent it with Hilo divers and their boat captain. They took us to a couple of spots and it was just what I needed. I was a little tired to say the least and their staff and crew made sure I did it right ! Even gave me a discount. In preserving the Coral reefs the Captain just let his Boat drift. Their crew had a unique Diver Flag she had attached to a reel that followed us on the surface. That was a nice Safety feature. Saw Manta-rays, Turtles and all the Colorful unique fish . Lots of healthy snack provided by the boat Captain as well . Even homegrown Pineapple from a local passenger. Captain to a list of our names to keep track of his passengers. Hilo Divers Female employees and staff are also beautiful and friendly inside and out! Just a great day off from the Hectic days I'm putting in doing my part for the Beautiful people on this Lush Island Dealing with Mother Nature's fury . I'll be back, Mahalo. Lawrence Borg Santa Cruz California read more

We got so much more than expected with our snorkeling tour. It was a small group of 6, so just 2 people other than our family. The guide was knowledgeable and patient. She made sure the kids felt safe, secure, and had fun. It was practically like having private snorkeling lessons. Everyone saw a a, ing sea life and left the experience feeling more confident in the water. I can't say enough great things about this experience. read more

Had a fantastic time Whale Watching! The guide was so educational and approachable with any questions we had! Safety guidelines regarding Covid were appreciated. We spent a few hours tracking down whales and with our new knowledge of whale behavior we knew what they were doing! Enjoyed the snacks, drinks and music playing on the boat, a very comfortable and relaxed tour! Thanks so much!! read more

2 different days of underwater splendor! 1st day was not a stellar day, but no fault of HOA folks...weather was crappy, start of winter season rain and high surf. Bobby, Mattie and Kimo did everything they could to make the day successful....the actual underwater part was fantastic...but getting to and from the dive site and getting in and out of the water was a challenge. We returned to the shop 2 days later and they went out of their way to make our next dives A-1!!! Did some beach dives at Keaukaha Beach Park. Coral: WOW! Fish: WOW! Turtles: WOW! HOA are very friendly, knowledgeable and pleasant to deal with. Would highly recommend! read more

Went on a snorkeling adventure. The captain was very knowledgeable. We had a very good time seeing all the fish and sea turtles. I would recommend this tour to anyone wanting to go snorkeling. read more