Frequently Asked Questions

The temperature varies seasonally, but year-round our water temps are relatively warm. During the winter months, it may dip down to 74 degrees. Late summer will be around 80 and the rest of the year somewhere in between!

Yes, swimming skills are required (swim/stay afloat without assistance) to enter the water on all the tours.  Beginner snorkelers are welcome on all daytime tours. For the manta snorkel, you should be able to swim 50 yards without additional floatation. You should have prior snorkeling experience and consider yourself an intermediate snorkeler as this is a nighttime open ocean activity. In the event of an emergency would be you able to get yourself back to the boat? Non-swimmers can join the morning snorkel trip to enjoy the iconic Kona coastline from the boat, but will not be permitted to enter the water. Non-swimmers are not permitted on manta ray charters. This is for your safety, the crew’s safety, and courtesy to the other guests onboard. Wearing a life jacket is not a replacement for no swimming skills.  This is for everyone’s safety.

Yes! We provide good quality snorkeling gear including masks, snorkels, and fins for our day snorkel trips. Wetsuits are provided for the manta tour and are available for 5$. Floatation devices are offered for all of our guests on the manta tour. We can provide you with either a pool noodle or float belt for the daytime snorkel to give you extra confidence, but keep in mind all guests must have basic swimming skills to enter the water. Wetsuits sizes are from kids 6-8 to adult 3X.

Yes! We want you to be comfortable and have an enjoyable experience. We welcome you to bring your own snorkel gear or use ours – whatever is more comfortable for you.

No, You can rent a prescription mask at Snorkel Bobs just in town! If you plan to snorkel more than once, purchasing a mask (check out Kona Honu Divers selection) may be worthwhile with your correct prescription.  For those farsighted (positive numbers), you’ll need a unique custom mask that is not easily obtained from a dive shop and needs to be ordered from www.prescriptiondivemasks.com.

We limit the number of guests onboard to 18 plus 3 crew members. Our coast guard allowed capacity is more, but 18 guests fit comfortably.

You’ll want to arrive wearing your swimwear, ready to go! We highly recommend a rash guard and leggings with sun protection instead of sunscreen. If you do bring sunscreen – kindly make sure it’s reef safe.  At night those same items can provide a little bit of additional warmth.  We know you want to have fun in the sun, but Hawaii’s sun is strong and we don’t want you to get a sunburn so covering up is your best option.

We depart from the Honokohau Small Boat Harbor. The easiest way to get there is to follow the Google Maps link in your confirmation email or type Tiger Shark Deli into Google Maps and follow the directions.  If you know where the harbor is just turn in and stay to the left and follow the road until you come to the two-story building with a red roof and gas station.  Park in the lot and meet us at the covered picnic tables.  If you arrive at check-in and our boat is not there or no one is present to check you in we are either bringing the boat around or coming back from our previous trip.  Of course, it doesn’t hurt to check your confirmation email for the correct date. The address for GPS or smartphone maps is: 74-381 Kealakehe Pkwy, Kailua, HI 96740 or you can put Tiger Shark Deli in Google Maps.

While we’d love for everyone to come with us our boat is not suited for everyone.  To board the boat one must take a big step up from a dock onto the boat and then a big step down into the boat. To get back in the boat, from the water, guests must be able to climb a short ladder unassisted.

Yes! We have a marine head on board!

Bonine is your best option for sea sickness medication. It is over the counter, non drowsy, and you can find it at any longs drug store and even at jacks deli at the harbor. Please take it at least 12 hours before your trip! If you are people who are more susceptible and we still want you to have a great time so it’s always better to be proactive. Also Sea-Bands are helpful as a non-drug option.

If it’s not safe we don’t go! Our team will make a determination whether or not the trip can go out safely. If we cancel, we will do our best to rebook you for another time. We will give you a full refund if we cannot accommodate you.  A little rain doesn’t hurt anyone – you’re getting wet anyway!​We sometimes have to cancel the trip at the last minute.  While we know it is a major inconvenience for our guests sometimes the conditions change from safe to unsafe right before the charter.  Or the ocean conditions are calming down and we hope they’ll be safe enough to run the tour by check-in time – and they aren’t.  What is a major bummer is canceling too early and then conditions are fine at tour time.  That’s the biggest bummer!  We do our best with the information we have and the experience under our belt to make the best decision -we’ll always err on the side of caution for you and our crew.