Kauai: 2-Hour Small Group Snorkeling Adventure

Frustrating experience start to end

The tour operator waited until the day before to send the snorkel location. He did not provide an address, he provided coordinates on a map. Unfortunately, my iPhone was unable to receive the map he attempted to send. After much back and forth, he sent the information to my daughter’s cell phone. The next day, we drove to his coordinates to find a short gravel drive that led to an old cinder-rock boat ramp. We felt as though it would be dangerous to drive down the ramp without a knowledge of the rising/falling tide and rental car capabilities. The lot was tight. We drove further down the road to find public parking and started a walk along the road back to this ramp. We were close to starting time, so I tried to call our guide to notify them. Greg did not answer, I left a message. Arriving to the ramp sweaty and hot, we walked down the cinders and gravel to find him attempting to call us. My daughter was the first to reach him. He inappropriately and sarcastically noted to her that he was going to have to treat me “very special” today, rolling his eyes. He told us to sit down on a bench and launched into a one-sided conversation about himself, his daughter graduating from high school, and his mother arriving for the celebration. Then he asked my daughters for their names, ages, professions, as well as other personal information with the excuse of “psycho-analyzing all of us to know exactly who he is snorkeling with.” I did not feel as though the personal information he was asking for was necessary for the tour. I asked how many people we were waiting for- as we had been “chatting” for quite some time. He told us that the three of us were the only people on the tour. I asked if we could start the snorkeling tour. He told me that he only had to provide a 50 minute snorkel session and that we had to listen to his “safety briefing” for the remaining time. He then offered to return our money for the tour because he had plenty of other things to do. My younger daughter and I were ready to return to the hotel. However, my older daughter still wanted to swim. We ended up snorkeling. We put on the snorkel gear when he asked my daughter her shoe size. He responded with “you know what they say about big feet?” And followed it with “you’re a clown.” Really, just inappropriate remarks over and over. The water was generally quite rough with not a lot of visibility. We had a lot of difficulty even entering the water. When we made it out of the area where the waves were breaking, he asked if we were okay. The tour operator then proceeded to belittle my youngest daughter and told her that the water in her mask was “all in her head”. He said his proof was that if she was unwilling to switch personal face masks with him in the open water, then she must be making it all up and not really having trouble with the mask. They finally switched masks and he continuously made jokes about the chunk of hair on the goggles that remained after she pulled the mask off her face due to the verbal remarks and frustration. He was argumentative, disrespectful and difficult to be around. The only positive side was a very close experience with a turtle. The tour was an aggravation that I would not suggest to a friend who was hoping for a nice afternoon snorkeling with her children. I do not believe Greg-the tour operator- cares about this business and is hoping to retire soon. I suggest another tour operator.

Response from the operator: Thank you very much. I really appreciate the kind review. There are two sides to every story, but overall, I give the experience my best efforts. You are a nice person. I wish you well.

via Viator

Awesome a must do

One word AWESOME!!!!! If in Kauai please experience this amazing experience. Priced reasonably , definitely a must do

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California Family

He explained how to use the equipment & fit very well , made sure everyone was comfortable in the ocean & kept everyone together and safe . We all saw up close Turtles , tropical fish & Greg pointed out things to look at while snorkeling ..

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Kaua’i snorkel

Great snorkel tour for people that do not have much or any prior experience. Our guide explained the use of the equipment in detail and we were in the water for about an hour. It was perfect! Saw lots of fish and turtles!

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Great tour guide, great location.

Excellent excursion with Greg being very detailed in teaching us how to wear and use mask/tubing. The location was great teeming with fish. We felt very safe being guided with his surf board. Would do it again and will refer Greg to friends and families.

via Viator