Ko Olina Ocean Adventures - has anyone tried this!

[peacefrogdog]

If so, how far in advance did you book?
Also do you recommend the early morning slot or the noon slot?

 

[candiemonster]

When we we're there last year, in October, a lot of their activities we're cancelled due to lack of participants.

 

[dtauer]

We booked with Ko Olina Ocean Adventures for our trip last August and loved it. Although it's at the opposite end of Ko Olina from Aulani, it's an easy flat walk on sidewalks and walking paths. I would guess it's about a mile so you can walk there if you like from Aulani. I would suggest a morning excursion as the water is usually the calmest.

As I mentioned, we loved it, but we are somewhat adventurous. I'm not sure if I would recommend it if you've never snorkeled before, or have a fear of snorkeling in the open water. We were on the inflatable boat they have, and although very stable, it's a strange feeling at first to jump off into open ocean. We've snorkeled before in Haunama Bay, but that's a secluded bay with an outlet, this snorkeling is on open water.

The spots they brought us to were incredible. We were swimming among large schools of fish and they also dropped us in areas that we had turtles passing within a few feet of us. Great experience and the crew knew exactly where to bring us for the best experience.

I was a little anxious when we went to find the dolphins. Again, this isn't like a swim with the dolphins in which they bring you to the dolphins and it's all planned. Our crew spotted dolphins and after they forecasted which direction they thought they would be swimming, they took half of us and had us jump in the water in one spot. They then left that group, and took the rest of us to another spot they thought they may move towards. Although we had life jackets, it was still a little unsettling to be bobbing in the open ocean with the boat speeding away to drop off the rest of the group. In our case, our kids were left in one location, and us in another as we were sitting on opposite sides of the boat.

We didn't actually "swim" with the dolphins, they veered off and went a different direction, this can happen. However, my kids location was near perfect and they said the dolphins passed directly in front of them, and jumped and spun (spinner dolphins), about 15 feet away. Both of them said it was an incredible experience and probably once in a lifetime to be that close in the wild. I wasn't so sure about the dolphin part of it, we only saw the dolphins in the distance, and being floating in the open ocean with the boat a long ways off was a little unsettling. I loved the rest of the snorkeling.

I would definately use this company again, especially since they are so close to Aulani. However, I would suggest doing some snorkeling first in a little more controlled setting as this excursion puts you a long ways out from shore with nothing but water around you. There is your boat, but even that is a long way away when you're out looking for the dolphins and they drop you in a spot.

We found the best price from SAVON tours, and when we had an issue with one of our excursions being full, they provided great customer service with rebooking us on a different excursion and refunding the difference quickly.

Let me know if you have any other specific questions.