19 Apr 2024
We unfortunately did not have a fun experience and do not find it worth the money. We have had better experiences for less money, and regret trying somebody new.
The first error I accept as mine, but was still disappointed with the description- parking. We were told to share the parking lot with the aquarium. It’s my fault for not understanding that “sharing” meant, pay for the parking because we don’t own it and somehow believed we were an exception with the reservation, but we were not. Please if you do this excursion, listen to the million and one pay to park signs and know you will have to pay for parking on top of your reservation. They do not redeem the parking for you, which I have found every other activity so far HAS done.
Secondly, the food. We didn’t have high expectations, but we didn’t have no expectations. Even the food that was meant to be hot was cool or cold. Most everything was tasteless, and bland, the one soda I asked for was given to me but it was just carbonation and no syrup. We were expecting your typical grilled out meal, and I personally find it hard to screw that up but it was nothing impressive whatsoever. Quantity was not a problem- mostly because most people didn’t eat or finish their food because upon discussion, they felt the same way.
The trip. When I initially booked this trip I wasn’t expecting hours jetting through the water to an island just for barely an hour to snorkel, but that’s what it was. They mentioned before we left on “what to expect” that there was 90 minutes at least, which also felt short, but we didn’t even get that. It’s a snorkel trip, but you will barely do that. The reef was hard to see, and I saw a max of five fish from very far away. I struggled to understand why we even go over there considering there were much better reefs around Maui.
The service people were nice, the provisions for floats and goggles were good, and they were very educational.
We saw no dolphins. Two whales jumped out at some point but only once and almost nobody saw them. They were convinced we would see dolphins and no whales but we really got neither. It’s the end of whale season- which is why I booked a dolphin tour… but they can’t control that it was just disappointing.
It was cold during the boat ride and hard to stay dry anywhere. I never could dry off because there wasn’t enough time and you were always getting re wet while racing through the water, which even on a hot day feels cold.
They let us know when we got there that turtles weren’t super well known for the area- which I wished I would have known because previously, seeing the turtles is one of the coolest parts.
We read a lot of reviews prior to going. I’m sure some people see more and have better experiences, but ours was disappointing. We kept saying “well at least we will get food” and when that came back bad, we were a bit at a loss, cold, queasy, and wishing we had just booked something shorter around Maui that would have been cheaper, and actually given us the opportunity to snorkel longer.
It was a lot of money. I spent the whole year saving for this trip and doing the activities, and this was a bigger one because it felt like it was a longer snorkel time and a good way to get on the boat. Neither was enjoyable, and the snorkeling was little to none.