“In a Class of its Own”
Reviewed yesterdayNEW
I had so much fun diving and snorkeling with Kona Ocean Adventures (KOA) last year (see my review on January 20, 2015) that I returned last week (2/15-2/20) for a two tank morning dive (countless octopus, a manta, eels, white tip reef sharks), 5 manta night dives (each manta experience is uniquely thrilling so I recommend doing it more than once – plus it’s a great dive site with octopus, hunting eels of all different kinds, hunting trevally, scorpion fish I had never seen before, TONS of life), and 2 dolphin snorkels (each dolphin experience is also uniquely thrilling so I recommend doing it more than once).
After diving with many companies all over Hawaii and the Caribbean, KOA is by far the best company I have experienced. It is on such a higher level that if I now try to hold other companies to the KOA standard, I am deeply disappointed in the other companies (I don’t even want to go anywhere else now). For example, after diving with KOA where the max number of divers is around 6 (not that it ever came close to that), I can no longer stand being on cattle boats where 3 or 4 groups consisting of 8 divers each cause chaos underwater and I’m lucky to see a few fish.
With KOA crew, you’re like family. They got to know me and they figured out what I liked and didn’t like and they somehow magically delivered what I liked every time. All of the captains were hilarious with amazing personalities - Danny, Laure, Trip, Laura, and Rick told the best stories and gave history of the areas we passed and fun facts about critters. The dive instructors (Danny, Joi, Matt, Chad) have a special place in my heart because without them I wouldn’t have had the best animal encounters I have ever had and which I will remember and treasure forever (thank you, thank you, thank you)!! Mermaids Sarah and Momi, thank you for taking such great care of my mom snorkeling. Lori and Victoria provided the best customer service when I booked the trips.
An important note that no one seems to mention is safety – I felt so safe with KOA that I could completely and utterly relax on the boats, which was a huge relief considering the close calls I have had recently with other companies. Entrusting your family’s lives in the hands of such an excellent, highly trained, and highly experienced crew like KOA is for me the most important factor when being on/under the ocean.
I joked around with the crew that I don’t like to share, and it’s because KOA is such a rare diamond of a company that I felt if everyone found out about it, then I would have to book a year in advance for a spot on the boats. But, if it came to that, KOA would be worth waiting for because they really did make my dreams come true! See you next year, KOA (or earlier hopefully –I didn’t want to leave)!
