Fairwind Boat Tour to Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii

The Fair Wind Boat Tour to Kealakekua Bay is one of the best places to spend your money while on the Big Island of Hawaii. It costs me about $75 for the morning tour since I am a resident but will probably cost visitors about $100 a person (less for the afternoon trip cuz it is shorter). My husband and I have taken this boat tour at least 7 times in the last 5 years and we always take people who visit us on it. The web site is at http://www.fair-wind.com/ .

The tour leaves at 9:00, you should get there early so you can pay and get your snorkel (they even have prescription ones so people with glasses can see underwater). As soon as you are done go get in line so you can get a good seat. We always sit on the top deck on the rear, right side. If you want you can also sit down below so you don't get so much sun - and the kids usually end up gravitating to the front where the two sides stick out over the water.

The boat is a large catamaran with an upper deck and a lower deck, it probably holds a hundred people easily. You leave Keauhou Bay and start heading around the shore towards Kealakekua Bay. On most trips we see turtles, dolphins and, twice, we saw whales. The dolphins like to get a 'free ride' at the front of the boat so oftentimes there are a couple of them right at the front where everyone can see them. The ride to the Bay takes about 35 minutes and the crew serves a breakfast of tropical fruit (pineapples, mangoes, oranges etc) and muffins plus coffee, juice and water.

When you get to the Kealakekua Bay (also called Spinner Dolphin Bay) the boat anchors (it is the only boat alolwed to do this in the underwater reserve area) and a short safety briefing is given. People who can't swim or don't want to snorkel can get innertubes or boogie boards with glass squares that allow them to see underwater. Then everyone gets in the water - it is always amazing. There are so many different fish all around you - the visibility is a very long way and you can see everything. There is also a high dive you can jump off of and a slide you can slide down. There is a scuba and snuba option for people who want to pay the extra money, you can learn right then, and a crew member videotapes the whole thing for you to buy if you want.

At about 11:00 the crew grills huge hamburgers and everyone eats - veggie burgers and cheeseburgers too. There is even a bar. After lunch there is about 30 more minutes of snorkeling and then everyone loads on board for the ride back.

One time, on our way back the captain spotted a large pod of about 50 dolphins on the other side of the bay and he headed that way so everyone could see the pod swim and jump. Another time my husband spotted two whales on the open ocean and the captain headed out to sea so we could all see them breach and play.

The Fair Wind Boat Tour is one of those "absolutely must-do" things for anyone, it is great for kids and adults and the crew always goes out of their way to make the trip as memorable as possible each and every time. The morning trip is the best - but the afternoon trip is decent too, the only real difference is they don't serve lunch. Make this a priority on your trip to the Big Island of Hawaii.