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Sea Hawaii rafting from Roberts Tours

skogler

By skogler,
in Hawaii

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tofuyan

tofuyan

Posted
Posted
Anyone do the Roberts Sea Hawaii rafting in Kona? I have heard about Zodiac but not Sea Hawaii.

 

Thanks for any input.

 

I haven't heard anything about it, but I am thinking of trying them out during my cruise next week. Roberts Hawaii told me that it is done by a company called Zodiac Adventures which is different than Captain Zodiac. I will let you know how it goes if I decide to try it.

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tulipg

tulipg

Posted
Posted

Hi,

I just returned from my cruise on the POH this week and we used Roberts for the Kona rafting tour that you mentioned. I highly recomend it and I would most certainly book with Robert's over the ship excursion. It is the exact same tour only with Robert's it's about $15 cheaper per person and it's much more comfortable because the tour company Robert's uses do not take our as many people at a time on the rafts. The ship tour took out 18 people per raft (plus crew) while the Robert's tour said they would do a maximun of 12. When we went there were only 4 of us since it isn't widely known as an option just yet. It was wonderful and they provided a personalized tour of the coastal areas and a small buffet of fresh hawaiian fruits along with drinks and chips/cookies. I would do it again in a second.

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  • 3 weeks later...
tofuyan

tofuyan

Posted
Posted

I just got back from the cruise and had used Roberts (Sea Hawaii) for the rafting and snorkeling. It was great! We had a small group of 9 people. They took us to snorkel and then to see different sea caves. We also saw spinner dolphins on the way there and back. I also saw one little baby turtle near the sea caves. It was great!

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tofuyan

tofuyan

Posted
Posted
tofuyan,

 

How was it getting off the ship to make the trip? Was there a problem with tendering? What time did you leave to get off?

 

Thanks for the help,

 

Scott

 

There was no problem getting off the ship from the tender. We left at 8:15 am We got there just on time. It took about 10 minutes for the tender to get to port. We were to meet the tour at 8:30am. I would suggest you leave to tender at about 8 am, just in case there is a line of people to tender. There was another couple that didn't show up even after 15 minutes of waiting for them. They had called Roberts to have them contact the couple. But they couldn't contact them. So we went on to the tour without them.

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stankubrick

stankubrick

Posted
Posted

Hey tofuyan, it's me, Rico, from the same cruise :)

 

I was on the same Zodiac ride as tofuyan, and it was probably the funnest excursion I had all week! Most other boats looked like they had twice the load, so it was an extra bonus that there were only 9 people on board allowing our amazing guides, Chris and Rison(?), to give us a more personal and memorable experience.

 

From the looks of it, all the Zodiac excursions do the same thing no matter which company you go through, and all the Zodiac guides seemed to know each other and were buddies too. I'm guessing your fun will really depend on how cool your guides are and how full the boat is.

 

I highly recommend booking this excursion through Robert's or you can also call Sea Hawaii Rafting directly. :cool:

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bouncy_ball

bouncy_ball

Posted
Posted

Scott/Skogler - I was on the same cruise as tofuyan and stankubrick/Rico (we met ty during that excursion). Rico and I left the cruise ship early b/c we were worried that the tender boat would be slow, but it really wasn't too bad. You should go to the 7th floor and get the thumbs-up from the lady in charge of tendering, b/c when you reach the exit (4th floor), they might give you a hard time. But they're good once you tell them you have an excursion/rental car AND that you got approval from the lady on the 7th floor.

 

I'd recommend you follow tofuyan's game plan, b/c we took the very first tender out and it's really boring waiting in that area where they drop you off. We ended up getting breakfast (and lunch:o) on shore at a great little place recommended by one of the locals (can't remember the name but it's "next to century 21," towards the right coming from shore, starts w/ a T) that was really cheap (2 people for under $20 before tip), had a FABULOUS view, and was pretty good. It's an excellent alternative to returning onto the cruise for lunch.

 

Also, I'd highly recommend going through sea hawaii rafting. It was such a memorable experience. Chris, the guide, was such a nice person--incredibly thoughtful and conscientious. He seemed very experienced at driving the zodiac boat which made for a more exciting, yet safe, ride. It was so much fun and definitely the highlight of our trip! We saw 2 pods of spinner dolphins and 1 of the pods came up relatively close to our boat and started spinning! Didn't see any whales in Kona, but we did see some in Maui during our excursion to Molokini (the snorkeling was bad at Molokini, though -- it was like snorkeling in a dense, giant kiddie pool; had more people than fish).

 

Hope you have a great time on your trip. Wish I could do it all over again.

 

Tofuyan - Hi, it's me, Jen. Rico told me you were on here. I wanted to exchange emails w/ you. I'm still trying to figure out how to PM you on here. If you guys are ever in SF, give us a holler!:)

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tofuyan

tofuyan

Posted
Posted
Hey tofuyan, it's me, Rico, from the same cruise :)

 

I was on the same Zodiac ride as tofuyan, and it was probably the funnest excursion I had all week! Most other boats looked like they had twice the load, so it was an extra bonus that there were only 9 people on board allowing our amazing guides, Chris and Rison(?), to give us a more personal and memorable experience.

 

From the looks of it, all the Zodiac excursions do the same thing no matter which company you go through, and all the Zodiac guides seemed to know each other and were buddies too. I'm guessing your fun will really depend on how cool your guides are and how full the boat is.

 

I highly recommend booking this excursion through Robert's or you can also call Sea Hawaii Rafting directly. :cool:

 

I agree Rico! This was the funnest excursion I had for the trip! :)

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stankubrick

stankubrick

Posted
Posted
If you book directly with Roberts, do they come and pick you up at the pier?I am looking at the Zodiac Rafting and snorkel though the cruise line. It says it goes to Captain Hooks for snorkeling? Is that where Roberts took you?

 

Yes, all the companies will be there waiting for you at the pier. As soon as you get off the tender ferry, there will be an area with a green tent. Here, there will be a bunch of different companies (NCL and others) holding up signs. Find your tour company, then they'll walk you right onto the Zodiac boat just a few yards away :)

 

If you book through Roberts, you will want to look for someone wearing a yellow shirt that says "Sea Hawaii Rafting." SHR is the name of the company Robert's uses. I would probably go with SHR simmply because they don't pack the boat as full as the other companies (according to tulipg, SHR has a 12 passenger limit) plus it's bit cheaper. You can even call SHR directly.

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