Ocean Joy Cruises

We have done many snorkel treks in Hawaii and our Ocean Joy Morning snorkel sail from the Ko Olina resort (April 2024) was one of the best. Catamaran was in great shape, tasty morning snack (poi bread pudding), excellent lunch buffet (kalua pig, teriyaki chicken, salad, fruit, rolls), plenty of beverages, friendly and helpful crew. Our one hour snorkeling offshore from the Hawaiian Electric Kahe Power Plant didn't have a lot of fish on our day, but we saw two large sea turtles. Its a bit pricey like the others, but we would highly recommend and would do this again.

To me, the snorkel cruises they offer are worth it. I went on one last year and this year. The tour guides are so kind and teach us a lot about the history, traditions, and sea life. The food they offer is so good too.

Both my husband and I highly recommend Ocean Joy Cruises! Captain Patrick, crew members Elijah, Jacob, Minoru, and photo-gal Jace are all excellent! The tour cruises for about 45 minutes out of the bay before stopping to take some photos along the coast. The boat had two bathrooms with running water. After the scenic stop, we headed back toward the island to snorkel! The crew was very supportive and helpful for first time snorkelers. I do not swim and and origin had not planned to go in the water--but with the help of a pool noodle and a supportive crew I felt comfortable getting in the water and am SO grateful I did. We saw sea turtles, fish and even an octopus! Back onboard, there was a delicious lunch and drinks (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and the option to purchase Jace's photo package from the trip. I HIGHLY recommend her photos. For $40 we got access to almost 500, photos from our excursion, about 100 of which include the beautiful views, landscape and wildlife! Jace also took time to take candid and posed shots of everyone onboard and those who went in the water. She was fantastic! After lunch, we cruised back to the harbor (about 45 minutes) and disembarked. Choose this cruise & snorkeling adventure--hob won't be disappointed!

Fantastic trip. The captain and crew were so friendly and helped the kids with all their snorkel gear.It was a great experience for everyone.We saw whales, dolphins, turtles, and plenty of fish.

BEST Snorkel Cruise we have taken on Oahu so far! Awesome soft deck! Beautiful Bar! Amazing Gourmet Hawaiian Food for lunch! I'm talking Terriyaki Chicken, pulled pork and rice people! My husband and I both felt it tasted better than some luaus we have been to! The snorkel time in the water was amazing! The fish are beautiful! We saw a sea turtle and thanks to our amazing photographer Mani, we were able to capture the whole experience forever without any worry! Captain Jerry and his whole crew were so kind and friendly, it felt like stepping aboard a friend's boat.... Amazing experience! I highly recommend!

Although we enjoyed the cruise overall, we were hoping to go snorkeling and see some tropical fish. That was the whole point of the trip. Unfortunately, we were not able to do that because the conditions in the ocean were not good. When we ventured out to the spot where we were supposed to snorkel, the captain non-chalantly said that we would not be going in the water today. We were very disappointed when we heard this, but still made the best of it.The captain spotted some whales, sharks, and a Hawaiian monk seal which, according to him, was a rare sight.The crew and captain seemed friendly enough and were eager to serve. They were good hosts and wanted to ensure that we were having a good time. The meal was tasty, too. There was plenty to drink.The cruise back to the dock though was a bit choppy. Half of the people got seasick and went to the back of the boat. The shuttle ride back to town was the worst part since we got stuck in gridlocked traffic. It took roughly about 90 minutes to get to our shuttle stop. The driver was friendly and pointed out sites.Oddly enough, we did learn a lot from this experience. The biggest thing we learned is to do your own research beyond Yelp before going snorkeling.Although we usually are pretty thorough in doing our own research, we made an emotional decision instead in this case and took a chance with this cruise by signing up at our hotel. I guess we also got swept up by the posters and videos advertising snorkeling tours.Afterwards, we read on the internet that wintertime may not be the best time to snorkel. But who knows? Maybe it depends on the conditions of the ocean.I did overhear one of the employees say that the ocean was rough for the first cruise. I then questioned myself why would they proceed with our sailing knowing that the conditions were not good for snorkeling? Maybe they were hoping the conditions would change?On the positive side, none of us got seasick, one of us conquered their fear of boats, and we saw up close whales, sharks, and a rare monk seal all for the first time. So, I feel that it was not a total loss.

This was an amazing cruise. We took the sunset dinner cruise plus snorkeling. Tuesday October 29th 2024. Patrick, the captain and his crew were all amazing. Making sure that everyone was comfortable and had a great time. Snorkeling was fun and saw lots of great colorful fish and sea turtles. The dinner food was great with pulled pork barbecue and chicken. Drinks were fantastic. Best of all the sunset was beautiful and it was a great way to end our vacation. Highly recommend this boat cruise. For all ages. Very much worth the cost. The photographer does a fantastic job too. This trip is forever in our memory banks.

We got food positioning really bad, my fiancé and I both spent a night vomiting In our hotel room. We didn't eat anything in the morning before the cruise and only had the food on board so it was the only culprit. Also -- we didn't see any of the promised wildlife -- we had better luck snorkeling near Waikiki on our last trip as we saw a bunch of sea turtles then. The boat was nice, the staff was nice but given the cost I wish they would have coordinated and ensured we saw actual sea life. In general, it was a bit of a waste of money but we did still enjoy the views from the boat and the drinks, we were happy to see the other side of the island.

We had such an amazing time on our snorkel cruise. The staff was great and really went above and beyond to make it perfect. The food and drinks were delicious. thank you so much guys!!!

For our last day on the island, we went out for the dolphin/whale watching & snorkling. What a wonderful day on the water!Crew is fantastic, super friendly and helpful. The hot lunch onboard was a very pleasant surprise, especially with the island drinks.We got an amazing close-up view of some very curious dolphins, some great snorkling with lots of fish, and a wonderful memory to top off our trip!