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Hilo coast snorkel and ocean tours

Hilo Ocean Adventures

Hilo Ocean Adventures is a family-owned Big Island tour company on Hawaii Island's northeast side, with guided snorkel tours, scenic coastal cruises, dive training, swim lessons and ocean rentals from Hilo.

Hilo Ocean Adventures

Hilo Ocean Adventures puts you on, above and below the Pacific just minutes from downtown Hilo. The dive center sits on Kamehameha Avenue across from the protected waters of Hilo Bay, so you can gear up, roll your tank across the street and be finning over coral in less time than it takes most travelers to reach their boat ramp. Certified PADI instructors, lifeguard-trained guides and a well-stocked retail shop cover everything from mask defog to replacement O-rings, keeping your focus on the ocean instead of the logistics.

Morning two-tank charters head east past Coconut Island aboard Wicked Wahine, a 36-foot Newton fitted with a giant-stride dive platform, hot-water shower and shaded camera table. Sites change with conditions but often include Leleiwi Pinnacles, a lava-finger maze where white-tip reef sharks nap under ledges, and Big Pipe, a photographer-friendly reef blooming with bright yellow tang and octopus hideouts. Group size tops out at ten certified divers, giving you room to spread out gear and plenty of time for creature hunting with the divemaster between swim-throughs.

Snorkelers and first-time bubblers aren't left ashore. Afternoon reef adventures swap tanks for flotation vests and high-visibility masks, guiding you over shallows where green sea turtles cruise cleaning stations and damselfish dart between cauliflower coral heads. First-time divers can add a Discover Scuba upgrade—no certification required—while kids aged six and up join hybrid snorkel-kayak tours that hug the calm edges of Hilo Bay.

When daylight fades, the shop flips on high-lumen video lights for black-water drift dives that reveal larval squid, jelly combs and glowing reef plankton you never notice at noon. December through April, the boat shifts to whale-watch mode between morning dive trips, trolling slowly outside the breakwall so you feel humpback breaches shake the deck and hear flute-like songs through a hydrophone.

All tours include premium masks, fins, wetsuits, reef-safe sunscreen and hot drinks back on deck. Nitrox, steel 100s and full rental kits sit ready for certified divers, while Open Water through Rescue Diver courses run weekly for anyone looking to level up. Ready to add underwater color to your itinerary? Browse our Big Island snorkeling and scuba options, then stitch Hilo Ocean Adventures into a day of wider Big Island activities that flows from lava fields to coral gardens without missing a beat.

Hilo Ocean Adventures Experiences