On our fifth day on the Big Island, I scheduled a snorkeling tour for my mom, brother and myself. I decided on Captain Zodiac based on the reviews on Trip Advisor. We signed up online for the 5-hour Beat the Crowd adventure. For this excursion, you board a 24 foot raft. Be prepared, this raft ride is strenuous! You have to hold on tight. While the ride can be a rough and bumpy, I loved every minute of it! It was kind of like four-wheeling on the ocean =)

Flying over the open ocean at about 35 miles per hour was so much fun. You get to see the island from a different vantage point. Our tour guide talked about the history of the island.

We idled into Kealakekua Bay and a pod of spinner dolphins started swimming near the boat! Kealakekua Bay is beautiful! Rugged cliffs stretch high above you.

I floated in the water for a while just taking in the scenery. This is also the site of the Captain Cook Monument.

The snorkeling was awesome. There were so many colorful fish and really neat coral to see.

I liked the 5 hour tour since when we got to the bay, it was pretty busy, but after a little while most of the boats left and we pretty much had the bay to ourselves. It never really felt crowded.

On the way back to the port, our tour guide took us up close to the coast to see the landscape up close. We even saw a whale for a brief moment! Overall, I had a really good time!

Stay tuned for the next Hawaii post!