Aloha Ocean Tours is the passion project of Captain Shanti, a Maui-born, Oʻahu-raised waterman with more than a decade on the Waianae coast. Welcoming just six guests at a time aboard a sleek Robalo powerboat, he guides you to dee...
Aloha Ocean delivers consistently magical marine encounters with an all-star crew that includes guides like Brooke, Ali, Shanti, and others who clearly love what they do. The small group sizes stand out as a major advantage—tours typically max out around 6 people, meaning more personal attention and easier ocean access from the smaller boat. Guests regularly swim with multiple dolphin pods (often 3+ encounters per trip), spot sea turtles, and occasionally see whales or monk seals. The guides earn praise for their genuine enthusiasm, marine life knowledge, and tireless dedication to finding wildlife, even searching extensively across the west side of Oahu. What makes this tour special is the intimate, ethical approach. The crew provides all necessary gear and even captures GoPro footage to share afterward. They're particularly skilled with nervous swimmers and families with young children, offering patient guidance for first-timers. Note that this is a BYOB experience focused purely on marine life rather than fancy amenities—you won't get lunch or cocktails, but that keeps the focus where it belongs: on those incredible moments when dolphins surf the boat's wake or baby spotted dolphins swim right past you.
Loved everything about this experience and Brooke and Ali were incredible guides! They were super knowledgeable and managed to find so many dolphins for us to swim with. We also got to snorkel with turtles and fishes too! AND we even had the chance to see a pod of spinner dolphins that came really close to the boat, along with turtles and fish. I also loved that our group was small (it was just a group of four) so it never felt cramped, either on the boat or in the water. Brooke also took a lot of stunning videos and photos on her gopro and shared them with us so no need to get your phone wet! It was the most perfect experience and definitely one of the highlights of our trip. The videos Brooke took vs my picture
Catherine Kim
2 weeks ago
Loved everything about this experience and Brooke and Ali were incredible guides! They were super knowledgeable and managed to find so many dolphins for us to swim with. We also got to snorkel with turtles and fishes too! AND we even had the chance to see a pod of spinner dolphins that came really close to the boat, along with turtles and fish. I also loved that our group was small (it was just a group of four) so it never felt cramped, either on the boat or in the water. Brooke also took a lot of stunning videos and photos on her gopro and shared them with us so no need to get your phone wet! It was the most perfect experience and definitely one of the highlights of our trip. The videos Brooke took vs my picture
Catherine Kim
2 weeks ago