Go Sight-Seaing, with Guided Snorkeling
Available on all charters, your interpretive snorkel tour guide provides exploration in nature’s living classroom of vibrant reef fish, sea turtles, and countless other inhabitants. The most interesting natural and cultural sights and best beaches are Oahu’s west side and west shores. Snorkeling gives opportunities to reconnect to nature and create lasting memories, and having an in-water guide means you won’t miss what most visitors to the west side miss!
Situated beside a stunning mountain range. you’ll snorkel at a prime fish reef with important habitat for for green sea turtles, where you may also encounter dolphins. While other tour’s participants are stationary in a small area, your guide will be showing you all that they missed!
Sea Turtles on snorkeling portion of tour!
Photographed in Oahu, Hawaii
On guided snorkel tours, you’ll see so much more fish, turtles, and other wildlife!
West side shores host Oahu’s most popular snorkeling sites. Underwater formations include caverns, arches and tunnels. Visibility is normally excellent, with little current.
Sea life includes large schools of diverse and endemic reef fish, sea cucumbers and urchins, wrasse, goatfish, parrotfish, nudibranchs, trumpetfish and cornetfish, 5 kinds of triggerfish, pufferfish, chromis, damselfish, macroalgaes, corals, green sea turtles, seasonal rays, and more!
You can even visit a unique turtle feeding ground and with its own natural underwater cleaning station. Abundant photographic opportunities exist at this (and all) our sites
Makaha Beach is also a world famous surfing spot. If the waves should be kicking – especially during the winter, we can watch but will probably head to another area for snorkeling!
“The best way to observe a fish is to become a fish”
– Jacques Cousteau
Ready to Snorkel Oahu’s West Side?
Our guided snorkel tours, are always in small personal groups.
Makaha can mean the eye (maka) that breathes (ha). In this very sacred valley there are many life-like stone formations seeming to be watching your every step. Hawaiians believe each stone, as well as plant, to be living beings – alive with mana (the life-force). This, combined with the danger of robbers hiding in the bushes must have given any traveler pause when passing by Makaha alone.
You Should Know
Notice: Wild Side (complete terms and agreements) reserves the right to substitute vessels, and to seasonally modify departure and arrival times. Due to our popularity and self-limited group sizes, cancellations with less than 10 day notice and “No Shows” are subject to full charge. Prices quoted do not include state tax, harbor fees or fuel surcharge.
Although our sighting rates are at 95+% we cannot guarantee sightings, interaction with wild dolphins, whales, snorkeling, nor ideal weather conditions. We reserve the right to not facilitate in-water OR shipboard encounters which we feel may compromise the well-being of our guests or ocean wildlife. We do not offer transportation to the boat harbors.Wild Side adheres to the IWC’s General Principles for Whale watching to minimize the risks of adverse impacts of whale watching on cetaceans.
Reservations for holiday peaks, winter and summer seasons are recommended to be made at least two weeks ahead of time. Though we will take ‘last minute’ ones if we have space, your chances are much better to block ahead of time.