Go Sight-Seaing, with Guided Snorkeling

Available on all charters (Mother Nature willing), your interpretive snorkel tour guide leads exploration into nature’s living classroom.

Ready to go snorkeling in Hawaii

Interesting cultural sites and Oahu’s oldest beaches are on protected west shores. Coral reefs host vibrant reef fish, green sea turtles, and other wildlife. Snorkeling here gives opportunities to reconnect to nature and create lasting memories.

Below a rugged mountain range. you’ll snorkel prime habitats. No sand in your gear, no fighting the shorebreak to get out. Our crew are all lifeguard certified, and you can’t beat our ratio of guides to snorkelers. While other tours remain stationary in a confined area, your guide will be showing you all that they missed!

Sea Turtles on snorkeling portion of tour

Guided Reef Snorkel Oahu HawaiiWith guided snorkel tours, you see so much more behavior…

West shores host Oahu’s most popular snorkeling sites, such as Makaha and Electric Beach. Underwater formations include caverns, arches and tunnels. Summer visibility is normally excellent, with little current. November – February is ‘big wave’ season that Hawaii is famous for and we may have more looking to do for protected coves. But we are in touch with other snorkeling tours and community members and may let them do the looking while we are offshore with whales and dolphins.

Sea life includes large schools of diverse and endemic reef life, sea cucumbers and urchins, wrasse, goatfish, parrotfish, nudibranchs, trumpetfish and cornetfish. Five kinds of triggerfish, pufferfish, chromis, damselfish, macro-algaes, 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, Maybe we’ll see Uncle Mele “Shaka” Pu’u Or Buffalo himself in the surf lineup. But we’ll 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.

Our top of the line 6 guests power cat offers a unique and personal experience of Oahu’s West Coast. Great as a shared tour and even better as a private, choose small and do it all! The guided snorkeling tour includes swimming with wild dolphin (or whale!) encounters.

We offer 2 different departure times per day that vary in difference only in regards to conditions. In general, morning tours have calmer water with a higher chance of seeing dolphins, and our afternoon tours offer better coastal lighting, and greater odds of seeing turtles. Winds generally kick up around mid-day, so all guests should be prepared for a splashy exciting adventure!

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 WCA Global Best Practice Guidance Whale Watch 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.