Life under the surface of Big Island waters is no less dynamic than its more obvious land features. A recent NOAA study shows that the island is home to the highest percentage of live coral in the main Hawaiian Islands. Living coral can be found in 57 percent of the waters surrounding the island—and where there's coral, there's fish.
You don't have to take a scuba lesson to get a look. At least three island tour boat companies specialize in underwater views. No need to hold your breath or get wet. These tour submarines and cruise boats are designed to bring the underwater world to you.
Atlantis Adventures conducts tours off Kailua-Kona in a 65-foot, air-conditioned submarine with 26 large portholes, the better to see hundreds of tropical fish that populate an 18,000-year-old, 25-acre fringing coral reef that lies some 100 feet below the surface. The company also offers package tours, including a combination submarine/volcano air tour.
Blue Sea Cruises investigates the view down under in its glass bottom vessel. Glass bottom viewing wells provide live viewing action while narrators fill in the details. Expect to see schools of fish, dolphins, manta rays, turtles and, in the winter, humpback whales.
Kailua Bay Charter Company runs 50-minute reef tours in a glass-bottom boat, which affords up close views of underwater features like "shipwreck rock," where the reef rises to within inches of the glass, then plunges to more than 100 feet. Expect to see turtles, frolicking dolphins and seasonal whales. Tours depart daily except Sundays.
All of these tours depart from the Kailua-Kona pier.
