Kauai Sea Rider Adventures

I was on the snorkeling tour with Captain Tara and her First Mate Julie on Friday, February 5^th. It was incredible! I wish I would have gone earlier in my visit to Kauai. I probably would have spent the rest of my time out there on that boat. The weather was perfect. We swam with many turtles and fishys. We saw the rays gliding smoothly beneath us. And those weren’t even the highlight. We swam with a monk seal that was young enough to be curious. He kept coming back to check us out. Captain Tara and First Mate Jules were so knowledgeable that it was hard to get in the water when they were talking about everything around us. I cannot wait to go back. Thank you so much for such an amazing experience!

Captain Tara was extremely knowledgable and very, very pleasant — and Captain Nick her more than able first mate. We saw turtles, dolphins and countless fish. An amazing experience!

We went on both the Whale Watching and Snorkeling Tours. These guys know their stuff and made it so enjoyable! Chris and Rob on the whale watching tour were excellent in pointing out how to spot the whales. We had a great sighting as soon as we got about 15 minutes out of the harbor. Loved the zodiac boat. It provided a much more intimate setting and more up close and personal experience with sea creatures. The snorkeling with Tony, Nick and Rob was so awesome. Again, the Zodiac boat provided a better experience with only a few people. We saw sea turtles and so many different kinds of fish. Very memorable time and Sea Riders is very respectful of all including the ocean creatures. Bob and Robin from Wisconsin

An exceptional activity! We not only snorkeled but saw dolphins and whales! It was beautiful. The guides were really personal and have such a love for adventure and the sea-​it is wonderful. Thank you, Sea Riders, it was our favorite part of Hawaii!

We had a phenomenal trip with Sea Riders on the south coast snorkel tour! You will not regret booking with them! We had debated between the whale watching and snorkeling tours, then read the number of reviews where the snorkel trips also saw whales. We decided to take our chances and boy did we luck out! Ended up in an area surrounded by 3 different pods of whales– absolutely spectacular! Almost didn’t want to leave to go snorkeling. But the snorkeling was also awesome. Captain Tara and Julie were both extremely knowledgeable about the sea life and had great eyes to see treasures we would have missed.
I think we really lucked out in having the «dream team» of a crew– Captain Tara, Captain Rob and Julie. They were all so friendly, knowledgeable, enthusiastic, caring and making each of us feel special. Their dynamics with one another are a lot of fun and set up for a great energy on the tour. We had a fairly rough day in terms of sea conditions and several of our fellow travelers were having issues with sea sickness. The crew were great in helping everyone deal with this in as positive a way as possible. Also had some members who were more challenging in terms of attitudes– again the crew were great in their handling of all situations.
If we had been staying in Kauai for more days, we would have booked another tour with them. Definitely, the next time we go, we will book straight away. I know there’s no guarantee of seeing the whales but they really seemed to know where to go and how to look and that was a huge highlight.
And the lunch they served when we got back to shore was phenomenal! It was just a roast beef sandwich but one of the best ever.
Highly recommend these folks!

Our snorkeling trip with Sea riders was the highlight of our trip to Kauai. My husband and I really wanted to see whales and debated about whether to do the snorkeling or just the whale watching. We chose the snorkel trip and we weren’t disappointed. We saw several whales and some swam very close to our boat. We saw Dolphins, Manta Rays and numerous sea turtles. Captain Rob, Julie and Elijia did a fantastic job, were very informative and were even more excited than we were. Highly recommend.

This was the highlight of our trip. Chris and Brad did an incredible job showing us the beautiful coast and knew exactly where to see the whales. We had 2 huge whales «hang out» with us for a while. Swimming under the boat and breaching nearby. Incredible!

Our hotel recommended this outfit. We wanted a private charter since our kids are great at snorkeling, however, my wife and I are not that good. My wife is a bit more mortified.
Tara was the leader on our trip. She was incredible. My wife claims the calmness of Tara was the reason that she enjoyed her first session of snorkeling, and wants to do more.
Rob was managing the Zodiac, and we located dolphins on the trip and turtles. It was the highlight of the trip.
Finally, Tara took some underwater photographs of all four of us. She was incredible, and this tour company is the best. We have used quite a few in Kauai itself and in Big Island.
Please ask for Tara. Special trip. Thank you.

This was my wife’s and my first trip to Kauai. We are staying on the North Shore near Princeville and were disappointed by the quality of snorkeling here (at least in November). Found Sea Rider on the internet and made reservations. Capts Tara and Rob met us in the Poipu area (kind a a nondescript boat launch that is easy to miss-​get good directions).
The first thing about them was how upbeat and seemingly excited and pumped that they were that the 6 of us were going to have wonderful adventure. That must be real because they do it a few times a day. Their enthusiasm was infectious. The other family, whom we did not know, was on their third trip with Sea Rider and had recommended them to all of their friends.
It was a beautiful sunny day with some chop, but no whitecaps. The boat is certainly a rough ride, but not uncomfortably so. We were fit professionally and safety was their key concern. Tara is a marine biologist and spent time telling us about the animals and even some of the history of the area. The diving was awesome. My wife thought it was the highlight of her trip. We saw a pod of Pacific Bottlenose dolphins whom Ron picked up in the distance and they swam with us for quite a while. There were so many turtles that I lost count. It seems like we saw all of the different types of fishes that live in Kauai (at least the ones on the chart that Tara showed us at the end). Tara also gave us a lecture on biodiversity and relocated some starfish who were killing the coral.
Instead of just leaving after the trip, we sat down for a sandwich and a drink and had a «shakedown» on what we saw and more about the biology of the Hawaiian Islands.
As a professor at UCSD, I was impressed by her obvious passion for her job and her manner of giving us all that we needed for a great experience. I know that we’re coming back to Kauai and I know that we will be doing another tour with Sea Riders. Thanks Tara and Rob.

I really don’t like leaving bad reviews for small businesses, but in this case I think a bad review is deserved. My wife and I spent a lot of time researching companies to explore the Napali coast with, and a big part of our research was Unilocal.As you can see, many of the reviews are positive, but the several bad reviews are for the same reason that I write this:
These guys are terrible at scheduling!
We made our reservation and went to the boat dock at the time we were asked to be there. We saw other companies loading their patrons, and wondered — where is our group? Finally, we called them and the woman who answered said that no boat tour was scheduled at 8am… the mistake was ours. Hold on! I scrolled through my emails and let her know that we had receipt of the tour we had scheduled. «I’ll call you right back,» she said. 30 minutes later, while we were still waiting at the boat dock, she called. «Oh yeah,» she said, «the company who does our booking didn’t let us know. Also, you two are the only ones on the tour so we’ll see if we can get you on another boat.»
Getting us onto another boat didn’t work and finally she gave up on us. We received a refund but really lost a day in our very cramped bit of vacation time. Had we know this about Sea Rider Adventures, we certainly would have scheduled with another company. There were availabilities on other boats when we had scheduled with them, but after they flaked on us, we were out of luck
TL;DR — these guys might be good when you go out with them, but their flakiness could leave you SOL. Go with a more reputable company.

Matt & Elijah were very informative and relaxed. Matt made sure we snorkeled in a area far from other boats and crowds. The ride to the Na’pali coast was lengthy about 45 – 55 minutes and the surf wasn’t really high but still choppy. Be sure to take Dramamine or wear sea bands to help with motion sickness because there is a lot of motion. You really need to be in good physical shape because it’s an active ride. I highly recommend Kauai Seariders.

EXCELLENT TOUR! We went out today with Nick and Elijah, who were both wonderful. Two friendly guys who know a lot about the island, the waters surrounding it, and its history. The water was a little rougher than I had expected (since it’s summer), but the ride was pretty smooth and I never felt as if I’d get jarred off the side. I was really excited to go into the cave as I’ve been wanting to do that since I moved to Kauai ten years ago. It did not disappoint! The stories Nick told us about the cave and the native Hawaiians were fascinating. Even my 14 year old son was riveted! We got to see several honu (green sea turtles) in our snorkeling spot and there were several pods of Spinner dolphins on the way to and from the snorkeling area. My son and I both exclaimed that we can’t wait to go on this tour again as soon as we docked at Kikiaola. Fantastic, fantastic day. I couldn’t be happier that we went on this tour!

SO, booked this snorkeling company by default but am sooo glad we did. It was not with Tara but the captain… blonde guy who was born on the island, knew a lot. The zodiac ride was rough. Had an 8 year old and think it is too rough for little kids; it was rough for me:)…We saw dolphins and first dive was with turtles. Lots of them. It is not a little bay they drop you off at; it is the ocean. but it is not rough out there. I did not do the second dive; was too far to swim and preferred to be closer to the boat. Was intimate, only 6 of us and saw a lot. The staff (captain and guide named Kyle were great and down to earth. Would love to do the Napali Coast snorkel with this company. I recommend them highly.

Ok. Let me start off by saying this was our favorite thing that we did, not only on Kauai, but on our whole trip to Hawaii. One of the main things I wanted to do was see Honu (Hawaii’s green sea turtles). After reading the other reviews for Kauai Sea Riders I knew that this would be my best bet. We called the day before we wanted to go and booked our trip. We arrived at the boat dock location about an hour early so we hung out at this gorgeous beach next door. There was no one on it, it was so peaceful and beautiful. We saw the boat arrive from the previous excursion so we headed over. We were greeting by Nick, who turned out to be the driver of our boat. He was super nice and directed us over to the boat where we would go get fitted for our wetsuits, flippers, snorkel gear, etc. There we met Elijah, the sweet and smart marine biology expert and Captain Ron, the friendly man who guided us in the ocean and took care of the only two little kids on our tour so that their parents could enjoy some snorkel time. You couldn’t ask for 3 better guides. We had so much fun! When everyone had their gear ready to go we took off and cruised the boat around the shore for some beautiful landscape views. We saw Secret Beach and some other really pretty spots. Just cruising around on the boat was so much fun. As we headed to our snorkel spot we came across a pod of spinner dolphins. They were everywhere! Hundreds of them. It was so cool. After they all passed by we hopped out of the boat and began to snorkel. Would I get to see some Honu? Not only did I get to see them, I swam WITH them. It was amazing. We probably saw and swam with a dozen turtles. Some were almost my size. I wasn’t expecting that. They are such beautiful, peaceful creatures. They pop their heads above the water to take a breathe RIGHT NEXT TO YOU! The coolest thing ever! Then to top it off the Humpback Whales were starting to migrate to Alaska and as they were passing us we could hear their ‘song’ underwater while we were snorkeling. It was just such an amazing experience. I HIGHLY recommend this tour to anyone visiting Kauai.

Unfortunately, I can’t review the actual whale tour, because my wife and I got jerked around by Tara and her staff the whole week. One of our most desired excursions on our second trip to Kauai was to go whale watching… according to Unilocal this was the company to use. Prior to our trip we booked a tour with Tara. It was important to us to get booked ahead of time since we had many activities scheduled.
Upon arrival in Kauai, a day before our originally scheduled tour we received a call indicating that the boat wasn’t full and we would need to reschedule. We rescheduled for a later day that week. The next day we received another call indicating that the Boat’s Captain had a conflict and that we would need to reschedule a third time. Reluctantly, we rescheduled again, just to get another voice mail the following day indicating the tour needed to be changed again. We bailed.
The whale tour may be great if you actually get to go on it… I would recommend against this unorganized and unprofessional group. Find an alternative tour, or risk missing out on your most desired excursions.

We did the 7:45am trip with Tara as a last minute adventure before jumping on the plane back to the mainland.
So, so glad we did. Tara was truly a wealth of knowledge and bundle of energy for our snorkel trip. Rachel and Nick, you guys were awesome too!
I would recommend this for children as well as adults. Tara was also very patient with new swimmers as well. Prepare yourself to see a lot of turtles and learn a lot!
We didn’t see any whales unfortunately but we say tons of dolphins and LOTS OF TURTLES. I apparently missed a chance to see an Octopus as well which is a shame since that’s on my bucket list… point being, you will be seeing so much sea life it can be overwhelming. Stick close to Tara as she will be providing some cool information on the surrounding ocean creatures!
– Optical googles are provided with snorkel gear.
– If you get motion sickness, take a non-​drowsy med.

I’ve met, worked with, and interviewed guides around the world. The best always seem to be the small, independent operators who love what they do. Namely, introduce new people to the places and activities they love.
The Sea Riders is a perfect example of that. Our captain/​guide was Rob with Rachel as crew. They were knowledgeable, engaging and fun. Despite some rain and wind every passenger had fun and seemed to truly enjoy the evening outing – even before the perfect full-​body breach by a humpback just a 100 feet or so off our port side.
If you want a great whale watching adventure looking no further then Sea Riders

Amazing day with Tara and Captain Rob on the water in Kauai. Whales all around us and turtles with brilliant guidance from Marine Biologist Tara.
We’ll worth the price. Lunch was great too. Highly recommend this excursion.

This boat ride was so much fun! I went with Captain Tara and Captain Nicholas. They’re friendly and easygoing. They fit you into flippers and masks and instruct you on how to use them. I took Dramamine that morning so I was fine throughout the whole ride. We got to see Gilligan’s Island from the boat (which isn’t publicly accessible unless you go through the botanic garden). I’m not a great swimmer so I decided to stay on the boogie board. Captain Tara is a petite little woman but she still didn’t mind swimming and lugging the boogie board strap with me and another couple holding onto one side of the boogie board each.
There are great views of Poipu and the south shore coast. We went to two snorkeling spots, there were turtles everywhere at both spots. I saw an eel, and a million fishes! I even saw a baby fish the size of a dime swimming right in front of my eyes. It was amazing. I wore a bikini so I eventually got cold, wear a wet suit top if you think you’re going to get cold. Captain Tara knows her stuff and is passionate about the sea life. She saw a crustacean suffocating another crustacean and she decided to move the harmful crustacean to deeper sea waters where it would be better for both of them. Afterward it was homemade cookies and lunch! The coconut cookies are delicious. Thanks Tara and Nicholas!

DO THIS! I booked this per a recommendation from a friend and boy was it worth every penny! First, I emailed with Capt Tara explaining how I would love to surprise my husband with a snorkel tour and how much he would die to swim with sea turtles. She gave me advice on which tour to book and was so great! After I called and booked it officially, Tara even sent me a follow up email noticing I had booked and, although she was going to be out of town, told us how great the crew was going to be. I was very impressed.
The adventure itself was INCREDIBLE. We took the boat out (speedy little thing!), saw a lot of the south shore, and even found a happy bunch of spinner dolphins! Then we got to our first of two snorkel spots and there were sea turtles galore! Everywhere you turned another was swimming next to you. I’m talking like I was basically nose to nose with these guys! Probably saw 9 or 10! Then we moved along to another spot and snorkeled along the reef and saw all sorts sea life. It was phenomenal. Spent more than half the tour in the water. And I can’t say enough great things about the staff. Capt Nick was great. A local boy who really knows the area and is so laid back and fun. Also Capt Rob (?) who knew SO MUCH about the island and was just as excited as us about the sea life we ran into. Just a great little operation overall.
Enough said. Just go book it! You won’t regret it.