Nov 3, 2025
A fantastic cultural experience - Our cultural outrigger canoe ride was fantastic!!! Ray was an amazing guide and he made this excursion truly worthwhile. We loved the history he provided about this region and when I asked for a ghost story (we were there around Halloween) he provided a terrifying story about his personal encounter with the Night Marchers. I would definitely recommend this tour - especially if Ray is your guide. He went above and beyond
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 4, 2025
If you’re lucky you’ll get Tommy O as your guide - We were lucky enough to get Tommy O as our guide. Just 3 of us but we were joined by Tommy’s brother and his 97 year old mother who were visiting from California. We were out for almost 90 minutes. Great instructions and fascinating history of the island. By the end of the adventure we felt like family. Even Momma had her picture taken with us and gave us a farewell huge. Here are some tips that we learned -
1. The rental hut is just to the left of the pier if disembarking from a cruise
2 it’s operated by “da boys” who rent other aquatic equipment and tours. They will hold your bags in their hut and even have a safe where their held are valuables.
3 Nice quiet public beach right there in front of the hotel with showers etc
This was our favorite excursion on our 15 day cruise and the cheapest.
Ask for Tommy - you’ll love the experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 4, 2025
A fun and educational... - A fun and educational activity. We had Tommy guiding us. He made sure we had a safe and enjoyable experience while learning about the local history. We highly recommend this activity! Watch for the schools of bright yellow/orange fish near the pier area
Review provided by Viator
Aug 24, 2025
Amazing private tour of the harbor - Tommy is an excellent guide. He is super-friendly, knowledgeable, patient, and great host. It was just my wife, Tommy, and me on the big 6-person outrigger. He was a little worried at first, but we started paddling and we showed that we had canoeing experience, it was game on and we got the complete experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aug 22, 2025
Chill, Fun Tour - This Outrigger Canoe tour was one of our favorite activities in Hawaii! Uncle Leahi was an excellent tour guide, telling us so much about the area and its history. We got enough paddling in to feel like we really experienced it, but not so much we were exhausted. It's a chill, fun experience. Would do it again next time we visit. Highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aug 13, 2025
Don’t miss this canoe tour! - The guide was extremely professional, and very knowledgeable about Hawaiian history and culture. Grant was an amazing guide!
Review provided by Viator
Jul 10, 2025
Paddle with the locals - Uncle Tommy was the BEST! Loved listening him talk story about the history of the Islands. This is a must do activity!
Review provided by Viator
Jun 29, 2025
A Great Experience - We really enjoyed our canoe excursion. We felt very cared for by Evan and Michael and were able to enjoy the canoeing and snorkeling with ease. Evan gave a lot of interesting information about the history and the situation with the reef and invasive species. We were very appreciative of their care of the bay and of us!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 25, 2024
Ride in an outrigger canoe - On a recent visit to Hawaii we booked an outrigger canoe ride with Kona Boys in Kailua Kona located right by the Marriott King Kamehameha hotel. The price was reasonable and booking was easy.
The two of us joined three other guests and Kona Boys guides Ray and Tommy.
We had never been in a single hull outrigger canoe before and it was an amazing experience. Ray and Tommy were friendly and knowledgeable, and provided clear instructions. After hauling the canoe into the water, we were off!
Paddling together we glided quickly away from shore. At times we stopped while Tommy and Ray shared stories about ancient Hawaiian people and places.
Paddling was work but fun, and the boat was incredibly stable. We were out over an hour and it was a real joy.
Most other places we researched take out double hulled canoes with more people. But if you want the authentic experience of being in a single hulled boat, book with Kona Boys. We would definitely do this again!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 12, 2024
Unforgettable adventure. - What an incredible ride! Tommy O took us out and was so informative about Hawaiian history and the land and water. We paddled out and saw tons of Nai'a (spinner dolphins) around us and under the outrigger. We saw the heiau right there and the special sacred land it's on. The bay was calm but we worked! pushing out from the shore and paddling. We loved Tommy.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
