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Dolphin Safari: Intimate Marine Wildlife Tour
4.8
12 Ratings
Waianae
Explore ocean wildlife with biologists on a luxury catamaran. Enjoy personalized, ethical encounters with nature, tailored to your interests.
Explore ocean wildlife with biologists on a luxury catamaran. Enjoy personalized, ethical encounters with nature, tailored to your interests.
Duration:
3 hours, 15 minutes
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
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Wild Side Specialty Tours - Small Group Swimming with Dolphins Oahu Boat Tours - Where comfort meets discovery, and excitement is always just beneath the surface.
Enjoy a comfortable cruise with options for shaded seating or sunny decks. Relax on the bow with dolphin companions or ascend to the flybridge for a panoramic view. The boat features a…
- Wild Side Specialty Tours - Small Group Swimming with Dolphins Oahu Boat Tours - Where comfort meets discovery, and excitement is always just beneath the surface.
Enjoy a comfortable cruise with options for shaded seating or sunny decks. Relax on the bow with dolphin companions or ascend to the flybridge for a panoramic view. The boat features a private restroom and ample space to unwind and soak in the experience.
Swim alongside wild dolphins, snorkel with sea turtles, and observe a variety of whales. Our knowledgeable naturalists engage your group with insightful narratives and real-time marine discoveries.
Snorkel with assurance, as our certified snorkel guides are prepared to assist beginners, provide flotation devices, and gently coach those who are apprehensive.
Create unforgettable memories, whether you or your children are delighting in the sight of playful dolphins or discovering reef fish through a mask for the first time.
Capture genuine wildlife moments and enjoy views of panoramic valleys, sandy beaches, and the stunning Waiʻanae Mountains. Experience a leisurely pace—quality time on the ocean, customized to your family’s comfort level.
Whether it’s your first snorkeling adventure or you’re traveling with young ocean enthusiasts, this is a safe, engaging way to explore the marine wonders of Oʻahu—guided by professionals and designed for connection.
What's Included
- Snacks
- Use of snorkeling equipment
- Carbonated beverages
- Snacks
- Use of snorkeling equipment
- Carbonated beverages
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Towels and Refillable Water Bottle
- SCUBA dive option is an add-on activity and we will need advance notice and coordination
- Personal Guide - great for first-time snorkelers or families with very young children
- Gratuities
- Towels and Refillable Water Bottle
- SCUBA dive option is an add-on activity and we will need advance notice and coordination
- Personal Guide - great for first-time snorkelers or families with very young children
Additional Information
Escape the crowds with intimate 8-person, semi-private tours. Departures are available at 7 and 11 am. Enjoy private bathrooms, shade, comfort, and swift travel to areas where dolphins, turtles, whales, flying fish, and pilot whales freely roam. Each excursion is tailored in real-time to match wildlife conditions and the interests of your group—no fixed…
Escape the crowds with intimate 8-person, semi-private tours. Departures are available at 7 and 11 am. Enjoy private bathrooms, shade, comfort, and swift travel to areas where dolphins, turtles, whales, flying fish, and pilot whales freely roam. Each excursion is tailored in real-time to match wildlife conditions and the interests of your group—no fixed routes, no hurried schedules.
- Ethical opportunities to swim with wild dolphins—and occasionally other whale species
- Safari-style exploration of diverse marine habitats, both above and below the water
- Expert biologist guides provide genuine scientific insights and island storytelling
- Flexible, guest-focused itinerary based on current ocean conditions
- Profound respect for wildlife—no chasing, no crowding
- This is not a party cruise or a packaged attraction. It’s a deeply personal ocean experience—perfect for families, photographers, and nature enthusiasts.
- Infants must remain in carriers/slings
- Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund.
- You may be in offshore waters and restricted from medical care (beyond first-aid) for extended periods of time
Location
Wild Side Specialty Tours - Small Group Swimming with Dolphins Oahu Boat Tours
Farrington Highway
Please meet us a the A Pier gate of the Waianae Small Boat Harbor
Free Parking
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.8
(12 Ratings)
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Sandraat4906of
Aug 31, 2025
Definitely a top choice! Amazing crew! - Wild Side crew was extremely professional. Dophins were hiding that day, all the boats found it challenging to find the pods, but they stuck to it and made sure we stayed out until they delivered our the sightings! Was exactly what we wanted to see to check this off our Hawaiian adventure to do list! Such a friendly bunch, you really feel part of the crew.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
A5971cxcarolm
Aug 23, 2025
Must Do when Visiting Oahu! - This was by far the most amazing experience I’ve had in the water. Being able to see the pilot whales and dolphins while in the water with them was 10/10! We did see a shark and at no time did I feel scared or in danger. Just followed Bethany’s directions! We will go back. If you do anything while visiting Oahu, do this!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Laurann727
Aug 22, 2025
A spectacular time! - Our half day with Wild Side Specialty tours was incredible. We saw and swam with pilot whales which were incredible to see underwater. Then we went to a snorkel spot and were visited by a tremendously large pod of spinner dolphins. Finally on the way back we ran into a large pod of bottle nose dolphins with three babies with them that swam alongside our boat for a good while. I was so glad I could share this experience with my family. The tour leaders (2 females and a male captain - sorry I don’t remember their names!) were excellent! They were so professional and gave us great information about the animals. Even better they made me feel completely safe (and I was a bit nervous going into the trip). Highly recommended. It will be the first thing I book if I ever return to Oahu again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Thesmithfamilytravel
Aug 21, 2025
Dolphin Palooza! - We had an amazing time! We saw so many dolphins and were able to get in the water with them twice. We also saw turtles and lots of fish!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Qorichaskaw
Aug 20, 2025
Great experience - Conner and caption Tori were really nice and showed us how to swim with flippers and helped us with jellyfish stings and put our some yummy snacks and drinks.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Z6254fsdeborah
Aug 20, 2025
A magical time for our family - This is simply the BEST! We’ve been on several snorkeling tours over the years but they paled in comparison to this tour. Flo, the captain, and the rest of the highly knowledgeable crew were truly outstanding. There were 11 of us, 3 children who are not great swimmers and 8 adults (our children, their spouses and grandchildren). We wanted it to be special and it was. We saw and swam with several dolphin pods and sea turtles. Seeing our grandchildren spot dolphins for the first time was magical. The Wild Side team was easy to work with, very accommodating and ensured our grandchildren had a remarkable experience. Their love for the environment and the work they do was clearly evident. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tara
Aug 15, 2025
A highlight of our vacation! - Our positive experience began even before we visited Hawaii! I had a medical concern regarding my daughter and reached out to them through their email address. I was so impressed that I got a very personalized and thoughtful response, which made me feel even better about the tour and those on the crew!
The day of our tour was amazing! We went out at 7am and there were only 5 of us on the tour (my family of 4 plus one other woman)! Mickey greeted us and she was so energetic and welcoming as she showed us to the boat! On the tour we loved how personalized they made the tour. Before the tour even began Bethany asked us what we were most excited to see. We also loved how knowledgeable the crew was, between explaining about the animals we might see and then explaining where we were going. I loved that our crew of Flow, Bethany and Mickey were just as hopeful about seeing dolphins as we were! What made this tour stand out was that this wasn’t a guarantee to swim with dolphins tour, which sounds negative, but we totally appreciated it. We saw a large pod of spotted dolphins that Bethany explained were more acting erratic and agitated, which she confirmed was because they were being followed by 3 galapagos sharks! Due to that and the fact that this pod included juvenile dolphins we watched the dolphins from the boat, so we wouldn’t stress out the dolphins any more than they already were! We boated near the dolphins and they were swimming and sooo close to our boat! We even saw them jumping out of the water!
We then went to a different location where we saw spinner dolphins(!!!), with one jumping and splashing into the water. A bonus was an adorable monk seal chasing the dolphins!
We ended our tour snorkeling! Before going in, Mickey added baby shampoo to our masks to help with visibility and gave us tips and ensured the masks were on correctly! We followed Bethany (who checked that we were all ok during the swim) and she led us to spots where we saw a variety of fish and another bonus, a sea turtle!! We got on the boat and were offered delicious ube pastries, fresh pineapple and juice!
Overall, to review, the personalized experience, care for the safety and comfort of us on the boat and for the ocean animals, all the animals we could enjoy in and out of the water, plus the kindness and knowledge of the crew made this tour one that we would definitely do again!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tjbk2001
Aug 13, 2025
Fantastic Trip, Fantastic Crew! - The experience was fantastic! Conner, Bethany and Captain Flow were the best. We saw three species of dolphins, swam with all three, saw two honu and had an overall amazing morning. I can’t recommend this tour enough. It was a special trip that we will all remember forever. Can’t wait to get the pictures back!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Peterkf4214ki
Jul 20, 2025
- Here’s why you should book this tour. Not only are they interested in making sure you have an enjoyable afternoon, they are interested in the research and the protection of marine wildlife which definitely filters down to you. They want to swim with dolphins and snorkel as much as you do. The captain is on point. The crew is knowledgeable, professional and friendly. We swam with dolphins and turtles. This trip is worth it.
Thanks Wild Side!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Andywl3798mo
Aug 13, 2025
Great, Accommodating Staff But Only About Twenty Minutes In Water Due To Not Locating The Dolphins - I want to start out by saying that the staff was great, and that they were able to accommodate us in a bad situation. We had booked this tour for six people on the only day we would be in Oahu and able to take the tour. Two days before the tour (Sunday) we learned that due to some scheduled service work being done on the boat, Torri wanted to move us to a day earlier (Monday), from Tuesday. as we had originally booked for that Monday, but had changed to Tuesday about a week earlier. The issue was that we had changed to book another tour on that Monday, so could not make that change back. After some back and forth, we suggested going out earlier on Tuesday to allow the engines to cool so that the boat could be worked on, and Wild Side accommodated us, making the tour possible. We very much appreciated that. The staff on the boat was great. My issue with the tour is that while we were out for over three hours, we only were able to snorkel at the reef for about twenty minutes, and were not able to get in the water at any other time. This was due to the fact that we never found the dolphins or other wildlife in the open ocean. Frankly I had not realized that this could even be an issue, since the name of the tour includes "Wild Dolphin Swim" as the beginning of the name. I do recognize that not finding the dolphins was beyond Wild Side's control. I just had not known that this was really a potential issue, as I thought the wild dolphins were plentiful enough and consistent in their habits enough that they were usually found easily. The crew did easily locate spinner dolphins very close to shore, but because they are protected we could not get in the water with them. The entire reason we booked this tour was to swim with the wild dolphins, so not being able to do that was quite disappointing. And while I recognize that we had to take time to look for the dolphins, in retrospect I wish less time had been taken so that we would have been able to snorkel at the reef for longer. Going out earlier meant that for a long time, we were the only boat looking for the wild dolphins. We were offered the opportunity to keep looking, or to snorkel, and were told that they would stay in touch with other boats and if others located the dolphins we would hustle over. Since we only snorkeled about twenty minutes, I'm not sure this would have even been possible, given the boat had to get back in by 9:30 AM. I'm sure most people have a better experience than we did, and I would certainly recommend Wild Side Specialty Tours. We just got unlucky, and did not have a great experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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