As far as the tour goes, a night manta trip is must and was great once we got to go. As for the tour operator, was not impressed. They fell behind during the day due to someone having issues, which I can't blame them for, however 1) there was no communication they were 1.5 hours behind, and 2) when we arrived they were very dismissive of the issue and just didn't care they were behind or any impact to others. Would go on a manta trip again, but with a different operator.
Response from Host
Jun 2022
Aloha Mark,
Thank you for sharing your perspective. We're glad to hear that you enjoyed snorkeling with Kona's majestic mantas and do apologize for the delay you experienced on your night out with us.
Each guest's safety is our top priority, and our captain made the right call by choosing to take the extra time to attend to another's guest's overall health, safety and well-being before your scheduled tour. I'm sure that if the roles were reversed and you were put in this other individual's shoes you would have wanted the same kind of care and accommodation.
Upon arrival you were informed that there had been a situation and that the tours were running behind schedule. While it might have felt longer the delay was 45 minutes and not an hour and a half. Our captain also apologized to each group for the delay and did his best to try and make up for lost time. Please know that our captain was well within his rights and very easily could have canceled the remainder of the tours that evening. Instead, he and the rest of our crew put in extra time and worked longer than their scheduled shift to try and accommodate the remaining passengers who were booked with us that night. Had we of canceled finding a different date or time to move guest's to would have been difficult as our tours are booked well out into July (as are other operators).
It is incredibly rare (and as you mentioned not our fault) for us to be delayed like we were, but we see these situations as opportunities to learn from and improve upon should the event or one similar ever happen again. Moving forward, we have instructed our check-in attendant and evening phone staff to call or send out a text message to guest's arriving on later tours that there has been a delay so that they might have a better idea of what to expect and be more prepared for a longer wait.
We appreciate your business and for taking the time to leave us a review. Had there not been a delay I feel that this would have been a totally different experience for you and we hope that there might be a chance to have you back out with us again in the future. If I can be of further assistance please feel to reach out via email or call our reservation line at 808-313-1116.
Warmest Mahalo,
Ashlie