You are coming to Kona, Hawaii, for the vacation of your life. How exciting! Now you want to make sure your Kona vacation is truly the trip of a lifetime. You want to fill your days and nights with new, different and wonderful experiences, Ocean activities, night life, history and culture; and then come away from it all with the sense of satisfaction that you really saw the Big Island and have a deep understanding of this island paradise and her people.

The Big Island is paradise on earth, lush rainforests, waterfalls, beaches, stark lava deserts, huge mountains, an active volcano, wonderful ocean activities, and wonderful friendly people. There are marvelous and unique activities and attractions to enjoy, from big game fishing and sailing to visiting the world's preeminent mountain top observatory 14000 feet above sea level. You can helicopter over the volcano and look right down into the flowing lava. You can charter your own private sailboat and glide along the Kona and Kohala coasts through calm waters looking up at those marvelous mountains. You can swim with the wild dolphins or go marlin fishing to try to catch a "grander",  a thousand pounder on one of the many Sportfishing charter boats. There is so much to do and see in Kona that you could book a different interesting and exciting Kona activity every day for a year and still not do all of them.

Booking Tricks

But how to choose? And even more important, how to book your selected Kona activity, is the subject of this page. Be aware, this information is not revealed anywhere else, and it is information that activity sales people do not want you to know. Indeed they will deny the accuracy of what you are about to read. But these are verifiable facts, and they may shock you.

Hotel Concierge desks are mostly run by activity resellers who book only those activities that pay them a commission. Even when the Concierge is a direct employee of the hotel, only activity operators who pay the hotel a commission are "recommended." Activity recommendations to visitors are not objective or qualitative in nature. They do not consider the best choice for each visitor, only how much commission will be earned. Commissions range from 15% to 30% averaging 25%.

Conventions and meetings, both large and small, are organized and controlled by Destination Management Companies, known as DMC's. DMC's are hired by the director of the meeting to find and arrange all local details, including hotels, meeting rooms, hotel room reservations, dining arrangements and activities that meeting attendees may enjoy during their leisure time here in Hawaii. DMC's earn their money through commissions and kickbacks, so they "recommend" activities In exactly the same way as concierges. It is a "pay for play game" for activity operators, who must raise their rates across the board in order to be "recommended."   A "recommendation" is really nothing more than a sales pitch.

Independent visitors who are here on their own may search for things to do on line, or read the free advertising booklets widely available, or work with a commission sales person at one of the many booths and kiosks that hawk activities on the street. Those booths usually provide updated Volcano information or advertise deep activity discounts. In every case, resellers can not offer the full range of activities available in that category because they represent only the few who are willing to pay them up to 30% of the ticket price.

Booking Tips - How to choose.

On line, you will be confronted with virtually hundreds of thousands of choices in every search. In November 2009, a Google search of "Kona activities" yielded 1,220,000 responses. Most were websites of activity resellers, and other indexes of activity resellers, an overwhelming sea of choices impossible to sift through or evaluate. The question, "Which one is best for me" is difficult to answer without some help.

#1 The best Tip - Book directly with the tour operator. Look for website URL's that may be direct to the tour owner or operator, and avoid the URL's that are obviously just resellers. You will recognize the big company names of travel agents, dot com booking companies, airline booking agents and travel organizers. They are not your best source of information, or the lowest price providers, especially for the small owner operator activities.

#2 Tip - Book directly with the tour operator.  Look for the tour operator's name, local address and phone number. You should be able to call direct to the Big Island, talk to a live person to find out all the information you want. Ask lots of questions to make sure you will get exactly what you want. Ask where the person is speaking from, and be wary of information not supplied directly from the Big Island. Look for phone numbers that are in area code 808 and make the long distance call. If you avoid using the 800 number, you may be able to negotiate a better rate or a "Kamaaina discount." A Kamaaina is a local resident of Hawaii. Some companies offer that discount, and you should always ask for it. In this difficult economic period, you may be able to get the discount even if you are not a resident, although some companies may require a Hawaii drivers' license or a local phone number. If the Kamaaina discount is not available, ask if any other discounts may apply. This advice is especially appropriate for hotel reservations. Very often if you call the 800# you will reach a commission based reservation service, not the hotel direct. And even if you do reach the hotel, they may quote a higher rate than if you called the local 808#.

#3 Tip - Book directly with the tour operator. If you want to go Sportfishing, drive to Honokohau Harbor just three miles north of Kailua-Kona and look at the boats. Find the ones that look the best to you. Each of the 120 commercial boats in the harbor has a sign at their mooring with the captain's name and phone number. Call direct and make your own best deal. Making a personal connection will assure you that the tour or boat or activity is worthy.

Hopefully this will have been revealing and useful in helping you to have the time of your life! If you need help or have questions, we are in Kona and you can reach us direct by phone at (808) 987-9698 or by email here CONTACT US.

Aloha from Kona

Captain Howard and Admiral Stephanie