Turtles & You
Turtles & You
Sit down, steer an electric underwater scooter along the reef, and keep your head completely dry inside a clear air dome. No swimming skill required, no diving experience needed, and a 50 foot catamaran cruise comes with it.
From $180 per person · Non swimmers welcome
Check Availability →There is a strange gap between snorkeling and scuba diving. Snorkeling keeps you at the surface looking down. Scuba puts you on the bottom but asks for training, certification, and a tolerance for breathing through a regulator. The submarine scooter sits neatly in the middle. You are down on the reef with the fish, at their level, and you are breathing normal air with your face completely dry.
The trick is simple enough that you already understand it. Push an upside down glass straight down into a sink full of water and the inside stays dry, because the trapped air has nowhere to go. The scooter's clear dome does exactly that, just at head size. You sit upright, hold the handles, and steer yourself along the coral at an easy pace while tropical fish and Hawaiian green sea turtles go about their business around you.
Getting there is part of it. The trip starts with a cruise across Maunalua Bay on a 50 foot catamaran, with Diamond Head, Koko Crater, and the Koolau range filling the horizon. At the reef a guide runs the full briefing, you take your turn on the scooter, and there is time to snorkel and swim from the boat before heading back in.
Real footage of the submarine scooters on the reef in Maunalua Bay.
The whole outing runs about two hours, with roughly twenty minutes of that on the scooter itself. Order and timing shift with conditions and group size on the day.
The dome is not a helmet you seal onto your head, and it is not connected to your face at all. It rests over your shoulders with an open bottom, and air is fed into the top of it from a tank on the scooter. Because air is lighter than water it stays up in the dome and pushes the water line down below your chin. You breathe normally, you can talk, and you can look around in every direction through the clear panel.
That open bottom is the reason the ride feels so relaxed. There is nothing clamped to your face, nothing in your mouth, and no need to equalize the way a diver does. It is also why people who have never put their head underwater in their lives can do this comfortably. If you can sit on a seat and hold two handles, you can ride one.
Hawaiian green sea turtles feed and rest on the reefs in Maunalua Bay, and they are a regular sight for riders. Seeing one from a scooter is different from seeing one while snorkeling, because you are down at their depth rather than looking down from the surface. A honu that swims past at eye level is a genuinely startling thing the first time it happens.
They are also protected by federal and state law, which does not change just because you are sitting on a machine. The rule is the same as it is anywhere else in Hawaii. Keep at least ten feet of distance, never reach out to touch one, and never chase or follow. If a turtle chooses to come closer to you, hold still and let it. That is the encounter everyone hopes for, and it only keeps happening because guests leave the animals alone.
The scooter is built to be beginner friendly, but a few limits apply for everyone's safety.
The tour departs from Island Water Sports Hawaii at Maunalua Bay, at 7192 Kalanianaole Highway, Suite E-111, Honolulu, HI 96825. That puts it on Oahu's southeast shore, a short drive from Waikiki heading out toward Hawaii Kai. Give yourself a buffer for traffic along Kalanianaole Highway, especially in the morning.
Plans change, so here is exactly how this one works.
No. Non swimmers are welcome. You sit on the scooter rather than swimming, and your head stays inside a clear dome full of air the whole time. No scuba or diving experience is needed either. If you would rather also snorkel from the boat, gear is provided, but that part is entirely optional.
Yes. The dome works the same way an upside down glass does when you push it into water. The trapped air cannot escape, so the space around your head stays dry. Most guests finish the ride with dry hair, and you can even keep your glasses on.
About twenty minutes of ride time on the scooter itself. The full outing runs around two hours once you include the catamaran cruise out to the reef, the safety briefing, and time to snorkel and swim from the boat.
Hawaiian green sea turtles are regular visitors to the reefs in Maunalua Bay, and guests often see them gliding past while riding. They are wild animals, so no sighting can ever be promised, but honu and tropical fish are a common part of the ride.
Riders must be at least 10 years old, between 4 feet and 6 feet 8 inches tall, and weigh no more than 350 pounds. For safety reasons the scooter is not available to guests who are pregnant or who have certain medical conditions. Contact the operator before booking if you have any questions.
It departs from Island Water Sports Hawaii at Maunalua Bay, at 7192 Kalanianaole Highway, Suite E-111, Honolulu, HI 96825. That is on Oahu's southeast shore, a short drive from Waikiki heading toward Hawaii Kai.
Tours run twice a day, typically a morning departure and an early afternoon departure, six days a week. They do not operate on Sundays. This tour also requires a minimum of 10 participants to run.
Cancellations need at least 48 hours notice and carry a 3 percent processing fee. Cancelling with less than 48 hours notice is charged in full, and no shows are charged in full as well.
Oahu Submarine Scooter Tour
Minimum age 10 · Minimum 10 participants · Closed Sundays
🔒 Free changes with 48+ hours notice