I wondered as I was buying a Groupon for a night snorkel with manta rays on the big Island of Hawaii – “Would it be too scary for my boys ages 8 and 10?” I mean, in the water, in what I assumed was the middle of the ocean, in the dark – yikes!

I read ALL the reviews and did a ton of homework for it, but I couldn’t tell if they would freak out or not (or if I would freak out if I’m being honest).

I heard from a few friends that it was scary, a few that said it was amazing, and in the end I decided to go for it with the “plan B” in mind that they could watch from the boat if they felt uneasy.

Now I can’t speak to every Company offering a night snorkel, but I can say that Hang Loose Tours was beyond accommodating and friendly to our boys and this ended up being the highlight of our trip!

I’m not sure I would recommend this for kids under seven unless they are very comfortable in both the water and the dark. Hang Loose Tours was more than happy to hang out with them on the boat just a few feet away so we could still see them, if they chose not to go out, which made the boys feel safer.

We’ve been talking about it this adventure for weeks after and I highly recommend it. However, I’d love to offer a few tips that made our snorkel trip a success because without the prep work, I don’t know if they would’ve felt safe enough to go in, which would’ve been such a shame it was so cool an experience!

What you can expect –

You can expect to be out in the ocean, but you can still see the shoreline. The water is deep, but not so deep as to be super scary.

Other boats in the area doing the same thing so you won’t feel isolated.

The possibility of Hawaii’s last female monk seal on that side of the Island getting close to you, but thankfully she didn’t for us because they are protected and you don’t want to do anything that would get them shipped to the banned side of the Island.

What to bring-

• Towel or sweatshirt. It gets cold after being in the water for awhile at night.

• A waterproof camera! It’s an amazing sight and I wish so much our camera didn’t break earlier that afternoon.

• Seasickness bracelets if you wear them. It’s a short boat ride, very open with plenty of air, so it depends on your comfort level. For me this didn’t seem as risky as whale watching, in the sea sickness department, but I took a natural Dramamine a half hour prior just in case because I didn’t know how far out we’d go or how much the boat would rock. In our case it was a short boat ride and I think I would’ve been fine with only the bracelets, but only you know how well you will do.

(Hang Loose had water and snacks for us).

This will go by fast, believe me. You want to make sure you are ready so that you can really enjoy this experience should the mantas show up and give you a beautiful show. Which in our case they did barrel roll after barrel roll! It was like watching and underwater ocean dance, amazing! Here are some tips to make sure you get the most of your time in nature and help your kids prep so they don’t freak out and you all miss it:

MAKE SURE YOU CAN SEE AND BREATHE EASILY

There are three options to make sure you are prepared to be able to see and breathe during the snorkel. You can:

• Use the boat’s snorkel and mask. If you use the boat’s equipment, use the time before the dive if you do the Sunset option (night dive probably does not have the extra time because you are not waiting for the dark). Take advantage of the time they allow you to snorkel during sunset to make sure everything is fitting. Don’t be the squirmy girl next to me who’s mask kept filling up with water! Outside of it being annoying for me to get kicked repeatedly, if you don’t stay still and parallel to the surface, it scares the mantas and they will go feed near the other boats.

• Bring your own snorkel and mask. We brought our own masks and snorkels from home (you don’t really need fins unless you snorkel while you wait or other times during your vacation) so we knew they fit and they were adjusted and ready to go. We bought ours on Amazon and they did great at both the hotel’s lagoon and for the night dive – and now the pool (see our tested snorkel equipment below). If you are going to snorkel elsewhere on your Hawaii vacay, it costs less to bring your own (and then you get to keep it) than rent it at the hotel.

• Rent a snorkel and mask. Our hotel was charging more per day for the snorkel than it cost to buy it ($55 per day x 5 days!), but some other travelers said they rented it elsewhere down the street for $35 per week. Check prices before you rent at the hotel for sure!

These are the snorkels and fins we used (if you only do the manta dive and no other snorkeling, check with the Company you are using to see if you need fins – ours did not have us use them because we used a noodle to stay afloat):

For the Kids:

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

Practice with the kids snorkeling. If your kids haven’t done it, it can be a little scary at first. You don’t want their first snorkeling experience to be five minutes before you are trying to watch something – especially in the dark.

We practiced with our snorkels and masks the day before in a smaller lagoon at our hotel. Believe me, the last thing you want is your kids tapping you on the shoulder to fix their masks when you’re in the water. One, you are holding onto a board in the middle of the ocean so you aren’t really “hands free,” and two you don’t want to miss a thing because it’s so amazing!

The girl next to me on the board was using the rental equipment and spent the majority of the incredible underwater display fidgeting with her mask to the point she knocked the noodle out from under my feet (it helps you stay parallel so they can swim under you) and one of our guides had to swim after it. When he brought it to me he had me cross my legs on it and it took everything I had to keep her from kicking it out again.

My point being, I think she missed most of the snorkel time fussing and fidgeting whereas we’d all practiced the day before and were adjusted and ready to go!

Watch YouTube videos before you go to get the kids (and yourself!) comfortable and excited.

Preparation is key to your younger travelers feeling safe and secure! This is a video that captures it pretty well, but of course still doesn’t do the experience justice.

Do the Sunset option

Doing the sunset option was by far the smartest decision we made. First of all, the sunset was so beautiful. But more importantly it gave the boys time to get comfortable with the water and sticking their face in it. My eight year old keeps saying he put his head down when it was light and didn’t lift it back up until it was dark! I’m pretty sure if we had done the 8:00 p.m. snorkel they would’ve watched from the boat and would’ve missed the experience of being in the water with the mantas viewing them up close and personal.

Find a company as gentle as Hang Loose Boat Tours. They were so nice to let the boys watch from the light board and even pulled it to the boat so they could get on without having to swim in the ocean. The boys felt very safe as they had it tied to the boat and now having bragging rights that they were the last ones in the ocean at night, because everyone else had to swim back first before they could pull it in.

Suited Up – Let’s Go!

“Come on Mom!”

Bragging rights for being last in the water (they were not about to swim in!)

One last word of caution – do some homework on the all-in-one snorkel masks as there have been a few deaths reported from them! (Read More Here).

Let me know if you try the night snorkel. I can’t imagine not loving it and with these tips your kiddos will love it too!

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