Bob’s Hawaii Adventure

If you are not Japanese, don’t do this activity ever. They just assumed us as Japanese and didn’t tell us enough about the activity. It was a scooter+snorkeling package, but we were not helped or guided with snorkeling at all from the beginning. After finishing the scooter we waited for some staff to help us or at least tell us about snorkeling, but what we had to do was just staying on a boat for long and long and suffering from sea sick. They didn’t brief ANYTHING about snorkeling in English but in Japanese. They said they thought we were Japanese! What a nonsense. We just missed the part of the package! Well the first language should have been English, not Japanese. They should take care of other customers too. Moreover they didn’t do a partial refund either.

First time scuba scootering and it was interesting. The views from the boat and under the sea was great. But if you can’t swim be cautious. There’s no swimming involved but if you can’t you may freak out once they drag you under. Also if you get sea sick we advise you to take some type of meds before getting on the boat.
Over all the experience was great. You get to see underwater sea life up close without getting your hair wet

Had a great time. Divers and captain are crazy cool. Very friendly, helpful and made sure we were safe and having a good time while in the bob. we had so much fun, we got to snorkel and check out the fishes and turtles while waiting for our turn in the bob. Then finally when it was our turn it was such a cool experience. Although there was not much reef or variety of fish it was still amazing to see the fish we did. My diver Mike threw food right in front of me so fish would surround us feedig on the food, he also gave me a bunch of food at one point which I held on to and fed the fish from my hand. Last what I thought was such a sweet touch was he picked a shell of the sea floor signaled for me to open my hand and dropped it in my hand. My fav part was when we were swimming side by side with a turtle and at another point a turtle floated directly above me as I looked up above me. That in itself was such a peaceful and calming experience it’s like you’re in a whole different world. I loved it so much. I want to go back already .
Thanks George for being a awesome captain. And Mike and Taylor for being awesome dive instructors.

Had a blast today! Mike & Taylor were awesome dive masters. I always wanted to scuba or snorkel but never had the opportunity. I was able to snorkel for several minutes before taking my turn on the BOB — kinda like an underwater moped. Seeing the fish & 3 big turtles up close & personal was so cool! The staff members were friendly and funny, too.
No problems with seasickness — just beautiful scenery all the way. I totally recommend. Don’t even hassle with buying a disposable underwater camera. They take great pix with you and the fish underwater, and you can buy the whole disc for only $ 20.

Not the biggest fan of the underwater bob. You really don’t have control over the bob, it is more the guy behind you that is steering where you are going. It was fun feeding the fish underwater, but overall not on my list of top things to do in Hawaii. The snorkeling was ok, but you can’t go to far from the boat.

I still give it 5 stars for the quality service that the crew on the boat gave to me personally. I had such a great time even though I was motion sick. If you tend to get sea sick, you should definitely take a tablet at least 1 – 2 hours prior to getting to the shop. When I went, there were 4 BOBs and everyone took a turn of about 15 minutes or so, which to me was enough time. The divers were very nice and made sure to keep on checking with me on the pressure in my ears. The experience was awesome, watching the fish swim around right in front of you in the crystal clear water. The water temperature wasn’t bad either and I wore a bikini, many others wore the wet suits.
They have all the equipment for snorkeling, including fins. I only saw fish when I was snorkeling but did see a couple of turtles surface while I was on the boat. Someone said they saw a ray! Make sure you bring a towel to dry off because once you get out of the water, the wind can pick up a bit and it can get chilly. Oh yes, stay away from the sides of the boat’s poles since it’s greased up with oil.
Can I also say that I know in Japan that they don’t tip but dang, you’re in another country, out of courtesy for other customs, you should tip, especially if the crew worked their butt off so everyone had a good time. Maybe they don’t know. Well, hopefully they do now.
Oh yes, it does take a while to wait for everyone to get their pictures onto a disk so, there will be a lot of waiting. You can sun bathe on the deck or you can bring a book to read while waiting for everyone to have a turn.

super awesome. my friends and i were really nervous when we got on the boat, and kind of had that «shit, why did i do this to myself» feeling. But wow, we’re so glad we did it! When you first enter the water it can be a bit scary because u have no idea what you’ll experience, but it wasn’t bad at all! Everything was amazing and really relaxing once you got down in the water. the guides and divers are also super friendly and nice, it felt kinda like family, must be a hawaiian thing :) oh, forgot to mention: the black big fish kind of chews, so watch your fingers! all the tiny fish are pretty chill, but the black ones must be reaalllly hungry — i pull back every time they swim toward me.

I cannot swim. This was the best thing for me because of that! I also hate water in my face/​up my nose. I was nervous at first but after you are dunked into the water… the nervousness goes away and all it is, is EXCITING! The guide helps you and takes u to spots where there are more fishies… they give you bread to feed the fishies and they eat it out of your hands, it’s so cool! This is the best way to get up close and personal with underwater life if you can’t have water in your face, like me. The boat ride out to the designated spot was very crazy and made most of the people on the boat seasick… so if this is a problem for you… don’t forget the Dramamine and ginger!

Ok, so after doing this, I really felt like I needed to post a review because I feel that they don’t give enough information on what to expect.
So they start off with a video and instructions on how to use the BOB and the do’s and don’ts while you’re underwater. Pretty simple and straightforward. Then they offer some wetsuits for you to put on if you desire. I didn’t, but I kind of wished that I had. I would recommend it if you have a tendency to get cold.
I went with my boyfriend and there were actually 23 other people there for the same thing. I personally didn’t expect that many. After everyone was ready, we all went to the dock which was right next door so that was convenient. But we find that there are only 5 BOBs on the boat. Kind of surprising considering how many of us there were.
So the ride out to the ocean was ok. A little rough at times, but not so bad. One of the crew gave us each a number so that we knew who was going 1^st, 2^nd and so forth. So when our numbers came up, we went to the rear of the boat where they had 2 BOBs sitting on the gate. They told us to slide to the edge of the boat and then put our heads up into the bubble first and then sit down on the seat.
By the way, the bubble is not enclosed. I think that how it works is that the air tank constantly pushes air inside so no water is able to make its way in.
Anyway, so when we are ready, they lower the gate. The water at first is very cold. But it gets better once you’re fully underwater. They said the temperature would be around 75 – 80 degrees F, I think. So it’s kind of on the edge of too cold for some but warm enough for others. We each have a scuba diver with us to direct us around and make sure we’re ok.
So once we’re down, the diver takes us off the gate and we get to wander. We don’t go very far and they give us the illusion that we can steer. We aren’t allowed to use the controls for up and down, but we can turn left and right. The BOB is constantly moving forward. But I don’t feel like I’m moving, or at least very fast. Sometimes the diver would just move me himself, so I feel like the steering is pointless. But once you’re looking around, it’s pretty cool. The divers attract the fish because they have bread. And a few times they give us the bread to feed the fish ourselves. It’s fun, but be aware that they will nip you a few times and it feels like a pinch. But besides like 30 small, tropical fish there really isn’t that much to see. The water is clean and nice. The few fish I see are cool. We did see sea turtles, which was really cool. The one my boyfriend saw was really big apparently. But nothing else. I guess I had hoped to see a lot more fish and a greater variety. I thought we would be surrounded by them, but mostly all we saw was the emptiness of the ocean.
Anyway, so you’re down there exploring a little for maybe 10 mins (hard to say). Then when you get back up to the boat, you get to snorkel while you wait for everyone else to finish their turn. But for me, the wait was horrendous. I can get sea sick at times and so this was not a good scenario for me. I’m fine with taking a boat ride out and back in, but to have to wait for an extended period of time on an idle boat, that is way too much. I personally was expecting only a few of us, maybe 6 – 8 people in the group, and we would each have a scooter to go down in at the same time. But to have 25 people and only 5 BOBs created a problem for me. We had to have been out there for 1.5 hrs. The boat obviously is just going to hover in the same spot while everyone goes down. So there was definitely a lot of bobbing up and down in the ocean. Needless to say, I and 4 others got sick and stayed at the side of the boat until it was finally time to go back to shore. I found it rather surprising that the company doesn’t notify you of this aspect of the activity. There should be a warning.
Anyway, once you’re back, they show you the pictures the divers took and you can decide if you want to buy them or not.
Overall, the experience kind of sucked just because I ended up getting sick for most of the trip. But if it weren’t for that, I’d still say the activity itself was like a B– rating. It is a novelty, but if you don’t like snorkeling this might be a good alternative since no water ever touches your face and you don’t have to worry about getting water up your nose or in your mouth. But it stinks that you can’t stay down there longer, have more control over the BOB, or go further away and do some real exploring.

This was a great experience! You are only under water for about 15 minutes but you get to touch and feed the fish and it is just cool to be able to be under there and be able to breathe in your giant bubble. The boat ride over to your area is a little bumpy so you will most likely get sick.

I heard about «BOB» online and thought this would be a great way to go diving without really diving. We’ve both been snorkeling so we decided to give this a try since it was new to both of us. The only drawback is having to equalize your ears when you get lowered in the water — it’s crucial you do this otherwise your ears will be uncomfortable. You take a short boat ride and up to 4 BOBs can be lowered in the water depending on how many people are on the boat. Once lowered, there are divers helping guide you around and are there to check on you.

I first saw these thingy-ma-BOB’s on the Travel Channel and thought it looked really weird and fun. So we booked a ride on this little underwater scooter while in Honolulu. The online price is $ 75 per person.
If driving, you meet up at their store located in the Koko Marina shopping center. There you watch a safety video and get fitted for a spring wetsuit (short legs). Even if you think you might not need a wetsuit, just bring it anyways, you can always take it off. We ended up feeling a little chilly even though it was a beautiful warm day.
We missed the video training which made us even more nervous than before. The guides were really nice though, told us not worry about it and gave us a quick tutorial on the boat ride over to the dive spot. They said it was really easy and you could do it even if you can’t swim. They helped a lot in calming our nerves. Also didn’t hurt that one of the guides was very cute and flirtatious. The only thing I was worried about was equalizing your ear pressure underwater. Plug your nose, hold your breath, and kind of pop your ears as you go down in the BOB. This part might be nerve-​wracking to some people. In fact, one young boy — probably around 12 or 13 — panicked while descending, couldn’t equalize his ears, and had to come back up. That worried me a bit, but it ended up being okay. I can’t hold my breath for longer than 3 seconds, so I just prayed the bubble wouldn’t burst!
While underwater, they give you pieces of bread to feed the fish. All sorts of fish come swimming up to you. Some were a little bit too big for my comfort and kinda scary with their teeth chomping down. As for the steering of the BOB… I really don’t know if my steering made any difference. There is a diver directing you anyways, so it’s not like you could go crashing to the bottom. The trickiest part for me was getting back onto the boat. The waters were a bit rocky and I slipped on my ‘okole and fell back into the water. Haha. The workers were very concerned and rushed over to make sure I was okay. Nice to know they are very attentive.
Only 2 BOBs can go at a time, so the rest of the time was spent swimming in the water. It’s not really a snorkel spot, so there isn’t too much to see unless you swim around where the BOBs are. Also, the current was fairly strong and we would drift quite a ways after only a short time.
They take pictures of you underwater and you can choose which ones you want when you get back to the store. No pressure to buy anything. I would recommend this activity for people who don’t scuba. It’s definitely a unique experience. And don’t forget to take Dramamine even if you think you don’t need it. Some people were a little woozy with motion sickness on our boat.

if you don’t like getting your face wet or opening your eyes in the water then Bob’s is for you. Your hair stays dry while in this BOB (Breathing Observation Bubbles) — it’s incredible! actually, it’s like holding a cup over water — that pocket of air keeps everything dry. Just a warning though, the boat ride can get bumpy if the winds pick up.
So, you just ride this motorized vehicle in the water and oxygen is pumped in your bubble while you feed fishes. They have crew on board that are divers who guide you to the schools of fishes and give you bread to feed the fish. They also take your pictures underwater, but at amusement park photo prices. Or buy all on a CD.
i’ve been on this activity twice and last year’s and this years were both very enjoyable. it is just too cool. Probably should go into the 1000 Things You Must Do Before You Die book.
see pics!