Fishing Charter Excursion in Kona

[Cruisegal1]

Has anyone taken this excursion in Kona? My husband is interested in it for our trip in early September via NCL Pride of Hawaii. He loves to fish and wants to know if it's worth the time and money to take it. I guess it's a 5-hour trip? Any suggestions and/or advice you can provide would be most appreciated. Thanks! :D

[santaloveroh]

My husband is signed up for that trip on POH 9/3/07. Love to hear any advice also.

[Eagle1]

Aloha, We Are Plaining On Going October And I Just Might Be Interested In Some Big Fish, Fishing ! That Is If It Is Not To Pricey Anyone Know What The Cost Is. Mahalo

[Ottawa_Guy]

We are booked for the Deep Sea fishing tour from the Pride of Hawaii October . 15 , price is $179.00 each .

 

Try booking on your own cost more unless you can share the cost with a few people .

 

Cheers .

[seansmum]

My husband and I booked a share charter independently a lot cheaper than NCL's. We are on the Pride of America 9/01/07 sailing. We were hoping to find another couple to join us and share the cost. That way we would only have 4 people on board. Any takers let me know. The cost to go on our charter was $109.00 each for 4 hours. You can rent the whole boat $375.00 for the same time.

Sue

[spleenstomper]

We went and in retrospect it was a very expensive boat ride and a waste of time and money. (and we are fishers so we aren't blaming anyone for that... just that is the nature of fishing).

 

None of the tours caught anything. We had 1 strike in 5 hours... a mahi mahi and it only lasted about 1 minute.

 

I think it was close to 400.00 for the two of us... booked through the ship and had a total of 6 people on the tour boat. (each boat took 6 people).

 

The locals said usually the only tours that catch anything are the day long tours.

 

The way it works is that they have 5 fishing poles and ONE person sits for 15 minutes at the station. If there is a strike, you work it until the end of that strike. If you don't have a strike, at the end of 15 minutes, the next person takes his seat for his 15 minute session.

 

So basically, if you aren't manning the seat... you're just sitting there, bored to tears...I slept probably 2 of the 5 hours.

 

So for 400.00, you get a total of 30 or 45 minutes of sitting at the pole seat while the captain trolls for fish.

 

It isn't like a normal fishing trip... where you cast and reel in. You don't cast. You don't reel in.

 

You just either sit there or sleep. Even for your fifteen minutes, you just sit there and wait for a strike.

 

All of the tours were like this.

 

I would have preferred to snorkel or see Kona.

 

Bummer.

[spleenstomper]

Here is a photo of DH during one of his 15 minute seat sessions:

 

(P.S. Whether you catch anything or not, don't forget to tip the captain and his crew... that is their livelihood and NOT their boats!)

[seansmum]

We went and in retrospect it was a very expensive boat ride and a waste of time and money. (and we are fishers so we aren't blaming anyone for that... just that is the nature of fishing).

 

None of the tours caught anything. We had 1 strike in 5 hours... a mahi mahi and it only lasted about 1 minute.

 

I think it was close to 400.00 for the two of us... booked through the ship and had a total of 6 people on the tour boat. (each boat took 6 people).

 

The locals said usually the only tours that catch anything are the day long tours.

 

The way it works is that they have 5 fishing poles and ONE person sits for 15 minutes at the station. If there is a strike, you work it until the end of that strike. If you don't have a strike, at the end of 15 minutes, the next person takes his seat for his 15 minute session.

 

So basically, if you aren't manning the seat... you're just sitting there, bored to tears...I slept probably 2 of the 5 hours.

 

So for 400.00, you get a total of 30 or 45 minutes of sitting at the pole seat while the captain trolls for fish.

 

It isn't like a normal fishing trip... where you cast and reel in. You don't cast. You don't reel in.

 

You just either sit there or sleep. Even for your fifteen minutes, you just sit there and wait for a strike.

 

All of the tours were like this.

 

I would have preferred to snorkel or see Kona.

 

Bummer.

We live in an area where the fishing is great. Some days you don't catch a fish,but the joy of being together and enjoing the day is great.:)Charters can be had for half that price .If there are five fishing poles and six people I don't understand why only one person sits at the station. Even so I would hope that the company on the boat is fun and being on the water in a smaller boat in Hawaii is an adventure in itself. You know a bad day of fishing could be the start of new friendships or a way of strengthening the old. Sorry your company was so bad. Enjoy where you are and who you're with.

Sue

[spleenstomper]

Well, Sue, I don't really make friends with 2 hung over dudes, 1 sleeping 21 year old and his dad. Ya know? The company was not fun, I was bored to tears and no one spoke to anyone. I did have a good conversation with the captain and leaned about his life, his foster children, his wife, etc and his life as a Hawaiian.

 

Out of all the excursions, there were 2 females... myself and another woman on another ship.

 

If you look at the pictures, you will see how the poles are set up. That was how they were set up on all the other boats we saw. You can't cast and reel because of the nature of the fishing trip. On other boats, one person was at the fishing chair.

 

When you book, I'd either call or e-mail the company you choose and see if this is common protocol of if I indeed had a "bad" company.

 

From how I experienced it and from what I saw, this is how they all do it.

 

Please let me know for future reference if you found some independent company that actually lets you fish. I'd be surprised if you did, but I'd like to know in case we go back to the Big Island again.

[seansmum]

If you look at the pictures, you will see how the poles are set up. That was how they were set up on all the other boats we saw. You can't cast and reel because of the nature of the fishing trip. On other boats, one person was at the fishing chair.

 

When you book, I'd either call or e-mail the company you choose and see if this is common protocol of if I indeed had a "bad" company.

 

From how I experienced it and from what I saw, this is how they all do it.

 

Please let me know for future reference if you found some independent company that actually lets you fish. I'd be surprised if you did, but I'd like to know in case we go back to the Big Island again.

Thanks Spleenstomper, I only saw the one picture but, I'll check into that and get back to you. Perhaps we should just pay the $375 and get the boat to ourselves. Thanks again!!

Sue

[spleenstomper]

Please let me know what you find out... cause we do plan to go back to Hawaii in a few years and as you can tell, I REALLY regret doing that excursion.

 

And, yeah, I totally agree that it would have been more fun if we had a lively group.

[Jeepers385]

My husband and I booked a share charter independently a lot cheaper than NCL's. We are on the Pride of America 9/01/07 sailing. We were hoping to find another couple to join us and share the cost. That way we would only have 4 people on board. Any takers let me know. The cost to go on our charter was $109.00 each for 4 hours. You can rent the whole boat $375.00 for the same time.

Sue

 

Sue,

DH & I are going on the Pride of Aloha in September and he wants to charter the boat for himself. Could you email me who you used. Address is Jeepers385@optonline.net and put CC in the subject.

Thanks a lot.

[Nauti Nana]

Hi Seansmum! My husband and I might be interested in sharing your charter (9/1 sailing of Pride of America) if you haven't found anyone yet. With whom did you book? Also, we were concerned about making sure we get back to the boat on time since we're only there for the day. What time is your charter? Thanks.

[seansmum]

Hi, We have decided to book the whole boat. We would be more than open to having another couple share the cost. Like I said we like to enjoy ourselves, we are in our fifties. A cocktail or two will probably be consumed but I don't think anyone will be getting drunk. I think it will be a lot of fun. It would be my husband's dream to catch a marlin. I personally am more interested in taking photographs. Age is not a factor but we would like to find another couple who are like minded to share the time with. Tell us a little about yourselves. If you are not comfortable in this forum email me at susanbicknell@yahoo.com. Hope to here from you! The charter is from 10:30AM until 2:30PM.

Sue