Island Currents
A white twin-hull charter boat with a small family aboard cruising glassy water off the Kohala Coast at sunrise, Kohala Mountain behind
Private boat charters from Kawaihae

Your ocean, your way.

Fish, snorkel with honu, watch humpbacks or catch the sunset anywhere on the west side of Hawaiʻi Island — Kohala Coast to South Point — on a boat that carries only your group, with a USCG-licensed captain at the helm.

Private charters for up to 6 guests · priced per boat, not per person

USCG-licensed captainPrivate — up to 6 guestsYou keep your catchHead on boardWeather cancel = full refund
Choose your charter

Four trips, one boat that’s all yours

Every charter is private, and every one can be bent to suit your group.

Family Combo

Troll to the FAD for ono, mahi and ahi, then snorkel a Kohala reef where honu usually are.

  • 4, 5 or 6 hours
  • Fishing + reef snorkel
  • Private, up to 6
From$795 per boat
Book

Sportfishing

Half or three-quarter day off Kawaihae from a center console set up for every tactic — and the fish is yours to keep.

  • Half day or ¾ day
  • Ono, mahi, ahi, marlin
  • Private, up to 6
From$795 per boat
Book

Whale Watching

Humpbacks, calves and song through the water, with just your group aboard.

  • 2.5 hours
  • Peak January – February
  • Private, up to 6
Introductory$695 per boat
Book

Sunset Cruise

Golden hour on the Kohala Coast — for anniversaries, birthdays, or no reason at all.

  • 2.5 hours, timed to sunset
  • Great for celebrations
  • Private, up to 6
Introductory$695 per boat
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Why private

No crowd of strangers. Just your people.

The big catamarans drop 20 to 50 people in the water at once. Capt. Scott has watched snorkelers get kicked in the face and lose their masks on those trips, and he built Island Currents to be the opposite.

With six guests or fewer, the day bends around you. Scott can go a little farther, get to the reef before or after the crowds, and spend longer on whatever your group is loving — fishing, cruising the coast, or a second snorkel stop.

“On my tours we start off as guests, but we leave as family.”

Capt. Scott
Pod of dolphins gliding underwater, photographed by Capt. Scott
Your captain

Capt. Scott has been fishing since he was five.

His grandpa got him started on an Illinois farm. Since then: the Atlantic off Florida, Southern California and Baja, and two years running his own charters out of Kona at up to three trips a day. Island Currents is the retirement he’s been working toward.

Meet Capt. Scott
USCGlicensed Master captain, near coastal
443charters in his final year in Kona — not counting night manta trips
2018running charters since, fishing his whole life
700lbblack marlin, his biggest fish, off Kona
Straight answers

What other boats don’t tell you

The questions families weigh hardest before booking a charter — answered up front.

You keep the fishScott fillets your catch and you take as much as you want. “Most all other boats keep ahi to sell. That rubs guests the wrong way and I won’t do that.”

Honest oddsOn a good run in peak ono season, about 7 trips in 10 land fish. In slow months it’s closer to 1 in 4. Nobody bats a thousand.

There’s a head aboardYes, a bathroom on the boat. Shade is a T-top only, so bring a hat.

We leave at 7am on purposeMornings are flat calm with the clearest water. The wind off Kohala Mountain and the channel fills in by afternoon, so we go before it does.

Weather cancel = full refundIf Scott calls a trip for wind or sea conditions, you get your money back — or a new date if you’d rather and the calendar allows.

Nervous snorkelers welcomeScott will lend you gear before the trip so you can practice at a beach first. On the day, there are flotation vests and no rush.

Not just the Kohala CoastScott’s permit covers the entire west side of the island, northern tip to South Point. Kohala is less crowded, but we can fish south and snorkel Kealakekua Bay (Captain Cook) too.

Never leave the dock without a planReach out before the trip and Scott will make a game plan with you — current, tides, water temperature and chlorophyll — to give your group the best experience possible.

Read every answer in the FAQ →

Five trolling rods in rod holders at the stern of a boat at sunrise
The boat

Clean, stable, and honest about it.

A 2006 Glacier Bay 2260 Canyon Runner: a 22½-foot twin-engine catamaran that rides bigger than it is. The twin hulls make it a steadier ride for anyone prone to motion sickness, and the open deck gives everyone an unobstructed view.

It’s not a luxury yacht, and we won’t pretend it is. In Scott’s words, it’s “a clean, stable, economical boat that will get you on the fish, and the reef, and back to the dock safely.”

  • Up to 6 guests, your group only
  • Head (bathroom) on board
  • Cooler and stereo; T-top for shade

Ready when the ocean is.

Tell Scott what you want out of the day and he’ll build the trip around it. Private, up to six guests, from Kawaihae.

CallBook now