Expert Review: Cruising Small in Hawaii

To consider taking a small ship Hawaiian Island cruise, you need to first understand the norm of vacationing in the Hawaiian Islands.

The average Hawaii tourist experience often means navigating busy sidewalks in high-foot-traffic areas, vying for sandy real estate on a crowded beach or driving in circles in your rental car looking for parking at the nearby snorkel spot. And big ship cruises here only access the busiest port towns and cities.

After having done it different, I can now say: To experience Hawaii in a way that few have the chance to is an experience not to be missed.  

With the access of the 36-guest Safari Explorer, and the local knowledge from the ship’s skilled guides, the Hawaiian Seascapes Cruise presents exactly this opportunity. My week aboard this perfectly sized vessel was full of ship-based water activities complemented with unique opportunities to explore inland with local guides and residents of the islands.

Here are a few key things to know about this trip before you book: 

More Adventure, Less Beach 

This is an adventure-based itinerary, much like most of the operator’s cruises worldwide (see UnCruise Adventures). The excursion opportunities will be diverse, and there will always be a variety of levels of intensity offered. But it’s important to note this trip is not about beach time.

For the most part, all beaches in Hawaii are public and everyone knows about them. You’re not going to find unpopulated remote beaches. The islands themselves are all coastline, no inlets and sheltered coves like you experience on an Alaska cruise, for example. If you like to read a book with your toes in the sand, book some time pre- or post-cruise to do it.  

To give an idea about level of activity, on my trip we had 6x snorkeling opportunities (including manta ray night snorkeling), 3x kayaking/skiff tour options and 2x hikes. These stats may be modified due to weather and wildlife.  

If snorkeling is not a preferred activity of yours, note that this will mean some extra downtime aboard the vessel. This is because there is no alternate activity offered when snorkel excursions are happening since both skiffs are used for that activity.

Activities Are Offered in Two Different Kinds of Capacities 

Operator Guided Activities from the Ship: With the highly maneuverable Safari Explorer as the basecamp for your adventure, she will be anchored offshore as you move through your succession of islands. When the vessel is anchored, onboard guides will offer a multitude of water-based activities. These include things like Zodiac cruising, snorkeling, kayaking and back deck swim parties.

The crew has a lot of flexibility in where they anchor, and what activities they do based on weather and trade winds. All snorkels are deep-water snorkels (from the Zodiac). All kayaking is open-ocean kayaking and launched from the stern of the Safari Explorer.  

Third-Party Outfitter Activities: In a place like Hawaii where there aren’t a ton of untouched wilderness areas, you will instead have a handful of activity options that utilize local, third-party outfitters instead of just the guides on the ship. These activities are things like the Halawa Valley family visit and/or waterfall hike, Pa’ina feast, Lana’i Adventure Park options, Hualalai volcano hike and the manta ray night snorkel.

This is atypical of traditional small ship cruising outside of the Mediterranean (and very unlike other UnCruise cruises, especially if you have traveled on one in Alaska). But it’s also proof that UnCruise as an operator adapts to provide the best experience within whatever destination they operate.  

Expect Great Guides & Hawaiian Inspired Food 

The crew and staff on this trip provide an experience that can rival any other trip to Hawaii, and exceed it I’d say for comradery.

Operator UnCruise Adventures is known for their staff and fun-forward customer service, and this trip delivered. The enthusiasm and knowledge of the guides and crew is inspiring. Everyone is so eager to show you the best time, and they met the mark on my trip with flying colors.  

In addition to this, the imaginative culinary offerings with the occasional Hawaiian twist had me excited for each plated mealtime. And to tide us over between each meal or activity, we had the creative contributions of the stewards and bar staff, who provided a cocktail or mocktail of the day, and other delicious libations.  

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Pro Tips 

• The Hawaiian Seascapes itinerary travels from Molokai to Big Island, or in reverse. Both directions will offer the same opportunities and there is no obvious “better direction.” However, my opinion is: 
  • Choose Molokai to Big Island if you want the more complex travel day before your cruise, and you want to end with snorkeling highlights.  
  • Choose Big island to Molokai if you want to add an extra day enjoying the sleepy, seldom touristed island of Molokai; and if you want to end with a cultural and/or waterfall highlight.  
• On the Molokai overnight on either day 1 or day 7, you will be tied up to the dock (not anchored offshore). This is because all activities in Molokai are land based and require overland transfers. But we didn’t have a chance to leave the dock to explore town on our own. 
• Choose your cabin wisely. Read my Safari Explorer ship review for detailed input about indoor vs. outdoor cabins as well as some considerations for choosing queen beds. If you opt for an upgraded cabin, my favorites are B1 for its location/size and of course either of the Commodore Suites where you have access to both inside and outside from your cabin.  
• The dining room has open seating, and you will benefit from moving around and sitting with new people each meal. Embrace the opportunity to mingle and learn about your fellow travelers. It really added to the cohesion of my week aboard, allowing for there to not be any cliques and we all were friends by the end. 
• Bring your own snorkeling mask. Just the mask though! While the ship has all the gear, I had issues with the mask that fit me fogging fairly often. If I did it again, I would bring my own mask, but use the snorkel and fins that the ship provides. 
• Pack a light insulated layer for snorkeling. I decided at the last minute to throw a slightly insulated, zip-up, long-sleeve top in my suitcase. And boy I’m glad I did. Even with pleasant temperatures underwater, snorkel excursions can last for 1-2 hours. Having an added layer of warmth helped keep me in the water for longer so I had more opportunity to spot marine life. The only wetsuits provided were for the manta ray night snorkel activity, pictured below. 

Our team has decades of experience booking this trip. Read more Hawaii cruise reviews from our travelers below. Or, view more images of the Hawaiian Seascapes Cruise experience in our two Facebook albums: Taylor’s cruise from 2024 and Chris’s trip from 2015.