Sustainable Tours on the Big Island: How Body Glove Hawaii Protects the Ocean We Call Home
If you book a boat tour on the Kona Coast, you’re stepping into a place that’s scenic on the surface and culturally and ecologically rich underneath. Kailua Bay is a working harbor, a historic pier, and the doorway to some of the clearest snorkeling water in the Hawaiian Islands. For Body Glove Hawaii, that combination isn’t a marketing angle; it’s a core part of who we are, and the reason we have spent years rebuilding our day-to-day operations around protecting the very thing guests come to see.
What does eco-conscious tourism actually look like in practice on the Big Island? The answer isn’t a glossy pledge or a single big gesture. It’s a string of specific, sometimes unglamorous changes — a composting bin in the galley, a relationship with a local farmer, a choice of sunscreen — that add up.
- Recognizing Our Responsibility to Protect the Ocean We Rely On
- What Does Sustainable Tourism Look Like in Practice on the Big Island?
- From Ice Bags to Earrings: Repurposing Our Last Single-Use Item
- Supporting Our Local Community and Host Culture
- How Does Body Glove Hawaii Track Its Impact?
- Deepening Our Commitment to Sustainability
- Booking an Eco-Friendly Cruise in Kona
Recognizing Our Responsibility to Protect the Ocean We Rely On
Body Glove Hawaii runs catamaran cruises and super-raft tours out of the Kailua Pier in the heart of Kona, including snorkel and dolphin watching tours, whale watching cruises, historical dinner cruises to Kealakekua Bay, and private boat charters.
We’re based out of the Kailua Pier in the heart of Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. It’s a special spot because it’s not just scenic, it’s a gateway to Hawaiian history, culture, and incredible marine life.
That sense of place shapes how we as a company think about our footprint. If we rely on the ocean for our business, we have a responsibility to protect it. Seeing the effects of plastic, debris, and climate change here in Hawaii made it clear that we had to do more. Shifting toward sustainability felt less like a choice and more like the right thing to do for our community, our crew, and future generations.
What Does Sustainable Tourism Look Like in Practice on the Big Island?
We are proud to be recognized as a Kuleana Green Business by the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce. The Kuleana Green Business Program recognizes and honors businesses who promote environmental responsibility and implement sustainable business practices throughout Hawaii.
In Hawaiian, the word “kuleana” means responsibility. Businesses designated “Kuleana Green” are those who recognize and understand their responsibility to create and sustain positive environmental impacts within their communities. As businesses and individuals, they maintain high standards and a strong commitment to their communities and the world around them.
Extensive criteria must be met before being recognized as a Kuleana Green business, including environmental, social, and economic sustainability. The business must prove responsible interaction with the environment that avoids depletion or degradation of natural resources, and their business model must allow for long-term environmental quality.
A lot of “green” claims in the tourism industry stay vague on purpose. At Body Glove Hawaii, our sustainability work is visible on board our cruises and in our day-to-day business practices.
Here are some of the things that differentiate a tour with Body Glove Hawaii:
A Real Food Waste Composting System
The newest addition to our operation is a composting program that diverts thousands of pounds of food scraps from the landfill every year. On an island where landfill space is limited and shipping waste off-island is expensive, that matters.
No Single-Use Plastics On Board
Our crew uses reusable serviceware for food and drinks rather than disposables. This is a relatively small change that, multiplied across thousands of guests a year, takes a measurable amount of plastic out of the waste stream.
Reef-Safe Sunscreen for Guests
Hawaii banned the sale of sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate in 2021 because of their impact on coral reefs. Body Glove Hawaii provides reef-safe sunscreen on every tour so no guest accidentally introduces those chemicals to the snorkel sites. This is a concrete way we can all contribute to protecting coral reefs and their rich ecosystems.
Regular Ocean Cleanups
Our team runs ocean cleanup events that pull debris out of the water around Kona, and we track the pounds of debris removed.
Carbon Offsets Through Carbon Buddy
Guests are offered the option to offset the carbon footprint of their tour, and an overwhelming majority of them do. Over the next five to ten years, our company’s goal is to cover every single tour with offsets by default.
From Ice Bags to Earrings: Repurposing Our Last Single-Use Item
As a boat tour operator, we use a lot of ice. Unfortunately, this ice comes in plastic bags, and those bags pile up fast.
That’s the difference between a sustainability statement and a sustainability practice. Instead of writing off the ice bags as unavoidable, our team found a local small business that turns the waste into something useful. The local company transforms the ice bags into earrings, pouches, and other items.
Supporting Our Local Community and Host Culture
One of the biggest challenges has been balancing cost and convenience with doing things the right way. Choosing local and sustainable options is sometimes more expensive or harder to source, but we’ve committed to it because it supports the community and keeps money in Hawaii. It also builds long-term supplier relationships, and reduces the carbon cost of shipping food and goods across the Pacific.
Body Glove Hawaii donates to local schools and nonprofits, sponsors community events, and gives crew time to volunteer. We also take our role as a guest in Hawaiian culture seriously, sharing the history and stories of Hawaii on our tours, so guests leave with a real connection to the culture. By building a tour around the stories of the place rather than just its scenery, guests leave with context, not just photos.
How Does Body Glove Hawaii Track Its Impact?
One of the easiest ways to spot greenwashing is the absence of numbers. Body Glove Hawaii tracks the things that are actually measurable:
- Pounds of food waste diverted through composting
- Pounds of marine debris removed during ocean cleanups
- Carbon offset through Carbon Buddy
Tracking these numbers keeps us accountable and shows both our team and our guests the difference we are making. That accountability is also what makes it possible to set real future-looking goals instead of simply relying on vague aspirations.
Deepening Our Commitment to Sustainability
While we strive to be good stewards of our environment, we understand adopting eco-friendly practices is an ongoing process. We have concrete goals we’d like to achieve over the next five to 10 years.
- Deepen partnerships with local farmers and suppliers so more of what we serve on board is grown here in Hawaii.
- Expand the carbon offset program so every tour is covered vs. relying on guests to opt in.
- Lean further into guest education so every person who steps off the boat leaves with a better understanding of how to care for the ocean.
Booking an Eco-Friendly Cruise in Kona
If you’re planning a trip to the Big Island and you want to book a boat tour that aligns with your values around sustainable tourism practices, Body Glove Hawaii runs daily departures on the Kona coast. From whale watching to dinner cruises, our tours are kid-friendly and a great way to make fun memories with your family and friends.
Every tour comes with reef-safe sunscreen, reusable serviceware, the option to offset your carbon footprint, and a crew that can tell you the story of the place you’re visiting. We love sharing the magic of this place we call home, and we hope to see you on board!