Two Scarce Commercial Use Permits, One Turnkey Hawaii Island Charter Business

This offering combines a fully-equipped Keauhou Bay manta ray & snorkel charter operation with an exclusive kayak tour concession in Kealakekua Bay, presenting a rare opportunity to acquire a business built on some of the most difficult-to-obtain commercial access rights in the state of Hawaii.

The boating operation holds a DLNR-DOBOR Commercial Ramp Permit for Keauhou Bay, authorizing night manta ray tours, snorkeling, whale watching, and sunset charters. Night manta tours are among the highest-margin, highest-demand tour products in West Hawaii, supporting back-to-back nightly departures and full-capacity trips from a single vessel and crew. The included 1989 HBI 22′ Hard Bottom Inflatable is USCG-certified for 12 passengers and is powered by a new (2025) Suzuki 140HP outboard.

The kayak operation holds one of only two kayak tour permits ever issued by Hawaii State Parks for the entirety of Kealakekua Bay — home to the Captain Cook Monument and one of the most recognized snorkeling destinations in the Pacific. This exclusive right, permitting launches from Nāpōʻopoʻo Pier with landings at Awili Cove, has been held continuously since 2008, an 18-year unbroken operating history with no new competing permit issued in that span. The business is currently ticket priced well below market and under capacity, leaving substantial upside for a new operator.

This listing is priced on asset value and the scarcity of the underlying permits — not on a multiple of EBITDA or SDE. Buyers approaching this deal with a standard cash-flow multiplier will misprice it. These permits are effectively unobtainable today, making them a rare, appreciating asset in their own right, and the valuation reflects that scarcity alongside the hard asset base — not a multiple of current earnings. It’s also worth noting that the current owner has operated well below the business’s real potential, so trailing financials tell an incomplete story. The gap between what this operation produces today and what it’s capable of represents meaningful upside for the buyer, not a reason to discount the price.

This opportunity is well-suited for:

• An established Hawaii Island tour operator looking to add a proven, high-margin tour product
• A buyer looking to acquire scarce, government-limited marine tourism access rights
• An investor seeking long-term value in a dual-permit structure with embedded operating upside

Offered as a combined package: operating entity, vessel, kayak fleet, and both commercial use permits.

Additional details regarding financials, permits, and included equipment are available to qualified buyers upon request.