Snorkelling in Maui

[randallino]

I am looking for recommendations for places to go snorkelling in Maui, any suggestions?

[Delphinus]

There are a few good spots offshore but the best snorkelling will be to book yourself a boat ride over to Molokini crater.

I recommend this book "Maui Revealed". It will list a lot of the better snorkel spots. http://www.hawaiirevealed.com/books-apps/maui-revealed

[dare2dv8]

Makena...Aka Turtle Town. Just 10 min south of Kihei. You can pay for the boat tour but why when you can do it for free.

Just ask the staff at Snorkel Bob's for directions.

[Nizzmo]

Molokini crater... i love hawaii so much i wanna go back

[hillegom]

Want to go...

[randallino]

Thanks everybody for the info.

[Stones]

Depending on where you are staying on the island, you likely have at least one very good snorkeling spot close by.

If you are staying in west Maui (Lahina, Kanaapali, Honokawai) by far the nicest reef with the greatest diversity of fish was at Honolua bay. It's located ~5 miles north of Honokawai adjacent to Slaugherhouse beach (which also has some decent snorkeling). It's about a 1/4 mile walk from the parking area at the bend in the highway to the bay. Get there early as there aren't too many spots to park and it fills up rather quikly. Both the walking trail and beach are located on private land and the landowners collect donations in order to keep the area open to the public. The bay is also classified as a marine preserve so no sunscreen is allowed in the water unless it is "reef safe". We managed to find some at the Pacific Wale Foundation shop in Maalaea. There is literally no beach there either as it's all medium to large sized bolders which makes walking quite difficult.

If you are staying in south Maui (Maalaea, Kihei, Wailea) your best bet is a place called "The dumps". It is just south of Ahihi Bay at the border of the Ahihi Kinau Natural Preserve. There is a large gravel parking lot on the west side of the road with a few portable toilets. Parking is usually not an issue as it was never very busy when we were there. It's also about a 1/4 mile walk from the parking lot through a lava field to the beach. The terrain is pretty rough but there is now a decent path cleared out through the lava rock that makes the walk much easier.

If you have ever heard about "The aquarium" or "The fishbowl" snorkeling spots in Maui, they have been shut down by the state due to damage to the reefs caused by too many tourists. "The dumps" is where the state has re-directed all of the would be snorkelers to since the closure of the aquarium and the fishbowl. The dumps has some really interesting underwater structure with tons of fish and a healthy reef. Unlike Honolua bay, the dumps is not protected by a bay so the water here can be quite surgy and sometimes sturred up by incoming waves. Pods of spinner dolphins frequent this area and can often be seen if you snorkel out far enough from the shore.

As the others have stated, definately take a boat trip out to the Molokini crater. Visibility under water is often >150 feet and there are tons of fish that you won't see anywhere else on the island. This was the only location I saw achilles tangs and blue throat triggers. The reef itself doesn't have much structure to it but the abundance of fish more than makes up for this.

I personally wasn't too impressed by "Turtle town" however there is several spots on the island called this so I can't vouch for all of them. The one we snorkelled at was close to Kihei I believe as we stopped there on the way back from the Molokini crater. Visibility under water was very poor and the reef was quite deep in most spots (>30 ft). The area did have some very neat structure though as some of the most recent lava flows formed unique caves, points, ridges and shelves. This was the only place I ever felt uncomfortable in the water due to the poor visiblity,the greater depth (I couldn't see bottom where the boat was anchored so it had to be at least 60 feet) and the fact that you are quite a ways off shore when you are at the reef.

I've also heard lots of good things about Black Rock located in front of the Sheraton hotel in Kanapaali, west Maui. We never did get to snorkel there as parking is a total PITA. I'm sure you'd have to be at the beach prior to 6 am to get an all day parking spot.

There are a few other decent snorkeling spots along the west coast of Maui and as Tony already mentioned, definately pick yourself up a copy of Maui Revealed as it will have more detailed directions to get to many of these snorkeling spots. It can be found on amazon or if you don't want to do any pre-reading, Costco in Kahului had it for half the price.

Hope the info helps and enjoy your trip to Maui!