Maui Snorkeling Guide
Molokini
Molokini is the pride of Maui snorkeling. It is a little cresent of an island about three miles off Maui's coast that offers some excellent snorkeling. This interesting little piece of land is actually the remains of a volcanic cinder cone.
The only way to get to Molokini to snorkel is by boat, from either Ma'alaea Harbor or the Kihei Boat Ramp.
We have really enjoyed our time snorkeling at Molokini. It offers a relaxing 1/2 day adventure, where you get to take a fun boat ride, feast on good food that you don't have to prepare yourself, and snorkel in some amazingly clear water.
There are many different boat company options for your Molokini adventure. And basically your choices break down into big slow catamarans with lots of people on them, that are the most popular companies. And then you have a variety of faster catamarans and even inflatable rafts that go out quicker, and get you back quicker.
On the big boat we took, you can see it is pretty crowded with people (see two pics below).
Finally, we like to have some freedom. So we don't like being forced to use water noodle floatation devices, and we don't like being told we can only snorkel in close proximity to the boat.
So for all of those reasons, we picked Maui Classic Charters, their Four Winds II boat.
And all and all it was a great choice. The food was good, the price was decent, and they allowed us to snorkel where we wanted, and for a long time. The only real downside that we did not like was that they spend a lot of the boat ride trying to upsell you on snuba, cameras, and videos. And if you don't like being on a boat with a ton of people, then you may want to look into other options.
Site Snorkeling Details - Molokini
Maui Snorkeling
The snorkeling at Molokini is exceptional, for one reason. The water is super clear. In fact the only other location in all the Hawaiian Islands that we found to be nearly as clear was at Captain Cook Monument on the Big Island.
The water clarity is what you should come for. Because there is less variety of fish here, and less interesting coral and underwater topography than some other places. And it is a crowded snorkeling spot. OK, and the boat ride is fun too, but we love boating.
The best snorkeling is right up close to the rocky shore, because the ground drops steadily away the further out you go. It is kind of like swimming along a cliff side. So to see the most fish and corals up close, we found it best to just swim alongside the shore, for nearly the entire length of the crescent shaped island. But we were careful not to swim around the edges of the island because there are bigger waves and currents out there, plus your boat will lose sight of you.
Because of the amazing water clarity, you can see the bottom as it levels out at around 40-60 feet down, where you can often see white-tipped reef sharks, octopus, tons of bigger coral formations, and of course, divers.
Check out the video below. It gives you a sense of the water clarity and shows some of the fish we saw.
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See More Of Our Underwater Pictures & Videos From Molokini!
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