Snorkeling 5 Caves Maui - eagle rays, turtles and white tips!
by Colleen
Went to 5 Caves/5 Graves in September 2010. Entry was easy with very little surge and the bottom is sandy if you enter near the showers/washrooms area. You head out and around to the right, going around the rocky point. We saw 2 large eagle rays at the very beginning of our trip then had a turtle swim up to greet us from his resting spot on the bottom. There were tons of fish and we even saw a small white tip shark (they're more afraid of you than you should be of them). You may happen upon some scuba divers below, possibly with little scooters even, it's that good of a place. The scuba divers look under the rock ledges to see sharks or other sea life hanging out in the 'caves'. We kept going around the point where we noticed a bunch of snorkel charter boats who charge to bring you to the shore-accessible location. There was a long rock ledge where more turtles were hanging out. We were able to follow that ledge out to the deeper water and then follow it back into shore. We headed to shore keeping to the left of the ridge and this lead us to the place where we came out of the water (at a different location than we put in, the route we chose was just the perfect length for a one-way trip but may be too long to turn around and go back to where you put in). The best place to come out seemed to be behind and to the left of a house where there's a small graveyard (thus the 5 graves name). It's a quick walk (about 5-10 mins)back to your starting point with a shower to greet you to wash off the salty water. If you're wearing fins while snorkeling this is a nice way to do it, there's no backtracking at all. Liked it so much we went two other times during the same trip!
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