Snorkeling Kapalua Beach
Maui Snorkel Guide
Snorkeling Kapalua Beach is very popular, and for good reason. We have snorkeled here many times and not thought much of it, but on a more recent trip we found an area that has some amazing corals, and so we have recently upgraded this location to one of our favorites in our Maui Snorkeling Guide eBook.
This small crescent bay with a gorgeous sandy beach is truly a Hawaii vacation dream. You could stay at Kapalua Resort or Kapalua Bay Hotel and Villas, which are the resorts in front of the beach, and use it everyday.
The snorkeling on the right side of the bay is great, while the left side is okay, but on both you need to swim out to get good visibility and healthy corals. One of the great things about this snorkeling spot is that it is in a fairly protected bay that you can snorkel when the trade winds are blowing and making other locations impossible even to enter the water.
Site Details - Snorkeling Kapalua Beach
Water Entrance When Snorkeling Kapalua
Kapalua is a nice sandy beach, though steep at times. Barefoot entry is easy just keep your eyes out for the occasional rock in the sand. Walk to the end you intend to snorkel and enter there.
Where To Snorkel
To snorkel the right side of the bay, just swim out and stay close to the rocks. The terrain starts out a little boring and dead, but the further out you swim along the rocky point, you get into some very healthy coral fields with many types of corals and large coral heads. The visibility gets better the further out you go. We saw turtles and many fish in a lot of variety here. Expect depths up to 20 feet. Don’t go past the point, as you are likely to encounter strong currents. When you are finished, head back toward the beach, and notice an area that runs parallel with the beach that is mostly rocks, but a number of fish hang out there. Swim toward the other side of the bay. It is not far off the beach and can be some interesting small stuff in shallow water.
The snorkeling on the left side did not compare to the right, but there is some live reef. This side often has poor visibility because it is more exposed to the common wind and wave direction. Like the right side, the reef is pretty dead in close, but there are some nice coral patches and heads further out. We didn’t see nearly as many fish on this side. The depths are similar to the right side. Again, don’t go past the point and swim back to the beach when you are done.
What We Saw Snorkeling Kapalua Beach
For some reason this beach had tons of Sea Cucumbers. We also saw turtles here. Here is a list of the fish we saw: Teardrop Butterflyfish, Bluestripe Butterflyfish, Christmas Wrasse, Saddle Wrasse, Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse, Bird Wrasse, Threadfin Butterflyfish, Trumpetfish, Cornetfish, Humuhumunukunukuapua’a, Lei Triggerfish, Orangeband Surgeonfish, Whitebar Surgeonfish, Brown Surgeonfish, Orangespine Unicornfish, Bluespine Unicornfish, Convict Tang, Bigscale Soldierfish, Hawaiian Whitespotted Toby, Palenose Parrotfish, Ember Parrotfish, Moorish Idol, Bluefin Trevally, Freckled Hawkfish, Barred Filefish, Whitemouth Eel, Gregory, Hawaiian Dascyllus, Blackfin Chromis, Blackspot Sergeant, Hawaiian Sergeant Major, Spotted Boxfish, Scarface Blenny, Ornate Butterflyfish, Rainbow Runner, Manybar Goatfish, and Stripebelly Puffer.
More Snorkeling Kapalua Details
For full details about snorkeling Kapalua Beach, including detailed driving directions (and to find all the best snorkeling spots on Maui), check out our Maui Snorkeling Guide eBook.
Now check out Po'olenalena Beach
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