Molokini

Is this snorkeling destination really as good as advertised? Has anyone taken the Pride of Maui trip? Recommendations???

Molokini

I liked Molokini. The water was very beautiful, but was disappointed in the amount of fish. Really not that many. We went to Lani i on the same trip and it was really amazing. The water was not as clear, but there were more fish and the underwater topography was more diverse. I would do Molokini again just for the water. Michelle

Molokini

Lana`i has better snorkeling. Molokini is OK if you only have the half-day to spend. Either is great if you go on Paragon or Trilogy, which will do a performance sail on the way back.

For snorkeling, we didn%26#39;t think that Molokini was worth the time and expense. On the way we saw some whales (February), but we had already done a separate whale trip (highly recommended!). All of my best snorkeling experiences in Maui have been from the beach.

90% of the activity is the ride out and back. You see flying fish, dolphins and maybe a whale if you are there during season. The bigger boats have food and drinks (after you are done swiming you can drink). I keep hearing about the lack of fish but I really think it depends on when you go (time of year) and how much you swim around. We have seen tons of fish of all varieties at Molokini. If you are going just to see fish, go to the Maui aquarium instead and you will see more than you would at any snorkel spot.

Brighton Bill is right. I too have been to Molokini lots of times and there was always a large number of fish.

The Pride of Maui is a hugh ship with lots of people. Find a smaller outfit and you will have a lot more fun.

You%26#39;ll get a variety of responses. It%26#39;s very popular and very crowded. You can see the boats piled-up from shore. I would take a pass.

If you get the chance, snorkel on Lanai ... Black Rock (mornings) ... and there are several other good spots on the island.

I asked the same question a while back, and the general consensus that that it is OK if you really want to go for a boat ride, but if you want to snorkle with fish, Black Rock or Honolua Bay are just as good or better, and are free. That%26#39;ll be where I%26#39;ll be next week :-)

Having previously snorkeled at a couple of spots in the Virgin Islands and Bahamas, as well as off the beach at Black Rock, we loved Molokini. Not a ton of fish or coral, but certainly enough colorful fish to keep us happy, and the spectacular clarity of the water made it well worth it. We went with a smaller boat -- Aqua Adventure (www.mauisnorkelsnuba.com), that offered both snorkeling and Snuba (like Scuba, but with an air tank that you pull behind you up on the surface in a little raft; you don%26#39;t need to be certified or have prior experience to Snuba), and stopped first at Molikini and then went off to one of the ';Turtle Towns'; on the south side of Maui. We snorkeled at Molokini, where the boat was able to tie up at the far north point of the crater, basically by ourselves away from the other boats. Didn%26#39;t feel crowded at all.

We then motored on and did snuba at the Turtle Town. The water was much less clear at the second site, but we got right down with the turtles (in many cases under them), and even came up on two having ';private time.'; We highly recommend Snuba if you%26#39;ve never tried it, and if you go with Aqua Adventure make sure you ask as soon as you get to the dock to have them put you on the Turtle Town snuba list, rather than the Molokini list (otherwise they do a sort of random draw during the sail over to assign people to one spot or the other; folks who did Snuba at Molokini missed out on the same turtle experience).

I thought Molokini was worth it and really enjoyed the snorkeling there. The water was clear and we saw tons of fish the first week in June. My husband who does not snorkel that much also loved it as he was able to see lots of fish without going very far. We went with the Four Winds and really enjoyed that. I am told that they have one of the best anchor spots so that may make the difference as to how many fish you see. The food was great and yes, for some of you critics we had more than one cookie. The staff was great and the captain very funny. I do not have one complaint and felt that the trip was well worth it. My favorite beach to snorkel at was Po%26#39;olenalena beach because every day we were there I saw at least one sea turtle and one day several. They like to hang out in front of the Makena Surf complex. We even saw one swimming in front of the beach one day. There was also a couple of dolphins swimming behind a boat one day. I have snorkeled in the caribbean and still felt that this was a great trip.

A while back we went on the Four Winds snorkel trip and saw a great variety of fish. It was in the month of May. Don%26#39;t know if that makes a difference. We did make it a point to swim waaaay away from the boat and ended up in an area that didn%26#39;t have many swimmers in it. I would imagine that if you hung around the boat and there were crowds of snorkelers the fish might make themselves a bit more scarce.