- Good for Kids:
- No
4 reviews for Molokini Crater
The one hour I spent snorkeling at Molokini was the best, most memorable, part of my 9 day Maui vacation. Definitely best $75 spent in Maui. The water is amazingly clear. We saw fish from the top deck of the boat when we pulled into the crater. There's no mud or sand to disturb the water. It's a little deep but it does not matter because the water is that clear. A lot of fish also swim pretty high up. Yanno those tropical aquariums that you see? Going to Molokini is like swimming in one of those tanks. I saw so many different kinds of fish, from bright yellow to bright red, from little tiny fish to huge fish the size of my arm. If you do ANYTHING in Maui, i say go to Molokini!
*a side note, apparently not every day do you get to actually go. If the wind gets rough (more likely in the afternoon) then the Molokini bound boats will actually go elsewhere. So book an early morning trip (as early as you can to above huge crowds) to max chances of actually getting to go out there. We went on a morning trip and the water was amazingly calm- like a swimming pool. No tides. Nada. I found later when I was snorkeling at Black Rock on my own that I'd get a little seasick if I stood still to look at the fish because of the up and down of the tide, but nothing like that at Molokini.
You can go to a lot of good snorkeling spots on your own, but none of them comes even close to the experience at Molokini. 1) there won't be as many kinds of fish 2) the water will NOT be as clear due to sand and whatever else that gets disturbed 3) it will most probably be more wavey.
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
- Cool (1)
Not worth it. We had better luck seeing much cooler fish over by black rock and kaanapali beach. Sure, the water was nice and clear but the fish all bounced from the crater because all the people. Also, some of the idiots on our tour boat totally kept stepping on and diving down and touching the coral. Way to possibly kill of an entire ecosystem, jerks.
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
Molokini is one of the the best places where I have snorkeled. Much better than Hanauma Bay in Oahu. However, it's not the best place to snorkel in Maui.
I grabbed an early tour from Maalea. Make sure to get an early one because you want to beat the crowd. I've seen all kind of fish here, and even got up close to a moray eel, and saw a tiny octopus.
The tour I was on also brought us to Turtle Town which is by Wailea/Makena area. Unfortunately I did not see turtles but it was ok. The sea life at Molokini made up for it.
If you visit Maui, Molokini is a must if you enjoy snorkeling.
I heard that snorkeling at Molokini wasn't the best. I heard right. It's not all that great, but seeing Molokini from that close up and looking up at it from the water was pretty cool. It was okay, but I won't do it again.