Molokini Crater Snorkeling Tours

[Love-to-ride]

Hi we are not cruising Hawaii but are doing a land based trip in Sept.04. Was wondering if anybody has done any of the Molokini Crater snorkeling tours? Is one tour better than the others ? Did you really see any sharks ? Would love any info or opinions.

 

Till we sail the Destiny

[sprinkles]

Yes Yes, I second that request. We will be in Maui Sept 04 too! We plan on doing nothing but hang out at our hotel and maybe the road to Hana. But since we have never done the Molokini crater thing, we are wondering if it is worthwhile (we need a rest from tours).

 

Tammy

[beachchick]

Molokini is definitely worth it. There were plenty of fish and the coral was beautiful. The water was very clear. If you go on one of the larger boats, it will be more of a party atmosphere: glass bottom viewing, breakfast and lunch, a water slide from the boat, and lots of alcohol AFTER snorkeling. The downside is that there are many boats that do this so it can be pretty crowded. I have also heard that each boat has a specific "spot" and that some are much better than others (can't help you there, sorry).

 

We went on one of the larger boats for an afternoon trip. Big mistake--they are not kidding about the winds kicking up and making it unsafe to go to Molokini later in the day. The spots along the Maui coast that we went to were okay, but we could probably have gone on our own. So go in the morning.

 

Our last trip we went with Maui Dive Shop for their late morning trip. Their boats are smaller and are not "party" boats. Also, they go kind of in-between the times of the larger boats so we had lots of space and quiet. It was much less expensive than the party boats, but they only serve snacks and non-alcohol beverages, which was fine with us. We got plenty of time to snorkel. Sometimes they do 2 stops so you can also snorkel at one of the turtle areas. The crew was very good. It was March and a family of whales gave us an amazing show on the way back. We were all so enthralled that the crew radioed to shore that we were going to be late getting in so that we could enjoy the whales. If you need rental gear, theirs was very good. However (and I would use the caution with any rental gear), you never know just how much they clean it between trips. In fact, it was that trip that convinced us to invest in good gear of our own. DH got an infection that we traced back to the gear--doesn't happen often, but it can happen. They also do dive trips if you are certified.

 

In any case, I think that it is definitely worth it to go to Molokini. We really enjoyed it.

 

beachchick

[daWoods]

Molokini is great, but as has been said, do it in the morning if possible. Our experience was in the afternoon, and we were on one of the smaller boats. The swells coming into the crater were so big it was very difficult to get back on the boat. Very dangerous.

 

Island Princess Feb. 2004

Grand Princess Feb. 2002

Norwegian Sky Feb. 2001

 

[fendbass]

We took the trip on the Pride of Maui. We liked it especially because of the ease of getting off and on the boat. And, yes, mornings are better-- shake out the cobwebs

 

Millenium - Trans Panama Canal, 4/2004

Brilliance of the Seas - W. Caribbean 12/2003

Infinity - Hawaii 4/2003

Jubilee - W. Caribbean 4/2002

Inspiration - S Caribbean 12/1996

General Henry Gibbons- Puerto Rico 1959

Pvt William H Thomas - Puerto Rico 1956

(OK, these last two weren't really 'cruises')

 

[mare1045]

Hi,

We will be in Maui on 8/3/04

We ar very intrested in snorkeling Molokini, but due to the NCL Wind being tendered we will not be able to make any morning trips. Judging by what you are saying about the afternoon trips, we are having second thoughts.

Has any one used a company called Maui Charters? They are one of the few that run tours with in our time frame. Also does the time of year have anything to do with watre conditions, such as rougher sea in the winter?

 

Thanks

 

7/31/04 NCL Wind

7/18/05 Inspiration CCL

 

[christineann]

I went to Maui a few years ago (land tour) and went snorkeling at Molokini. I'm sorry I can't remember the dive company - it was arranged for us and was on a catamaran. Pride of Maui sounds very familiar though. We saw a white tip shark swimming very far below us, and it paid no attention to us at all. This was a great experience. Would definitely recommend that you take advantage of the wetsuits offered. We stayed in the water the entire time - others got back on the boat because the water was cold. We also went to the turtle area but had to cut our time there because a storm blew in.

[bobnsandi]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mare1045:

Hi,

We will be in Maui on 8/3/04

We ar very intrested in snorkeling Molokini, but due to the NCL Wind being tendered we will not be able to make any morning trips. Judging by what you are saying about the afternoon trips, we are having second thoughts.

Has any one used a company called Maui Charters? They are one of the few that run tours with in our time frame. Also does the time of year have anything to do with watre conditions, such as rougher sea in the winter?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Re. sea conditions viz-a-viz seasons... Yes, as a (very) general rule the ocean is calmer in the summer. But, some summer days can be quite lumpy and winter days calm. Same holds for taking afternoon tours. Some afternoons can be calm, but the general rule of thumb is that morning is best.

 

Sorry we can't help with the tour company. We've only been out on friend's boats.

 

Dec '04 Legend of the Seas, Panama Canal

June & Dec '03 Norwegian Star

June '00 Columbia / Matanuska

Mar '97 Star Clipper

Oct '81 Azure Seas

[paulfredo]

Molokini is worth doing at least once. In our opinion, it's not the best snorkeling while on Maui, but it is good. yes, I did see a shark, but it was out in the water beyond the opening in the crater. The visibility around there is great.

 

Personally, we don't like the big party boats... much too crowded, and that translates into people pretty much becoming congested in the water, too.

 

If I had to choose just one snorkeling boat tour, I'd recommend the Paragon afternoon snorkel and speed sail out of Maalaea. They do a great speed sail there and back, and snorkel at the Coral Gardens, in our opionion, a better snorkeling spot than the overcrowded Molokini.

 

But, again, Molokini is worth doing at least once (and I wouldn't even consider doing the crater in the PM).

 

paul

[Desertbelle]

We snorkeled there and had a great time. We used the Pacific Whale Foundation. Their excursion was fun and very informative. Their crew consisted of people who are studying marine mammals and we were even late getting back because our crew saw a "competition pod" of whales fighting over a female and they said it was too good to miss. So we followed them around for quite awhile, watching.

 

We snorkeled at two locations and also got to see a huge pod (over 200) spinner dolphins. That was great fun to watch.

 

Margie

 

Celebrating Our Parents 60th Anniversary - Legend of the Seas to Mexico 9/5/04!!

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Windjammer-Flying Cloud 1991

Carnival Elation 1999

NCL Sun 2002

Star Princess 2003

Legend of the Seas 2003

[javadoc3]

We were on Maui in Oct. We did the morning Trilogy sailing trip to Molokini. It was a great trip, the water was fairly calm and easy to see lots of fish, one shark too. The crew was great at teaching first time snorklers. We are going on the Infinity in Nov. and plan to do this trip again. Hope you have a great time.