jfw0001

I will be in Maui in July for my honeymoon and I am trying to nail down a half day trip to Molokini for some snorkeling.

I have heard that Trilogy is the best, but that they require you to wear a life jacket when you enter the water. Is this true? If it is, it will probably be a dealbreaker for me.

Does anyone know of another cruise to Molokini that you would recommend? As honeymooners, is there a snorkel cruise that is better suited for us?

Thanks for any advice you can offer on this.

SDAlly

My husband and I went with Kai Kanani Charters and had a great time. They leave from the Maui Prince Hotel in Makena, so it's a short trip to the crater. We were the first boat there, and were alone for quite a while. It was a good mix of people, I don't remember there being any kids on our trip, but we went in late September, after school went back. I highly recommend them. We were not required to wear life jackets.

Jolie

If you do go, take a morning cruise when the water is calmer; afternoons tend to be rougher and the captain may divert you to another location.

pepsi66

I heard Paragon was really good. A friend recommended it for our trip - she does it every year. From what my research told me, they are more relaxed and friendly, sail more during the trip (most motor most of the way), don't rush you, and let you snorkel further away from the boat. They only make the one stop at Molokini so you'll have more time to expore.
http://www.sailmaui.com/private.htm

MauiPigFarmer

We did the Molokini snorkel trip two years ago with Quicksilver and I would recommend them. We never felt rushed, they had plenty of help to get you on and off the boat, and a nice big set of stairs to launch from. Lifevests were not required but available to use for flotation, as were noodles.

Barbara5353

Another vote for Quicksilver. The boat is a newer, high speed catamaran. It gets out to Molokini quickly and smoothly. Also visits "Turtle Town" on the south coast, and usually heads towards LaPerouse Bay for dolphin spotting. The only disappointment was that our time at Molokini was cut short due to man-o-wars (men-o-wars?) in the water. I appreciated the concern about safety and general attentiveness of the crew.

Marginal

SailMauiFan and pepsi66 are spammers.

Clearly, one should avoid any commerical outfit "recommended" by spammers.

If they have to violate their Fodors terms of agreements by posting commercial posts, touting a company, imagine how bad the company is and how badly they would treat you.

I'ver reported these two to the editors.

lysslh

Obviously this is a late reply but fyi for others considering a snorkel trip:

I've been on Trilogy in the past and highly recommend them; I should've used them again (albeit they were more expensive) on my last trip to Maui.

Instead I went with Paragon on the Molikini snorkel trip with 5 others. We enjoyed the small boat feel and the crew were very friendly. However, for $90 I would've expected better food--vending machine like sandwiches and veggies and dip. Then the 5 of us came down with what appeared to be severe food poisoning about 24 hours after our trip--nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. The others we were traveling with who did not go on the boat trip were fine and did not get sick. We also met two other passengers from our trip that had the exact same symptoms.

The Health Dept of Hawaii is investigating however Paragon denies any wrongdoing and claims we just got the flu. The most they offered was a 30% discount off our next trip. No thanks.

My advice, don't risk food poisoning. Go with another outfitter.

lysslh

(Sorry I meant the 6 of us all came down with food poisoning)