I am planning a trip to Maui with my family and would like to know the best place to stay that would offer the best snorkeling beach.

I just got back from a family trip to Maui. My kids are 2 and 6. The first thing you should do rent a snorkel boogie board that has a snorkel mask built right in it. It was very easy for both kids to see beautiful sea life without much effort.. My husband who has terrible eyesight rented a prescription mask which he loved. They can also be purchased.

We snorkeled at Kapalua Bay, Napili bay and Ulua Beach (Wailea). All three were nice. The water was the nicest and calmest at Napili and Kapalua. I've heard that Honulua (?) Bay in the north , Big Beach in Makena (south) and Black Rock in front of the Sheraton are also supposed to be nice too.

You should look at some of the older postings. I rember reading some pretty detailed responses to the same question.

Also, the time of year that you plan to go could affect the answer to your question too.

I just got back from a family trip to Maui. My kids are 2 and 6. The first thing you should do rent a snorkel boogie board that has a snorkel mask built right in it. It was very easy for both kids to see beautiful sea life without much effort.. My husband who has terrible eyesight rented a prescription mask which he loved. They can also be purchased.

We snorkeled at Kapalua Bay, Napili bay and Ulua Beach (Wailea). All three were nice. The water was the nicest and calmest at Napili and Kapalua. I've heard that Honulua (?) Bay in the north , Big Beach in Makena (south) and Black Rock in front of the Sheraton are also supposed to be nice too.

You should look at some of the older postings. I rember reading some pretty detailed responses to the same question.

Also, the time of year that you plan to go could affect the answer to your question too.

Also just returned from Maui and we found the most exciting fish and moray eels were found at the southern end of the island. There is a reserve there called Ahini which is protected and there is no spear fishing allowed. (the natives do this as do others for entertainment...but another subject for that!)

This is a rocky area, so I suggest you purchase water shoes for all of you (we got some great ones through Lands End catalogue)...or just wear some old sneakers that you don't care about.

The fish here know that they are "free from capture", so they all seem to congregate at this point. You can see incredible fish without even going out very far. My 9 and 11 yr. olds were just hypnotized! We saw them as shallow as waist deep.

Go in the early am..before 10 or 11 and before all the snorkelers come..but it doesn't matter. The fish are so used to people swimming around them who won't spear... that you can get very close. They practically come up to your hands. Do not feed them!

Makena Beach is also good and sometimes turtles come. We did not see any when we went.

Ulua beach is nice, as the previous post mentioned.

I think that because Ahini Reserve is protected, you see more variety. We felt that we did not need to go out on that Molokini Crater trip which is costly because we saw so many wonderful fish at this spot.

Don't miss the Maui Ocean Center up in Maleakala. Outstanding fish and ocean creatures on display! Also turtles and manta rays. Very cool for kids!

The rocky point between Kamaole II and III beaches in Kihei has a cave with sea turtles. It's not very far out to swim/snorkel. There are lots of other fish to see as well. As other posts mentioned, Kap. Bay, Ulua Beach and Ahihi past Makena are also great. As said above, it depends when you go during the year as to which beach is calmer for snorkeling. Go early in the day. We were there a few weeks ago and it got very windy in the afternoon. Too rough to snorkel comfortably and enjoy the sea life. I agree that Molokini is expensive and there are so many other snorkelers and swimmers there that it ruins the effect of being with nature. My sis went to Molokini and Turtle Town and didn't see as much as we did snorkeling off the beaches. No turtles in Turtle Town!

We stayed at the Honokeana Cove condos in Napili which has a wonderful snorkelling cove just steps from the rooms. 2 sea turtles live there, and the views are very nice. Small pool,quiet atmosphere. Windy.