Interested in reviews of South Maui snorkel sites. Have done a number, but want some new locations. "Maui Revealed" suggests the following: Palauea Beach, Po'olenalena Beach, Black Sand Beach, Fish Bowl, and some area of La Perouse. Any thoughts?

You need to take a boat to get there but I like Molokini crater. K.

IMO, Molokini was ok, but nothing special. Fishbowl was much better. as there were many more fish and a greater variety. We tried to snorkel in La Perouse, but it was too windy.

We really liked Makena Landing. Saw lots of turtles! http://www.hawaii-guide.net/Maui_Gui...enaLanding.htm

Hi! I got an idea from some resource or another to contact Maui Dive Shop ahead of time and ask them to send you a free DIVE Guide. We're going to Maui for the first time in June and have never snorkeled before. There's some fairly detailed snorkeling info in the guide. It rates each site for skill level required, ease of entry and all kinds of other criteria we'd never even thought of. Maybe the guide will have some place listed you haven't heard about yet? Good luck-Have fun-Be safe!

Last July we snorkeled Palauea and Po'olenalena which were both awesome with easy access. Lots of fish, don't have to swim out very far at all, cool coral. Neither was crowded in the early morning OR the afternoon. Both are very cool beaches--Palauea has lots of shade and the outcropping of rocky points with palm trees giving it a Gilligan's Island feel, and Po'o is divided into threes by lava outcroppings and there's places you can make a cozy little shaded nook for yourself among it.

We also did Fishbowl and Aquarium, but through a Maui Kayaks trip, we didn't hike. I liked Fishbowl a little more than Aquarium because of its cozy cove-like feel--very very clear and LOTS of fish with high variety. My boyfriend wanted to do Black Sand beach, but it seemed kind of far out to swim to me. It's an awesome beach though, with turtles floating at the shore.

I've heard Molokini can get crowded, and it's pricy for what you get considering there's great snorkeling right off shore.

Let me know if you have any questions!

love
roxy

RE: Molokini

Molikini is a crater in the ocean just slightly sticking above the water.
The day we went there were a few other boats there. Saw tons of fish of all sizes and colors. Very cool because it is like floating on the ceiling of a 50 foot deep underwater room looking down. A whale breeched right outside the crater wall while we were swimming in it. We then went to another location and swam with several turtles and did some more snorkeling. Yes it does cost something to go there but was all in all a very memorable experience for us. Maybe you can try the close in snorkel sites first. wouldn't want you to be disappointed!Hope you see lots of fish!

We found great snorkeling at Ulua Beach. There are nice facilities (shower and bathrooms)at this beach. Parking is up a small incline next to the Renaissance. There is a jetty between the Renaissance and Ulua Beach which is where we saw the best fish during our visit which included a trip to Molokini and snorkeling at Black rock.