Has anyone taken a snorkel trip from Maui to Molokini? What company did you use? I have read good things about Four Winds II, but I also heard Molokini can be really crowded. Has anyone been on this boat or have another recommendation? Also, is the trip over-rated? Going first week in Dec., just my husband and I and we're experienced snorkelers.

We went to Maui for our honeymoon and used Trilogy. The thing I really enjoyed was that they grilled chicken on the boat, and it was delicious - really fun day. We've snorkeled all over the world - the snorkeling was good, but not anything amazing. I would do it again if we went back.

I did the Molokini trip last week. It was not with Four Winds, but was with Kai Kanani, see http://www.kaikanani.com/molokini-express.html. The boat is a new catamaran and is quite nicely set up for snorkeling. They go out from the Maui Prince hotel which was very convenient for us as we were just down a few hotels along the beach in Wailea as well. I don't know where you are staying in Maui, but look at the location of the Four Winds pier to make sure it is convenient for your hotel.

Take an early am trip as it will be much less crowded at Molokini in the early morning.

I have snorkeled a lot in SE Asia and thought that Molokini was pretty good, however the reef is quite small and you really can see it all in about 45 minutes to an hour – if there are lots of boats there you may not be able to get to some parts (another reason to do the early morning trip). There are a lot of fish, there is not a lot of coral.

I think that the Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island was really much better, there is a huge coral wall and even more fish than Molokini in our experience, plus turtles and dolphins. You can rent a kayak and do it yourself. There are also organized tours, but I would opt for the kayak option. Try the Kona Boys at http://www.konaboys.com/.

In general, we found that doing watersports in the early am was much better, as winds tend to pick up starting about 11 and clouds also move in. The waves and surf can be quite rough we found, and can make snorkeling close to shore difficult. December is about the height of the rainy and windy season so you may find this to be more the case. The attraction of Molokini is that it is quite well protected, but I understand that there are some days when even that is too rough, but the mornings are your best bet for less wind.

Molokini is OK, but not great. It's the boat trip out there that is generally lovely, with very nice views of south Maui that you don't get from the land. The Kai Kanai trip from the Maui Prince is good because the trip to Molokini is quite short, but it can be a pain having to get up early enough to be there at 6am.

I also agree that you should plan on all snorkeling activities for first think in the morning, as the wind is lower and the water less choppy. Most every day, wind will come up before noon and make snorkeling difficult. Sometimes, the wind is actually too much to sit on the beach with, and you end up lazing by the pool. Awful, I know.

My husband went scuba diving and was very not impressed. Although he has dived in Cozumel, T&C islands, Cayman Islands. He had a bad experience also with the currents being very strong, ended up on the other side of a reef just hanging on by himself. The dive master he claims was not on top of things. On top of that he said he said he and myself had seen more fish when we both snorkeled in Belize. Yes is very crowded, and there were many boats going there. He did go in the a.m.