Can anyone recommend the best snorkel boat trip in Maui? And also, do I need to book in advance? Also, are there any coupons or discounts you would recommend? Thank so much.

A lot of people gravitate to the big catamarans and those can be fun but we sailed on the Scotch Mist one year. Its a mono hulled sail boat and we loved it. Including the crew there were 9 of us. The boat could have held a lot more but I think that most people go to the Cats. We went to the same area that the Cats did. We just were not crowded and I loved being under sail.

We did the trip with Paragon and loved it. I recommend you purchase the book "Maui Revealed" from your local book store. A lot of people refer to it as "The Blue Bible". It's great because they break down all of the touring companies, what they offer and the pros and the cons.

Paragon was great in that they take a smaller group (we had 19). We went to Lanai for the day. We made one snorkel stop and then they dropped us off up at the beach with a picnic lunch where we were able to eat, swim, snorkel, sunbathe or explore for about an hour and a half and then we headed back.

The Maui Reveal book also breaks down which tour groups take you where, be it Molokini or Lanai or if they offer trips to both. It also breaks down how many stops you can expect to make and what kind of food options and equipment options each company has to offer. It does not list pricing, but it does have the phone numbers and I believe websites so you can research the companies as well.

You will need to call in advance rather than just show up, but how far in advance would depend on what time of year you are going. We called a couple of weeks in advance as we were there over the Christmas holidays. I think I remember seeing coupons in some of the local "guides" that you can pick up, but I honestly don't remember for which companies or if they provided a significant savings.

Check out www.bluewaterrafting.com
I used them one year ago and had a great time. take the Kanaio coast trip. Not tours many go there. They take you right up to the lava flows and the caves. They backed us right into one and then jetted out. Stopped to snorkle two places after that. Turtles and all were to be seen. Have fun!

We also enjoyed the Blue Water Raft tour to the Kanaio coast. We went on it 7 years ago and are still talking about it. There was a scheduled stop for snorkeling on the tour, but all of us on the boat voted to swim with some dolphins that were in the area instead. Pretty neat.
We also took a snorkel tour to Molokini that we arranged through Maui Dive Shop in Kihei. It was nice, but some of the best snorkeling that we found was at Black Rock on Kaanapali Beach. There were sea turtles and lots of marine life. We rented snorkel gear for the week from Boss Frogs in Lahaina for around $20 for the both of us.
We also recommend the Maui Revealed book, it's a great help.

Check out http://www.goldcard.hawaiifun.org/ You buy the card but they list all of the discounts so you can decide whether or not it is worthwhile. It was for our family.

We didn't do a snorkel cruise but we did drive up to Honolua Bay for some awesome snorkeling and we saw several of the snorkel cruise boats there. You can probably save some money by doing it on your own if you have a car. The Snorkel Bob rental shops can tell you how to get there.