SOUTH MAUI - Maui: Including Molokai and Lanai - page 267

music. Rates for the dinner cruise are $70/adult, and the boat often tucks around the corner
of West Maui to get a good angle on the sunset and hide from the wind.
If you want to visit Molokini from Ma'alaea but don't want to spend a lot of time get-
ting there, Aqua Adventure (Slip 51, 808/573-2104, www.mauisnorkelsnuba.com ) leaves
at 7:30am and cruises at speeds much faster than the larger boats, so you can sleep in a
little longer but still get to the crater at the same time. The small passenger numbers are
also a plus on this boat (they cap the number at 40), and snuba is the name of the game
when it comes to getting people in the water. You can of course just choose to snorkel, but
if your main priority is getting to Molokini quickly and snuba diving once you're there,
this trip costs $105/adult for two snorkeling spots and is an additional upgrade for snuba.
A similar operation that features snuba and small crowds is Lani Kai (Slip 76, 808/
244-1879, www.mauisnorkeling.com ) , a trip which departs at 7am and visits two snorkel-
ing locations for $98. Like other operations Lani Kai also has an afternoon charter, and
for $44 you can cruise the cliffs over to Coral Gardens and tie up next to Four Winds and
Frogman, with the difference being there are far fewer people on your boat than theirs.
The 58-foot Mahana Nai'a (Slip 47, 808/871-8636, www.maui-snorkeling-adven-
tures.com ) looks a little funny now that the mast from its sleek sailing days has been re-
moved, but the family-run boat still chugs along, offering $90/adult snorkeling cruises to
Molokini and the South Maui coastline.
KIHEI
Mornings are the best time of day for snorkeling in Kihei, and summer can have consistent
winds and periods of surf which affect visibility. Although the snorkeling in summer can
still be enjoyable, winter mornings are the best bet for light winds and clear visibility, and
as an added bonus, if you dive down a few feet while snorkeling, you're guaranteed to hear
whale song reverberating in the distance.
Snorkeling Spots
North Kihei doesn't offer anything in the way of snorkeling because the water is too shal-
low and murky. The northernmost beach in Kihei where you would want to snorkel is
Charley Young beach, which is also known as the north end of Kamaole I. There's a rocky
point here on the right side of the beach that offers good snorkeling, although during peri-
ods of high surf it can become popular with boogie boarders. Down at the other end of
the beach, the rocky point between Kamaole I and Kamaole II is another area where you
can find reef fish, a few eels, and maybe even a Hawaiian green sea turtle. Similarly, the