Plan your trip
How to choose a Molokini snorkel tour for your group
The short answer No single tour is best for everyone. Choose by who is coming first (kids, older guests, couples, a tight budget), then by boat type and harbor, then compare prices.
On this page
No single Molokini tour fits everyone. Start with who is coming, then pick a boat type and a harbor, then compare prices. The table below does the first step.
Pick by group
| Your group | What to look for | Boats that fit |
|---|---|---|
| Older guests, or anyone who needs shade | Covered seating, restrooms, a cabin | Catamarans in the comparison, for example Calypso, Four Winds and Aliʻi Nui |
| Young kids | Low age minimum, a child fare | Pacific Whale (children 4 and under free), Calypso (one child 3 and under free per adult) |
| Honeymooners | Capped numbers, a higher-end cabin and bar | Aliʻi Nui, Pride of Maui's ʻElua |
| Tight budget | A short or afternoon trip, a sale price | See the budget guide |
| Short on time | Leaving from Kīhei, trips of 3 hours or less | Redline Rafting, Blue Water Rafting, Maui Snorkel Charters, Seafire Charters (Kīhei comparison) |
Details follow for each, with the downside.
Older guests and shade
Calypso has 4,000 square feet of covered seating on three decks and accommodates manual wheelchairs up to 28 inches wide. Four Winds II has two shaded decks and two restrooms. Aliʻi Nui has a shaded cabin and two full-size restrooms.
Rafts ask more of your body. Redline Rafting says you climb a vertical ladder back aboard; ask the other boats how you board. All three Kīhei two-hour trips list back and neck conditions among their limits, and Redline, Blue Water Rafting and Maui Snorkel Charters each exclude pregnancy. Maui Reef Adventures lists similar limits. Read each boat's rules before you book. If you are unsure, ask your doctor.
Be honest with yourself about swimming ability and fitness before you book. The safety tips cover the water side.
Motion sickness
Ask your doctor or pharmacist about medicine before the trip. Then look at how long you are underway: the ride to Molokini is about 6 miles in a straight line from Kīhei and about 11 miles from Māʻalaea, and Māʻalaea operators quote about 45 minutes (Maui Snorkeling) to about 60 minutes (Calypso). Routes and second stops vary, so ask the operator how long you are underway.
Honeymooners
Aliʻi Nui sails a 65-foot catamaran, caps numbers on purpose and includes an open bar and an onboard photographer. Pride of Maui's ʻElua is limited to 36 guests on its own page (its sister site, mauiboattrips.com, says 40), with an air-conditioned cabin. Both cost more than most boats. Read our guide for couples for more, or look at private charters if you want a boat to yourselves.
Cheapest with kids
Child fares and free-child rules differ by boat. Pacific Whale lets children 4 and under ride free on its Turtle Arches trip. Calypso lets one child 3 and under ride free per paying adult. Malolo's afternoon child fare is $39.95, but the afternoon trip may go to Coral Gardens instead of Molokini. See the kids guide for age rules.
Raft or catamaran
A raft is smaller, and the Kīhei rafts offer trips from two hours. Two-hour rafts leave from Kīhei, and a catamaran trip from Māʻalaea runs about five hours with food, shade and a bathroom. The raft is the choice for limited time. The catamaran is the choice for comfort, with more shade and a bathroom on board. Raft ages differ: Blue Water Rafting and Maui Reef Adventures take ages 4 and up, and Redline Rafting 8 and up.
Morning or afternoon
Morning is the safer default, since afternoon wind can change the water (the Four Winds post has the state's wording). Some afternoon trips, such as Malolo's and Four Winds', go to Coral Gardens or Molokini depending on the day, so ask whether Molokini is promised.
Time at Molokini against time on the boat
Boats may stay on a Molokini mooring for 2.5 hours at most, so even a five-hour trip spends part of the day getting there, at a second stop and eating. Longer trips add turtle sites. The Four Winds post shows what a one-stop or two-stop day looks like.
What you will see
Inside the crater the reef is shallow and protected from major ocean swells. The cove slopes from the shoreline to about 100 feet before the bottom drops away, and a shallow reef in less than 30 feet of water runs north from the islet's northwestern point.
A 2010 report by the University of Hawaiʻi and Oregon State for the state counts about 38 hard coral species and nearly 100 species of algae in the district. The state ranks the variety of marine life among the most impressive in Hawaiʻi. Fish names are on the reef guide, and the crater guide has the rest.
Sources and corrections
The 20 sources for this page
- HAR chapter 13-257, Day-Use Mooring Rules (amended and compiled 3/15/2024) (Hawaiʻi DLNR, Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR)), read . Backs: Day-use moorings allow 2.5 hours at most per vessel.
- Filous et al. (2017), Marine Pollution Bulletin 121:274-281, study of reef predators and crowding in the Molokini MLCD (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa + DAR Maui). Read in full as Exhibit 2 of BLNR Item F-4 (May 2023): https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/F-4.pdf (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa / Hawaiʻi DLNR DAR), read . Backs: Inside Molokini is a shallow coral reef protected from major ocean swells.
- Maui – Molokini Shoal (HAR 13-31) (Hawaiʻi DLNR, Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR)), read . Backs: The cove slopes from the shoreline to about 100 ft before dropping off. · The state's Division of Aquatic Resources calls the diversity of fishes and other marine life among the most impressive in the state. · Currents may get stronger inside the cove in the afternoon when the wind picks up.
- Marine Recreation at the Molokini Shoal MLCD, final report (Szuster and Needham, for Hawaiʻi DLNR DAR), read . Backs: A 2010 University of Hawaiʻi and Oregon State report says about 38 species of hard corals.
- USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) via The National Map geonames service: Molokini (Island, GNIS 362473), Maluaka Beach (1919873), Makena Bay (1919869), Keawakapu Beach (1919814) (U.S. Geological Survey), read . Backs: Straight-line distance from Kīhei Boat Ramp is about 6.2 miles; from Māʻalaea Harbor about 11 miles.
- Hawaiʻi Statewide GIS, Navigation Aids layer (from NOAA chart 19350): Maʻalaea Harbor entrance buoy G "1" (Hawaiʻi Statewide GIS Program / NOAA), read . Backs: Māʻalaea Harbor to Molokini is about 11 miles in a straight line.
- mauisnorkeling.com (Maui Snorkeling (Lani Kai II)), read . Backs: Maui Snorkeling: the ride typically takes about 45 minutes, depending on ocean conditions.
- calypsomaui.com (Calypso), read . Backs: Calypso: the ride to the snorkel site is about 60 minutes. · Calypso has 4,000 sq ft of covered seating; manual wheelchairs up to 28 inches wide and about 280 lb are accommodated; one child 3 and under free per paying adult.
- fourwindsmaui.com (Maui Classic Charters), read . Backs: Four Winds has two shaded decks and two restrooms; Maui Magic has upper and lower shaded decks.
- prideofmaui.com (Pride of Maui), read . Backs: Pride of Maui's ʻElua has an air-conditioned cabin, open bar after snorkeling, ages 4 and up, limited to 36 guests on its own page.
- mauiboattrips.com (Pride of Maui), read . Backs: Pride of Maui's sister site, mauiboattrips.com, says the cap is 40.
- aliinuimaui.com (Aliʻi Nui), read . Backs: Aliʻi Nui's Molokini Deluxe has a shaded cabin, two restrooms, an open bar and an onboard photographer; capped numbers.
- bluewaterrafting.com (Blue Water Rafting), read . Backs: Blue Water Rafting's two-hour trip takes ages 4 and up and has a 3-hour Molokini trip; Maui Snorkel Charters' two-hour trip takes ages 5 and up; Seafire's Molokini trip is 3 hours.
- mauisnorkelcharters.com (Maui Snorkel Charters), read . Backs: Maui Snorkel Charters' two-hour Kīhei trip.
- seafirecharters.com (Seafire Charters), read . Backs: Seafire Charters' 3-hour Molokini Snorkel PLUS from Kīhei Boat Ramp.
- mauireefadventures.com (Maui Reef Adventures), read . Backs: Maui Reef Adventures takes children 4 and older.
- redlinerafting.com (Redline Rafting), read . Backs: Redline's two-hour trip is for ages 8 and up, climbs a vertical ladder, and lists no pregnant women or back and neck conditions.
- molokinimaui.com (Malolo), read . Backs: Malolo's afternoon trip has a child fare for ages 4 to 12 and goes to Coral Gardens or Molokini at the captain's choice; Four Winds' afternoon trip is titled Coral Gardens or Molokini.
- mauireefadventures.com (Maui Reef Adventures), read . Backs: Maui Reef Adventures lists pregnant women, non-swimmers, fragile individuals and anyone in poor physical health as not recommended.
- pacwhale.com (Pacific Whale Foundation), read . Backs: Pacific Whale Foundation: children 4 and under free on the Turtle Arches trip.