Molokini is one of the most popular snorkeling place at Maui. It is not along one of the beaches on the coastline, but it is further out in the ocean. Thus a boat is required to get there. Molokini is a crater and naturally have a crescent like shape to protect the people from big waves. There are also many type of fish and coral at Molokini. At Maalaea harbour, there are many boat excursions that take tourist to Molokini every morning.
We went with Four Winds for the Molokini excursion. We got to the dock around 6:30AM in the morning and the boat leaves at 7AM. There was no free parking there and payment was required there. However, although the payment machine seems to take credit card, it did not work. Once the credit card was inserted, the machine would hang and restart. We were having trouble getting a parking ticket there. Fortunately, we were able to collect some cash and the machine was still working with cash. It was a nightmare.
When we got on the boat, it was offering breakfast such as muffins and fresh fruits. We went up to the second floor to have a better view from the top. Four Winds excursion also provided snorkeling gears such as mask and fins for people. There were also few masks with optical prescription.
As we headed towards Molokini in the early morning, the ride was very smooth. We saw many flying fish at the front of the boat. They were quite small. After about an hour of ride, we finally arrived at Molokini. There were already several boats there. The water here was quite clear and we could see deep into the water.
As many people were doing snorkeling for the first time, most people were still on the boat taking some basic lessons. We went into the ocean first. The water temperature was warm enough and did not feel cold in November.
At Molokini, the water depth was around 5-7 meters. As we swam towards the rock wall with blow holes, there were even more fish around there. We could see fish with various color such as black and yellow.
As we were having fun, we noticed that many people did not seem to be able to swim. There were wearing floating devices around their waist and carrying floating boards. We even saw a kid who seemed to have collapsed and needed to head back to the boat. We figured that he might not have been in the water with such depth.
After 1.5 hours in the water, we headed back to the boat to grab some sandwich and drinks for lunch. When the boat was heading back to the harbour, the weather was getting extremely windy. We could see the white caps on the surface of the ocean.
We also saw several humpback whales on the way back. It was just 20 meters away from the boat. The captain of the boat stopped the engine of the boat to let the whale to come closer to us. We were lucky to see the whales raising its tail and did a deep dive into the ocean. It was quite an experience.
It is best to go to Molokini in the early morning when the ocean is calm. If the weather is too windy, some boat excursion would cancel its trip to Molokini to avoid the risk.
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