Snorkle excursion on Maui or in Kona??

[Beelady]

We will be on our cruise in October, and want to do a snorkel excursion on one of these 2 islands. We are looking at a morning excursion to Molokini on Maui, or the Fairwinds Catamaran in Kona. We dock at 7AM on a Sunday in Kona, if that makes a difference. In Maui, we are in port for 2 days, and will do the snorkel trip on day 2. Any recommendations??? Thank you in advance.

[daWoods]

Definitely do a morning to Molokini because it can be quite choppy in the pm. You might also consider a snorkel trip to Lanai with Trilogy or some other company. One of them takes you to a marine preserve and you snorkel off the beach. It is some of the best snorkelling I've experienced anywhere, including Molokini and several Caribbean areas including Cayman.

[beachchick]

If the Fair Winds goes to Kealakekua (I think it does), I might choose that because I've heard that it's just about the best snorkeling in Hawaii. It's on our definite to-do list. We have done Molokini, which we enjoyed very much. You really do have to go in the morning. Our first time, we chose the after lunch trip. We did not make it to Molokini because of the winds/water. The alternate sight was only okay--it's a place you can get to on your own (at least on the boat we took). Second time, we took Maui Dive Shop mid-morning trip. The trip to Molokini was nice and the snorkeling was very good. Still, I am very anxious to go to Kealakekua--the pictures I've seen from there are amazing.

 

You really can't go wrong either way. I would chose based on the other activities that you want to do on each island.

 

beachchick

[bankofdad]

We did the Fairwinds in Kona, and the Four Winds in Maui. Here's what we thought http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=93997. If I had to chose one or the other, it would most definitely be Fairwinds in Kona. It was fantastic!

[Bucky3]

We want so much to do the Fairwind in Kona in early October. The problem is we don't arrive until 8am and then with tendering we're afraid we'll miss the 9 o'clock Fairwind departure. We did this trip several years ago and loved it and want so much to do it again! We'll be on Carnival Spirit.

[dobie]

We did the Fairwind last week. Our ship docked at 8, we got a priority tender, into a taxi, and we were there by 8:40. Had a wonderful trip, really enjoyed it!

[patti o]

We've done all three....Fairwinds in Kona to Kealakekua Bay, Molokini trip in the morning, and the Trilogy to Lana'i. All three were great, but in different ways.

 

Definitely only do Molokini in the morning. Sometimes there are no winds, but you can't bank on that. We just completed our annual two months on Maui, and from our condo can see the Molokini ships departing each day. Many are forced to return very close to the shore to avoid the afternoon winds. Can be very windy. But lots of ship choices and prices, some with BBQs, some not. Just go in the morning!

 

Trilogy to Lana'i was a wonderful outing, but the snorkeling was bad that day. There had been a storm a few days earlier, so the water was badly churned up. Lousy snorkeling. However, the day-long outing was just great! After the leisurely sail over, there was a land tour of the island, beach/snorkeling time, afternoon BBQ, and then a champagne sunset cruise back. A full day, and we didn't care about the lousy snorkeling at all! It was the most pricey at $179, but that's for a full day with breakfast, BBQ lunch, land tour, and champagne return sail.

 

Fairwind in Kona was also great. The Kealakekua Bay was calm, good snorkeling, and a good BBQ lunch also. Highly recommend as well.

 

It's hard to recommend one over the other; just like each island is different, each snorkel outing was also. But I'd do all three again anytime and will go again when we return for our annual time at our island second home. :-)

[orcatek]

Kona would be my choice. Great trip - check out the video/pics on my site.

 

I tried to do Molokini in the afternoon, and the winds were too high so they did not even go out and used an alternate location.

 

If you have an extra day before or after your cruise I really enjoy the snorkel I did there.

[Bsan1221]

Definitely KONA :D