Brooke71991 Posted July 24, 2017 #1 Share Posted July 24, 2017 While I am in Hawaii, my wife wants to do an excursion where she can see sea turtles. We always book excursions through carnival, but we do not see any that involve turtles. I have seen some available through shore excursion group, but have never booked anything through them since the reviews are very mixed. We will be going to Kahului, Honolulu, Kailua Kona, and Hilo. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted July 24, 2017 #2 Share Posted July 24, 2017 If you look down the board, you will see threads about snorkeling trips out of Ma'alea (south of Kahalui) that include Turtle City. That would be a good site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astro Flyer Posted July 25, 2017 #3 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Or if you want to rent a car you could snorkel from the beach to the coral reef marketed as Turtle City by snorkeling trip boats. There's no guarantee that you'll see turtles anywhere but every time I've gone to Maluaka Beach in the Makena area we've seen turtles. I've also seen the snorkeling tour boats who after going to Molokini anchor off that reef at one of the couple of Turtle Towns located on Maui. That's just another option that's probably a less expensive way to snorkel with turtles. Since they need to surface to breathe it's possible to locate them. They'll also stick their heads in lava outcroppings or coral reefs...maybe they think they're hiding from sharks. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooke71991 Posted July 25, 2017 Author #4 Share Posted July 25, 2017 I will definitely look into that. We have only ever seen the turtles in aquariums, so even just seeing them poke their heads up would be exciting for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astro Flyer Posted July 25, 2017 #5 Share Posted July 25, 2017 I will definitely look into that. We have only ever seen the turtles in aquariums, so even just seeing them poke their heads up would be exciting for her. Sometimes they rest on sandy beaches in Maui but give them space because they're protected. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/education/hawaii/ Let me know if you want any more information about this option. There's another way to ensure seeing sea turtles...Maui Ocean Center aquarium in Ma'alaea. Most of the displays are indoors (out of the heat) but they have an outdoor tank with sea turtles including a plexiglass covered underwater viewing area. https://mauioceancenter.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooke71991 Posted July 25, 2017 Author #6 Share Posted July 25, 2017 We are going to the ocean center as one of our excursions hopefully. They have not opened up yet and we are doing two snorkle trips where we may see turtles. It might be interesting to see them resting on the beach. We have no intention of touching them or anything like that. We want to observe them in their natural habitat as untouched as possible. We hope it will be an amazing experience. We also hope to go to some of the black sand beaches where they may be. I realize it is going to be a lot based on luck, but hopefully between all of that we may get to see a few. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astro Flyer Posted July 25, 2017 #7 Share Posted July 25, 2017 It might be interesting to see them resting on the beach. We have no intention of touching them or anything like that. We want to observe them in their natural habitat as untouched as possible. We hope it will be an amazing experience. I didn't intend to imply that you would bother turtles but posted it as a gentle reminder to anyone else who might think it's okay to approach them. In this social media world there are too many videos of foolish activities & too often the dumbest ones go viral. The Hawaiian Monk Seal is an endangered species yet people post videos of harassing them & their pups on beaches where they rest...both locals & tourists. Videos of people using turtles as an underwater scooter to hitch a ride also display their ignorance. You're respectful of turtles but sadly not everyone is that respectful of wildlife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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