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Blue Water Rafting offers a great alternative to people who are staying in a resort at Wailea, Makena, or one of the South Kihei condo properties. They offer four different tours, three of which go to Molokini crater. These tours are operated on a 24 passenger zodiac raft; their tours are exciting and fun for the adventure-seeker.
Their signature trip …explore the sea caves and lava arches of Maui’s remote and rugged Kanaio Coast, which lies miles beyond the end of the road at La Perouse Bay. Discover secret coves and amazing lava rock formations formed during Maui’s last eruptive period several hundred years ago. Dolphins are frequently seen in this area, and on rare occasions snorkeling with them is possible. Next stop is Molokini crater, and a variety of snorkeling opportunities there, including a long snorkel inside the crater, a drift snorkel over “reef’s end”, and a brief but memorable snorkel along the abyss that is Molokini’s back wall on the outside of the crater.
Schedule: Daily at 7am
Duration: 5.5 hours
Tour includes: Deli lunch and cold beverages
Gear Provided: Premium snorkel gear with dry snorkel
For those who have been to Molokini but haven’t seen the rugged Kanaio Coast, this tour offers the chance to go where few other tours dare! This is the same tour as above without the stops at Molokini.
Schedule: Daily at 7am
Duration: 4 hours
Tour includes: Deli lunch and cold beverages
Gear Provided: Premium snorkel gear with dry snorkel
This is the “beat the crowds” trip to Molokini Crater. Because this trip starts early and leaves from the Kihei boat ramp, they arrive at Molokini ahead of the “BIGGER BOATS”. Then on the way back to the harbor they stop at a South Maui coastline snorkel stop where Hawaiian green sea turtles are frequently seen.
Schedule: Daily at 7:00am
Duration: 3 hours
Gear Provided: Premium snorkel gear with dry snorkel is included.
This is the quick way to see Molokini Crater. Because these rafts are so fast, it only takes them 15 minutes to zip out to Molokini from the Kihei small boat ramp. This tour offers the same Molokini snorkel opportunities as their longer morning tour … 15 minutes out and back and 90 minutes of quality snorkeling at Molokini.
Schedule: Daily at 10:30am
Duration: 2 hours
Gear Provided: Premium snorkel gear with dry snorkel is included.
All the great Molokini snorkeling offered on their longer 5.5 hour trip, plus an hour of watching Maui’s winter residents, the majestic humpback whales.
Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 11:30am during whale season (from 1/15 through 4/15).
Duration: 2.5 hours
Gear Provided: Premium snorkel gear with dry snorkel is included.
GPS: 2970 South Kihei Rd., Kihei, HI 96753 Click to view map
Restrictions: Not recommended for pregnant women, elderly or fragile people, or those with back or neck problems. Minimum age is 5.
What to Bring & Wear: Wear swimsuits and bring a towel and sunscreen.
Vessel: 27 feet & 30 feet rigid hulled, inflatable rafts
Capacity: 24
Cancellation/Weather Policy: Tours depart rain or shine. Inclement weather conditions are usually temporary and rain gear is provided. Cancellations due to weather are extremely uncommon and all parties are instructed to appear at the boat ramp no matter what the weather seems to them.
C
ruise Ship Passengers
NCL cruise ship passengers in Kahului are able to do any of the Blue Water Rafting tours on their second day in port, or the Molokini Express tour on the first day in port. We recommend a rental car as the drive to Kihei Boat Ramp is about 25 minutes. rental car rates vary throughout the year but start around $40 per day in low season; see our rental car page for more information.
Blue Water Rafting is not practical for Lahaina cruise ship passengers; we recommend raft tours to Lanai instead since they leave from Lahaina.
Let’s begin by making it clear … there are MANY boats that do Molokini snorkel tours. There are lots of old icky boats, a host of mediocre trips, and then there are a few great ones and THEY are the ones you are reading about on this page. WE ONLY BOOK NICE MOLOKINI TRIPS!!! You can’t go wrong with ANY of the boats listed on this page. We don’t book OLD boats that are poorly maintained … period. I have personally been on EVERY one of these boats and stand behind these tour operators. Now that you don’t have to worry about us booking you on a BAD boat the only question left to settle is “Which boat is the very best for you?”
Blue Water Rafting is a great choice for the adventure seeker, especially ones who are staying in Kihei and Wailea … these rafts are small enough to enter some of the sea caves and lava arches along the Kanaio Coast (when the ocean swells permit). But you do need to be aware that high adventure also means low creature comforts. There is no rest room on board … when you have to go … then you have to jump in the water. Blue Water Rafting has a saying … “NO WIMPS.” If you are one, they really prefer you to go on someone else’s boat. From experience we can tell you that these guys really are die hards. They will provide you with a thrilling ocean experience, and that means going out in a variety of ocean and weather conditions. You will get wet on their tours … even on an otherwise dry sunny day. This is a bouncy ride and you will experience open ocean conditions that are much rougher than what you’d find on a typical Molokini tour. By now you should be able to tell if this is the right tour for you … or not.
Molokini as a snorkel destination is somewhat weather-dependent … while all of these tours that advertise Molokini as a destination will make every effort to provide guests with the experience they seek, a few days a year the tours get diverted to an alternate snorkel spot. All snorkel destinations are ultimately the decision of the captain of the respective vessel and that decision is always made with the safety and comfort of the guests in mind.
Morning is typically better snorkeling than the afternoon because our trade winds here in Hawaii are typically much lighter in the morning and the wind kicks up around noon or so. Many boats (and activity desks) advertise less expensive afternoon Molokini trips … we don’t find this approach to be an honest one. Because of afternoon trade winds most PM trips go to “Coral Gardens” which is near the tunnel along the Pali Highway between Maalaea and Lahaina. Coral Gardens is a nice spot to snorkel … but it isn’t Molokini. We do offer these afternoon trips, but we take the high road here at Adventuremaui.com … since your chances of going to Molokini in the afternoon are less than 20%, we prefer to market them as Coral Gardens snorkel tours … which occassionally get diverted to Molokini on really calm afternoons. If you want to be reasonably sure you are going to Molokini, you definitely want to book a morning trip when your chances of getting to Molokini are more like 95% instead of 20%.
Other Molokini Snorkel options are Pride of Maui, Fourwinds, Aqua Adventures, and Maui Magic Adventure Snorkel.
We also offer scuba diving to Molokini Crater which is not found here on this page … see our Maui scuba diving page for details. We offer both certified diving and introductory, no experience necessary dives. The tours featured on our scuba diving page are best if EVERYONE in your party wants to scuba dive. If you have some snorkelers and a few certified divers, the Pride of Maui is the best choice.
