Pride of Maui Molokini

Activity Tips

Kevin Ditamore – Owner / Manager

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?”

The Pride of Maui is one of the best of the larger boats.  The Pride of Maui goes to Molokini for one snorkel stop and Turtle Town for a second. Everybody loves turtles, so the Pride of Maui includes them with their morning tour.  If you are only going to snorkel once during your vacation, the Pride of Maui will give you more diversity.  This boat is large with capacity in the 130 range, but it’s spacious and well laid out to handle the larger crowds. We’ve seen other large boats that look like people are hanging over the edge … that isn’t the case with the Pride of Maui. This boat is a powered catamaran which is very stable; if you have any concerns at all about motion sickness the Pride of Maui has the widest beam (width) which makes it the most stable boat in the water.

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 Aqua Adventures, Fourwinds, Blue Water Rafting, 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 found here on this page is the best choice.