I love being outside. I love hiking, snorkeling, boating, and sightseeing, and I really love the ocean. In short, I love adventure, and while working a season on Maui, I researched adventures I could do before leaving, and at the top of the list? Visiting Molokini Crater with PacWhale.
PacWhale Eco-Adventures, known colloquially as PacWhale, run snorkeling, sightseeing, and whale-watching tours to Molokini Crater and the island of Lana’i, as well as dinner/sunset cruises, and they are by far the biggest and most visible tour operator on island. So keep reading to see a tour guides perspective on snorkeling and whale-watching with PacWhale.
(Want to watch instead? Check out this Instagram reel)
Who: PacWhale Eco-Adventures (also known by their foundation, Pacific Whale Foundation)
What: Day charter snorkeling Molokini crater and turtle town with lunch included
Where: Maui, Hawai’i, USA
Booking with PacWhale
Tour: Molokini Crater Snorkel Tour
Price: $139.95
I’m going with my friend Ollie, who works for PacWhale out of their Lahaina location, so I have a buddy pass for a discounted rate, but $139.95 is their online price as of writing. To use my buddy pass I had to call in and speak with a booking representative, but they also offer easy online booking options as well.
with Kaho’olawe to the right and south Maui to the left.
Check-in
PacWhale requires you check in at least thirty minutes early, so for my 7 am departure time, I pulled into the parking lot in Ma’alaea a few minutes past 6:30. Parking is plentiful, but be mindful: you must pay for parking, and I suggest paying for more than just the allotted time for the tour. Better safe than sorry.
Walking up to the shop, there are staffmembers giving directions about check in as well as information on GoPro rentals. Check in at the counter, and be sure to have your booking number handy to speed the process along.
Once checked in, I spent some time browsing the gift shop, perusing the typical shirts and sandals, knick-knacks and picture frames and the intriguing aisle on hot sauces and spices, but ultimately decided not to snag anything. I waited outside for Ollie, and when it was time to get started, staff gathered everyone in a group for a quick briefing before walking to the boat. Once at the boat, there’s an option to snap a photo before you step on board, which we unashamedly did.
Equipment
Equipment Provided: snorkel and mask, fins, PFD’s, wet suits (for a fee)
Once on the boat, there is an efficient team of staff ready to size up a snorkel and fins for each guest who needs them. They have plenty of sizes of fins, even size 15 for me, and the snorkels are high-quality and clean. I didn’t opt for the wet-suit as I found the water temperature comfortable and didn’t want to pay for one, but several other guests did rent them.
The Trip
Ollie and I walked to the front of the boat, a large, two story vessel with plenty of seating, and sat up on the bow in the open air. We chatted away as only tour guides can, swapping jokes and funny anecdotes about some of the crazier tourists we’ve encountered while underway to our first stop, the Molokini crater.
Molokini has several different origins in Hawai’ian cultural stories, but its geological history is straightforward. Molokini formed from the same volcanic forces that created the entire Hawai’ian island chain, and after hundreds of thousands of years of erosion, we’re left with the crescent shaped crater we see today.
The trip took about thirty minutes, during which natural and cultural history talks were given over the speakers, but from our seats I couldn’t understand what they were saying over the whistle of wind rushing over my ears and eventually tuned out the speakers altogether.
Molokini Crater is a protected nature preserve and has limited access, so after pulling into the crater, we waited for the crew to secure the boat to fixed rings on the ocean floor via large ropes, minimizing damage and protecting the fragile reef ecosystem. Once secure, we were given the annoying (to me) news that we had a limited snorkel range, only as wide as the safety guides can handle. PacWhale has several guides in the water to supervise, and I get the feeling that safety truly is important to them. As a guide who frequently spends time tracking down snorkelers, I understand the need for these limitations. Still, I wanted to really push it and wasn’t allowed to.
I jumped in and immediately realized the periodic lifting and falling of the waves meant for a physically challenging day. The waves were intense but only took a few moments to get comfortable with and, once ready, I simply looked down and the show began.
The coral at Molokini is vibrant and healthy, with several different shades of red, orange, and yellow layered on the ocean floor like a sunset. Red pencil urchins abound, and fish like grouper, tang, and Moorish Idol steal the show, darting everywhere. Ollie and I took turns freediving as long as we could, examining the different corals and following any fish that caught our eyes.
After 30-45 minutes of snorkeling, we heard the all-aboard call. Back on the boat, we head towards the Makena area of south Maui for our second snorkel, spotting whales along the way. Once back in the water, it was clear this was not going to compare to Molokini.
I want to preface that I fully enjoyed our second location, freediving to get some great GoPro footage, safely handling some urchins and seastars that fascinated me (DO NOT ATTEMPT ON YOUR OWN. Leave the reef alone and let the experts teach you), and generally exploring another great reef. However, Molokini was a bucketlist item and no other destination on the trip was going to compare. Still, I enjoyed my time, and even rescued a snorkel mask from drowning. I’m no hero (but I did keep the mask).
Once done, lunch was served. Chicken sandwiches with potato-mac salad and 3-bean salad, plus the first round of drinks on the house. Spending the last three hours doing my best to impersonate the swimming ability of a dolphin, I was hungry and had a second helping of everything, drink included. Back on the bow, I saw a male humpback whale completely breach, sending a splash of water as high as only a mammal the size of a school bus can. We spotted several more whales surfacing, and against the most ridiculous wind I’ve ever encountered (and I’m from the part of the world nicknamed “Tornado Alley”), we pulled back into Ma’alaea harbor, snatched our photo we took pre-trip, and that was that.
(Interested in learning more about Maui? Follow this link to read The Top Ten Worst Things to Do in… Maui)
Post-Trip Thoughts: PacWhale
Occasionally you feel let down when traveling. You create a vision in your mind of a place just for it to not live up to the hype, the vision better than the place itself. The Mona Lisa is more impressive in your mind; Sydney Harbor bridge is just a bridge.
Molokini Crater is not one of these visions.
Swimming in a crater thousands of years in the making, the sheer walls towering over you, the richness of life below you, Molokini engulfs you, like swimming with an ancient giant who’s seen countless explorers come before you and will continue to stand for countless explorers after you. The reef was truly unlike anything I have ever seen, and I mean that: I saw a crown of thorns starfish for the first time in my life.
The water at Molokini can be rough, so I suggest only confident swimmers go without a flotation device of some kind, or give yourself a few minutes to really get a feel for the motion of the waves. They lift, push and pull and command your attention, and I found myself timing my movements with the waves to avoid hitting coral (or other snorkelers).
PacWhale is arguably the best operator of whale watching and snorkeling tours on Maui and it is clear to see why. The staff are excellent: they’re talkative and kind and have service front of mind, checking on guests often to provide snacks or answer questions. I watched the staff interact with grace, and as a talkative guide on my own tours, I enjoyed seeing the little conversations they had that add value for each guest. I’ve always thought that a guest may not remember my name, but in ten years they’ll remember how I made them feel, so why not make them feel valued. PacWhale must have read my mind.
Our second snorkel location was lackluster, but maybe it’s because of that vision I’d created in my mind: how do you follow up snorkeling at Molokini? The short answer is: you can’t. Our second spot had plenty of life, but compared to Molokini, it just wasn’t the same.
Lunch was adequate, in fact I truly enjoyed the 3-bean salad, and the trip as a whole was fantastic, but I can’t help but feel PacWhale swung for the fences to start the tour and coasted on the way home afterwards. There isn’t much they can do about this fact either; the Maui afternoon winds can be aggressive and usually pick up as the day goes on, so the earlier you arrive to Molokini, the better. Still, I created a vision of the day when I pulled into the parking lot this morning and had completely surpassed it, spending the next several hours trying to enjoy everything else that I’d paid for. And I did.
You can find PacWhale Eco-Adventures online here.
Or connect to their Instagram account here.
