Best Snorkeling Beaches on Maui

The oddly-shaped Hawaiian island of Maui offers an array of nooks and crannies along its shores, affording snorkeling enthusiasts ample opportunities to explore the crystal-clear waters and bountiful marine life living among the coral reefs. While Maui’s inviting waters mean that snorkeling can be done pretty much anywhere on the island, there are some prime spots—many of which are located on the western side of the island—where viewing colorful sea creatures and pristine coral reefs is best. Here we’ve listed five of Maui’s best beaches for snorkeling.

1. Olowalu
Olowalu Reef provides divers the chance to explore one of Hawaii’s most unique reef ecosystems. Some of the interesting features of Olowalu Reef include a blacktip reef shark nursery and a manta ray cleaning station. Another key feature of Olowalu Reef is that it is protected from the trade winds that plague some of the other snorkeling beaches on Maui.

2. Turtle Town
Located between Black Sand Beach and Nahuna Point, Turtle Town is home to Maluaka Beach, which is the best place for snorkeling in the area. Turtle Town gets its name by being one of the prime areas in the Hawaiian Islands for snorkelers to swim and dive with green sea turtles, hawksbill turtles, and, occasionally, leatherback turtles.

3. Honolua Bay
With its sandy beaches, beautiful landscape, perfect waves, and excellent snorkeling, Honolua Bay draws thousands of tourists each year who want to stay in Maui condo specials. Located on the northern tip of Maui, Honolua Bay is a marine life conservation district, meaning that there is no fishing allowed in the area. Because of this, there is an extremely high quantity of diverse sea life, making Honolua Bay one of the top snorkeling beaches on the island.

4. Kapalua Bay
The inviting white sand beach and calm waters make Kapalua Bay perfect for snorkeling. Kapalua Bay has been considered by some to be the prettiest beach on Maui and features two primary snorkeling reefs at either end of the bay. The north side of the bay is generally considered the better spot, while the entire bay is home to an impressive collection of fish, including perch, box fish, surgeon fish, parrot fish, and scorpion fish.

5. Black Rock
On the northwest portion of the island is Black Rock, which is a lava outcropping at the north end of Kaanapali Beach. When the surf is calm, visibility around Black Rock is exceptional, and several coral have developed among the rocks of the lava outcropping.