Snorkeling at Molokini

One of the reasons we decided to go to Maui, Hawaii and not any other beach destinations was Snorkeling. We did some snorkeling in Mexico couple of years back and really enjoyed it and always wanted to do it again. It is so intriguing to watch life under water in its pristine form.

We did some research about the best snorkeling spots on Maui and waters near Molokini were highly recommended. Molokini is an island to the west of Maui. It is a restricted island and no one can step on or touch the islands. There are several half day tours to Molokini starting from Wailea. The tour can cost you anywhere from $50-$100 and includes lunch. It takes about an hour to get to Molokini on a speed boat. The water level near Molokini is not shallow but you can still see the bottom very clearly. We saw tons of colorful fishes, eel and corals. We also saw couple of turtles. If you don't already have an underwater camera, you will probably have the option to rent one from your tour operator.

Road to Hana, Pipiwai Trail

Kaanapali and Hana are on opposite sides of the island. Since we had quite a drive ahead of us we decided to take the faster route to Kahului through the south-west instead of the north. After a quick pit stop at Cafe Mambo in Paia for some smoothie goodness, we continued on the Road to Hana.

When we were looking into things that we should be doing in Maui, the Road to Hana was one of the most often mentioned activities. And it lived up to our expectations. The long and windy road provided several beautiful lookout views.

The first waterfall of several on the Road to Hana was the Twin Falls. The fall itself wasn't that great, but the trail to the falls was quite interesting - there were several interesting flowers, banana trees, a water tunnel.

Iao Valley

We drove along the northern coast of Maui from Kaanapali to the Iao valley state park. The drive had some amazing sights. We stopped at several view points, the most notable one being Honolua bay. It had a great view of the bay below. The water looked quite calm in the bay area and it seemed like an excellent snorkeling spot (although there were only a few people snorkeling there).