Molokini Crater Plus Turtle Town Snorkeling 4-hour Tour

Reviews

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  kurtashack 5

  13 Dec 2021

  Crew was great, conditions were not terrible given the fact that they had major rain storms the week prior. Due to the murky waters we were unable to see the turtles due to this, obviously out of the crews control. Made up for this by seeing whales and dolphins. Spencer and Benja were excellent and actually explained how to snorkel properly. Had a lot of fun and would recommend again!

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  Carsten_B 5

  29 Nov 2021

  Was a fantastic experience. The "Getaway" Crew was awesome. Captain and crew are very professional. They gave a lot of information about the places and animals. I saw a lot of turtles and made some good shots with the cam at Turtle Town / Condos. Molokini Crater was great too. Lot of colorful fish. Was a wonderful morning. This trip is highly recommended.

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  bobdahlberg 2

  01 Nov 2021

  The bottom-line is that Makena Coast Dive Charters (MCDC) caters to both snorkels and scuba divers, and the trip is really not satisfactory to either. I am both an experienced snorkeler and certified NAUI diver. I have been to Hawaii at least 20 times over the past 30 years, and been to most of the islands many times (exception Ni‘ihau and Kaho‘olawe). This was to be my first trip to Molokini to complete my Hawaii bucket list. I booked this trip via Airbnb thinking that this would be a small outfitter, with a smaller boat, more intimacy. Wrong! What went well? #1 Daniel! Daniel was assigned to help the snorkelers. (The dive master guided two scuba divers) Daniel was patient, kind and helpful to everyone. He helped people get fitted into masks and fins. When we arrived at Molokini he advised my wife that the best snorkelling would be due west of the boat location along an underwater wall (where the scuba divers headed.) Unfortunately, the captain told me don’t go there due to strong currents, and stay in the deep water zone away from any coral that would attract fish. At Turtle Town (way better snorkeling than what we got at Molokini) Daniel pointed out a turtle (the only one we saw that day), he also brought up an octopus for us to see. He let it go near the surface and squirted ink as it swam away. Nice! #2. Safety. As much as I didn’t like the captain not letting my wife and me swim over to better snorkeling waters, I do know it was in the interest of safety. The captain also insisted we have a snorkeling buddy. Water noodles were available for buoyancy. #3. Food and water. The Airbnb trip description stated that only water would be provided. To my surprise the dive master handed out chips of various flavors on our way to Molokini and there were Subway wraps of various kinds when we left Turtle Town. Since we didn’t have time for an early breakfast, this food was appreciated! There were four notable problems with our trip: Problem 1. Finding “Yuri”. Airbnb sent me a half dozen emails from “Yuri and Floyd” that were written in a personal warm tone. When I arrived at the Kihei Boat Ramp I went from boat to boat asking for “Yuri”. Finally the dive master on The Getaway yelled at me saying “We don’t have a Yuri here. There are over 100 Molokini snorkel booking agents, which boat are you booked on?” Searching my emails I found reference to “The Getaway”. So Airbnb bot-based personalization is obviously phony. That wasn’t Makena Coast Dive Charters fault per se, but they should check to see how they are represented by their 100 booking agents! Problem 2. Makena Coast Dive Charters is the runt of the Kihei Boat Ramp “fleet”. All the boats going out of Kihei Boat Ramp are towed in by a trailer, and there is a pecking order of who’s boat gets launched first. The Alpha Kihei Boat Ramp operator apparently is the Redline Rafting Company . They had two (maybe three) boats that were put into the water first, loaded with passengers and were off. Second in line was Blue Water Rafting. Last and final was MCDC’s The Getaway; we were off at 7:11 AM, we were told 7:00.. Problem 3. Makena Coast Dive Charters’ Molokini mooring location is inferior to snorkeling specialists. Since MCDC was the last out of the harbor, it was no surprise our Molokini mooring site was far away from decent snorkeling. We ended up at GPS location 20.633825, -156.497452 about 444 feet from the crater wall (see photo with our location on it attached.) Redline Rafting Company and Trilogy have moorings in shallow water near the crater wall. Needless to say, we were dropped into deep water into a school of black triggerfish near the surface, and away from the coral. What’s my Molokini take away? Molokini has white sandy crater bottom with fairly clear water. When I ventured towards the Trilogy boat snorkeling zone, our Captain yelled at me to come back, he even sent Daniel out to bring me back. The mooring site was adequate for the two scuba divers on our boat, but I didn’t talk to them. I will note that the currents were strong that day and the boat captain contained us in a small area (in deep water, away from coral) for safety’s sake I am sure. However, the Molokini snorkeling specialists have moorings for snorkelers that are protected from the current. Problem 4: The trip is shorter than advertised. We were back at 10:41, exactly 3.5 hours, not 4 hours. Trucks and trailers from the Redline Rafting Company and Blue Water Rafting were still in the parking lot. MCDC’s The Getaway was the last boat to leave the dock (7:11) and the first boat back in (10:41).

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  Christine_S 5

  16 Oct 2021

  Super fun boat trip and crew. Saw several turtles at “turtle town” and beautiful sea life at Molokini. Don’t forget to take some Dramamine an hour before your boat takes off, if you’re not used to being on the open ocean.

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  Claire_S 5

  14 Oct 2021

  Such an awesome adventure, got to go to a couple different spots to look for sea life. All of the tour staff was friendly and knowledgeable. Such a fun tour!

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  Amy_M 5

  05 Oct 2021

  Great day snorkeling! Crew was awesome! Weather was perfect. Lunch and snacks were very good. Thanks from Detroit!

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  Grant_c 5

  27 Sep 2021

  So much fun. Great crew, very helpful and experienced. Worth every penny. Showed us great fish, dolphins and turtles.

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  Cathy_L 4

  19 Sep 2021

  Saw a small white tipped shark and many turtles. Snacks were good. Crew was helpful and knowledgeable.

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  Ty_K 5

  18 Sep 2021

  Ultra professional crew with over 50+ years experience in diving and boat operations - safety is the highest priority! This is a rare small boat experience with true professionals who are focused on making this a once in a lifetime experience and they did. I appreciated the fact they gave the ocean and sea life the highest priority and went to great lengths to share the history, flora and fauna! Absolutely thrilled we chose Spencer and the crew!

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  debbiefD5559WP 5

  16 Sep 2021

  I wish I remembered the guides names (as they remembered and called us by ours). Loved being on the smaller boat as we felt "watched over". That came in handy as our guide told us to stay away from the rocky shore - and sure enough, that's where I ended up! Our guide jumped off the boat and swam out to pull me back into calmer waters in what felt like just seconds. It's nice knowing that with just a small group of passengers they were looking out for us (and not being one of 100+ people on one of the bigger boats going out). The water was beautiful, turtles, fish... just a fantastic time and can't go on about choosing the smaller boat and the wonderful guides that we had. Amazing Day!

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