Best December snorkeling in Hawaii

[navigatrix]

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I'm planning a trip to Hawaii for about a week in late Dec with my 10 year old son. I'm a diver, but won't dive on this trip ... since it will just be the two of us, we'll snorkel together instead. He's a good swimmer, but he doesn't have much snorkeling experience (he's only gone once, in Catalina). So, I'm looking for: easy shore snorkeling, and nice beaches. I haven't been to Hawaii since I was ~10 myself, so I don't have much prior knowledge.

• Which island should we go to?
  • It looks like Maui gets a lot of recommendations, but I also see posts recommending Kauai or the BI ... which island would you recommend?
  • If we go to Maui, it looks like many of the places to stay are in the Kaanapali area, is that the best place to stay? I'm also looking at places that seem slightly less touristy, like Kihei, how's that?
• Where should we snorkel?
  • On Maui, I see recommendations for Honolua Bay and the Molokini Crater ... where else?
  • Or where on the other islands?

Thanks, all!

 

[Yellow Fin]

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I'm planning a trip to Hawaii for about a week in late Dec with my 10 year old son. I'm a diver, but won't dive on this trip ... since it will just be the two of us, we'll snorkel together instead. He's a good swimmer, but he doesn't have much snorkeling experience (he's only gone once, in Catalina). So, I'm looking for: easy shore snorkeling, and nice beaches. I haven't been to Hawaii since I was ~10 myself, so I don't have much prior knowledge.

• Which island should we go to?
  • It looks like Maui gets a lot of recommendations, but I also see posts recommending Kauai or the BI ... which island would you recommend?
  • If we go to Maui, it looks like many of the places to stay are in the Kaanapali area, is that the best place to stay? I'm also looking at places that seem slightly less touristy, like Kihei, how's that?
• Where should we snorkel?
  • On Maui, I see recommendations for Honolua Bay and the Molokini Crater ... where else?
  • Or where on the other islands?

Thanks, a

 

[Yellow Fin]

A couple of things to consider as our family has dove / snorkeled Kauai and Maui.

Kauai offers 'old' Hawaii charm as it's the least developed island. It's an incredible island to explore and if you are lucky enough to have good weather (you have to expect rain every day but its the rain that makes the island so green) it can be incredible. Poipu beach is a great spot and exceptional sunsets.

Maui offers more snorkeling sites but it comes with larger crowds and usually a little more pricey. The southern end Kihei and Wailea are very nice and you can snorkel Makena Landing as well as in front of the Grand Wailea | Four Seasons... great beach. The Kaanapali area typically has excellent viewing of the whales from the beach.

Whatever you decide, you are going to really have a great time. It's Hawaii afterall!!

 

[rokn1500]

The easiest snorkel on West Maui in the winter will be on Olowalu beach.

If there is no swell, then you can do Airport or Wahikuli Wayside.

 

[MarkH]

I've done a bit of snorkeling on both Maui and the Big Island in the last few years. Here are some links to the photos/reports:
Maui:

maui2022

Big Island:

hawaiibigisland

All of the sites were shore snorkeling. If I had to chose between them for scuba diving, I would say definitely the Big Island since it has more depth for shore diving (Maui is all mostly 30' deep on the easy-to-access sites, whereas you can shore dive down past 100' deep if you feel like it on the Big Island). As for snorkeling, I'd say they are pretty even. We saw way more turtles on Maui (they were several of them on almost all the sites). On the Big Island, we hardly saw any which seemed strange. I think the biggest factor for enjoyable snorkeling in Hawaii is the weather. On windy, rainy days, the water turns to yellow-brown muck, like tea and snorkeling isn't worth it. I think the Big Island (since it's bigger) might have more options for calm areas when the wind is blowing.

 

[FreqFlier]

Maui and Big Island for sure. Oahu to some extent. Kauai is a bit more dangerous.

 

[MarkH]

A bunch of my snorkeling videos from various sites in Maui:

 

[MarkH]

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I'm planning a trip to Hawaii for about a week in late Dec with my 10 year old son. I'm a diver, but won't dive on this trip ... since it will just be the two of us, we'll snorkel together instead. He's a good swimmer, but he doesn't have much snorkeling experience (he's only gone once, in Catalina). So, I'm looking for: easy shore snorkeling, and nice beaches. I haven't been to Hawaii since I was ~10 myself, so I don't have much prior knowledge.

• Which island should we go to?
  • It looks like Maui gets a lot of recommendations, but I also see posts recommending Kauai or the BI ... which island would you recommend?
  • If we go to Maui, it looks like many of the places to stay are in the Kaanapali area, is that the best place to stay? I'm also looking at places that seem slightly less touristy, like Kihei, how's that?
• Where should we snorkel?
  • On Maui, I see recommendations for Honolua Bay and the Molokini Crater ... where else?
  • Or where on the other islands?

Thanks, all!

When we go to Maui we like to stay in Kihei. There's an actual town with restaurants and grocery stores and condo rentals are about 1/4 the price of Kaanapali hotels. We would go to the Foodland grocery store, get plate lunches or poke bowls and eat it on one of the local beaches for lunch. Kaanapali is more of a resort area so I don't know what kind of restaurants/grocery stores it has.

 

[BigislandKonadiver]

I've done a bit of snorkeling on both Maui and the Big Island in the last few years. Here are some links to the photos/reports:
Maui:

maui2022

Big Island:

hawaiibigisland

All of the sites were shore snorkeling. If I had to chose between them for scuba diving, I would say definitely the Big Island since it has more depth for shore diving (Maui is all mostly 30' deep on the easy-to-access sites, whereas you can shore dive down past 100' deep if you feel like it on the Big Island). As for snorkeling, I'd say they are pretty even. We saw way more turtles on Maui (they were several of them on almost all the sites). On the Big Island, we hardly saw any which seemed strange. I think the biggest factor for enjoyable snorkeling in Hawaii is the weather. On windy, rainy days, the water turns to yellow-brown muck, like tea and snorkeling isn't worth it. I think the Big Island (since it's bigger) might have more options for calm areas when the wind is blowing.

I’ve lived on the Big Island for over 20 years and I can definitely recommend it for snorkeling from shore. One of the best sites is Kahalu’u Beach park in Kona. It has a life guard, free reef-safe sunscreen and knowledgeable ReefTeach personnel to provide information on the coral and marine life in this protected bay.
Anther popular shore snorkel (and dive) site is ”Two-Step” down adjacent to Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Park.
if you wanted a day trip on a tour snorkel boat, there are several that go down to snorkel in Kealakaua Bay by the Capt. Cook Monument.
There are several more shore snorkeling spots along the Kona and Kohala coast, so you can find a really nice variet.

 

[Hawaiianbrian]

Hello,

Im glad your coming to Hawaii. I have been diving on Oahu for 23 years. I will give you the down low on snorkeling off the coast of Oahu.

1. The waves are massive on the North Shore in December. So you can't do Sharks Cove or any other dive site on the North shore.

2. Waikiki is not a place to snorkel. The beach is artificial and except for small fish you probably won't see a turtle.

3. Your best bet is a Snorkel cruise with one of the dive shops. Aarons dive shop does one off the coast of Hawaii Kai which should be calm during your vacation.

4. Hanauma Bay is also a good place for Snorkeling for tourists.

Aloha,

Brian Grubert