Robert C.
Yelp
Before the pandemic, we always came to Maui in the winter time, anytime except the Christmas holidays, to escape tourists with their kids. Kids are like me and my ex -we don't mix!
We bring our own snorkel gear on the plane, as my wife is also a scuba diver, and has a prescription snorkel mask, and state of the art air tube.
We take only a single pair of 15" mini fins, compared to the 21" regular fins, to fit in the carry on luggage.
In the past we've stayed at the Maui Banyon, a luxury condominium resort timeshare complex, about a 12 minute walk to the center of Kamaole 2 beach.
Kamaole 2 is not a good snorkeling beach however. We usually drive to Ulua beach, 2 miles south, one of the premiere snorkel sites in Maui.
Molokini is prettier with more fish, but now as full of boats as the Spanish Armada! Besides why pay an arm and a leg just to go snorkeling, when you can snorkel right out the door of your hotel!?
I've got on my swim pants, my XXL T-shirt, way too big, given to me by me ex wife, one of the few things she's given me, besides white hairs! Both items, the swim pants and the T-shirt, not the ex-wife(!), to remain in Hawaii after I return home.
Snorkeling is best done on sunny days in the morning, as the currents build up and muddy the water with sand particles by mid day.
The 50 car Ulua beach parking usually fills up by 9am in the mornings. Would not be a problem except my wife needs her beauty rest on vacation, and always eats breakfast first thing in the morning.
Ulua parking lot filled? Drive out, and drive half mile South on Wailea Alanui Dr. past the Shops of Wailea complex, making a right turn into the 30 vehicle parking lot for Wailea Beach.
I store my electronic car key in a heavy duty, water-proof plastic pouch, available at any dive shop or Amazon, and hang it around my neck, inside my T-shirt. .
I'm wearing a T-shirt, as the T-shirt prevents sunburn on the back when the sun shines bright, and offers protection from getting scratched on rocks and coral reef.
My wife wears a 0.5 mil light weight wet suit mainly for body warmth, and prescription goggles -that's why she can't rent out snorkel outfits for $10 a week from snorkel Bob's!.
She's also wearing mini fins, while I'm wearing my river sandals, good for snorkeling in calm waters. In rough waters, I'm counting on the wife pulling me out!
These beaches have toilets, outdoor showers for washing off the sand, but no changing rooms. So you have to arrive and depart in your swimming trunks.
Wailea beach is perhaps a quarter mile long, very broad in most areas, open with no shade, nested between the Grand Wailea and Four Seasons Hotel, for those who can afford the $600 a night rent. Much of the area directly in front of both hotels is covered by folding chairs with sun umbrellas, rented out by the hotels to their well to do guests.
Have to walk at least a good 200 yards to find a suitable spot to snorkel on Wailea Beach, preferably somewhere near a rocky ledge on the south side of the Beach.
We go get on our snorkel mask and breathing tube, wet the mask to seal it, and go in -me forward, and she with the fins backward, so she doesn't tear the fin.
We stay for about 90 minutes doing snorkeling, and looking at the tropical fishes, before calling it a day. I don't go out too far beyond where my toes can touch the bottom. Eventually salt water leaks into my mask, and after a while stings the eyes.
By the time we get back to the Wailea beach parking lot, every spot is taken.
If the Wailea parking lot is filled, you can drive another half mile on Wailea Alanui Dr. just past the Fairmont Hotel and turn right onto Kaukahi St into a third parking lot for Polo Beach. The paved 2 mile long Wailea pedestrian beach path connects Ulua Beach, Wailea Beach, and Polo Beach.
Bring extra beach towels, as you're going to be driving back in a wet swim suit, as no changing rooms at the beach. Last thing you want to do is sit in your white shorts on a wet spot on the driver seat, when going out to dinner that night. People will think you had some leakage!
