Set sail from Lahaina to the famed Honolua Bay. This is a full day adventure so departure should be 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. It’s a 2 hour motor/sail to the bay, at which time you’ll be enjoying the spectacular views of West Maui.
During whale season in the Winter, we’ll spend plenty of time watching these magnificent creatures, while on the lookout for Spinner dolphins and Green Sea turtles.
Upon arrival we’ll set up to snorkel Honolua bay, our crew can give instructions, if needed. The Bay is a Marine Reserve so it has an abundance of marine life, colorful tropical fish, turtles and beautiful arrangements of coral life. Honolua Bay is part of a Marine Life Conservation District, so there is no fishing (or taking of any natural resources, including marine life and even rocks.) We could take a lesson from the early Hawaiians, who were superb stewards of the land and carefully managed all of their important fishing grounds – including this area – in order to protect the abundant natural resources for future generations. The bay has been been recognized as an area of significant cultural, historical, and environmental value by present day Hawaii as well.
Honolua means “two harbors” in Hawaiian, and this bay was historically used by Honolua Ranch to receive supplies and ship products.
The primary draw here today is snorkeling and surfing; you’re always guaranteed to see lots of fish, turtles and coral. The beach is very rocky, and is not the kind of beach that you go to to lay out and sun yourself. If you were to deive yourself to Honolua Bay you would find that parking is apretty good hike from the actual snorkeling spot is is a ways from shore. This is one of the reasons to let us show you this magical place. The bay here is huge, and the visibility improves greatly further form the beach. Add the fact that it is a reserve where taking of fish is prohibited; the place is teeming with life.
Lunch will be served on deck by our on board chef and crew. We have a complete galley on the Island Star and with that, our chef can prepare most any type of meal you wish.
If time allows, we’ll do one more stopat Cliff House Kapalua for more spectacular snorkeling.
The sail back to Lahaina is awesome! The trade winds have picked up a bit by this time and we’re able to do a very nice downwind sail back to the Lahaina Harbor, sipping Margaritas and Mai Tai’s.