Honolua Bay Lookout — Attraction in Maui

On Maui, the Honolua name is shared by a store, clothing company, and this bay which is located just north of Kapalua.

PARKING: A few stalls are located along Honoapiilani Highway (30) though they're quite far from access to the bay.

THE BAY: There is no sand here, just a rocky shore surrounded by high cliffs and lots of trees. That being said, snorkeling is good as there are two huge reefs on either side of the bay, about 20 feet down, with adequate protection from wind and currents. Multiple catamarans full of ready-to-be-sunburnt tourists can be found here daily depending on conditions. There are no comfort facilities available.

I am not into snorkeling or SCUBA but tagged along with my spouse and friends for a snorkel sail on which we ended up here. On the way over, another boat captain radioed to our captain saying conditions here were "green". What that meant was visibility at the bay was unfavorable. From the surface, the water was a cloudy green like the ocean's floor got churned-up by some massive force. We anchored anyway along with two other boats. I didn't go in but others did and reported "okay" snorkeling conditions with not only fish-spotting but turtles too.

TIP: There is a lookout area along Honoapiilani Highway (30) if you want to see the bay but don't want to walk in or are not on a boat.

OVERALL: Great for snorkeling, not...

THIS PLACE WAS BEAUTIFUL! My family and I came here twice during out trip. The walk down to the beach was beautiful! You walk through an awesome landscape of trees before hitting an open beach. The bay is rocky so bring chairs. There is some small shade areas we got lucky with to lay out towels but not much.

Both times we arrived before 830 and it was already getting busy. It is worth it though and once you start to Snorkel you'll see why. Forget buying a snorkeling excursion. We had down that years prior and this was even better. I explored the reef om the left side and saw many turtles, octopus,, puffer fish, and all sorts of color fish. The reef itself is just amazing. Because there is very little current most of the time, it was easy to swim up to the far point on the left side without issue. Be Careful though because the winds can pick up and make it challenging. I didn't wear fins and was able to make it all the way out there pulling my 6yo without issue.

It was great being able to show him all sort of marine life. This place is Definitely work waking up for. Bring an underwater camera to capture all the cool things here.

I used my gopro 9 to get this turtle video, I have a ton of other footage from the things I saw just from...

Excellent place for snorkeling. The waters are very calm and not too cold. It is a bit of a headache to get to this bay by car and especially to find a parking spot, but once you get to the parking spot and start entering the jungle area until you get to the beach, the walk on foot is really incredible, excellent for photos. This bay has almost no sand area, it is in fact very rocky (I recommend wearing water shoes) since the stones can be a bit slippery when entering the water, but no worries my 84-year-old dad and my 79-year-old mom carefully went through that process without problems as did many children. This place is worth visiting. I recommend going early since it gets crowded with visitors. There are many tree-lined areas for shelter. No tickets to enter to the bay or to park yr vehicle. Just 1 vender at the botton of the bay parking area. You HAVE to visit this area...