Maui Reef Adventures — Local services in Maui

My fiancee and I purchased Maui Reef Adventures Snorkel at Molokini Crater for our vacation this March. Alex & Ryan, the captain and crew of this smaller craft made our trip absolutely incredible. In summary - this company and our crew was GREAT, respectful of those who are onboard, shared in some great, light-hearted humor for a fun day, and made sure everyone enjoyed the ride. They were the BEST excursion we did while vacationing in Maui!

We started off in the morning, leaving right on-time at 8 AM (thanks for that respect to everyone who arrived on-time, Capt. Alex!). Breakfast and good humor was available for everyone on our small-party vessel of 25 people. It made for a relaxed, spacious ride as we listened to mama and baby humpback whales talking to each other through the hydrophone Alex & Ryan had onboard, even able to hear them through the hull of the boat, they were that close! SO cool!

Then, we went to Capt. Alex's 'secret reef' where we swam with sea turtles - away from all the big party boats with 100+ people onboard each over at Turtle Bay/Makena Beach, by the way! We cruised from there to Molokini Crater, loving the circuitous route we took to get there in order to hop between whale pods as they breached and slapped the surface with their fins - so much so that we canceled our whale watching tour for later out of Lahaina!

Capt. Alex timed our arrival at Molokini Crater for when all the big cruisers (and the resulting throngs of tourists) were departing from their rush over there as we'd enjoyed whale watching. We arrived to the crater only hosting two other small local craft and their small snorkeling parties. it was perfect - and exactly as such a beautiful reef should be enjoyed: with respect and grace. And the reef didn't disappoint. SO many fish and 100-foot visibility underwater. We saw EVERYTHING.

With a lunch to enjoy onboard - which was delicious, by the way - we relaxed in the sun, and got everyone back onboard to return to the harbor. We saw more whales and got a full Maui coastal tour of the local islands we were cruising by along the way.

Oh, and the Coast Guard called in to our vessel while we were returning from the crater asking us to turn around and help with a Search & Rescue operation for two sea kayakers that got pushed off-course. So, we did.

This was truly a Maui Reef Adventure - and one we'll never forget!...

My husband and I did not actually end up taking this trip but I do have some notes on my experience with the company. I want to post a fair review and do not want to bring down this business' rating by giving only a few stars because the trip could have been awesome, we just were not able to make it.

We originally scheduled the trip for a Tuesday but they had to move it to Thursday. I reached out for more information the day before our trip to see if there was shade on the boat or a place for me to be out of the sun. I recently had a battle with skin cancer and was feeling a bit nervous about potentially being in direct sunlight all day. I did not get a response from them. This could be because there were several points of contact and maybe I didn't reach out to the right person? I am not sure... After that, I reached out by phone and by email saying we needed to cancel the trip because I had a bit too much sun exposure and was concerned about the potential risk. Unfortunately, I did not cancel within 48 hours as they require. I did not receive a refund. I understand that rules are rules, I was just really bummed by their response.

It sounds like this company hosts really incredible snorkeling trips but make sure you cancel within the 48 hours if you want to get...

This was awesome.. a two hour cruise turned into nearly three hours of amazing humpback whale watching adventure due to the extraordinary volume of whales out there, and, frankly, a great crew that simply did not want to leave the water! If you go, the best time is now, late January thru March, with an expert crew and a pontoon style boat that flies over the water and puts you up close and personal to the water, the whales and more whales. Everywhere we looked, we saw whales. At one point we had to stop and just drift because we found ourselves surrounded by several male competition pods that you could feel hitting the water with fin slapping, grunts, dives, and some that were jumping on top of each other in a humpback whale version of "dog pile." At another point, we had whales right under our boat and you could hear whale song, unaided by an underwater microphone, coming up out of the water ... I highly recommend these folks at #MauiReefAdventures and I rarely recommend anyone ... Simply the best if you want up close and personal ... Now, they don't control the whales and cannot guarantee what you will see, but the crew also were empowered to go where we needed for the best...