Snorkeling the Mākena Coast: Where to Enter

Start with what DLNR leaves out

DLNR lists the activities for Mākena State Park as swimming during calm seas, bodysurfing, board surfing, shore fishing and beach-related activities. Snorkeling is not on that list, and the park's posted caution is about a shore break that can be very dangerous.

Read those two facts together and Big Beach stops looking like a snorkel spot. It isn't one. The snorkeling on this coast is north of the park.

The two entries, side by side

Maluaka is the more comfortable base. Paved parking, two comfort stations, showers to rinse gear. It's the entry most shore snorkelers use for the Turtle Town reef, and the one to pick if you want somewhere to change afterwards.

Mākena Landing is a ramp with a beach attached, open 7:00am to 8:00pm. Divers and kayakers launch from it, so you're crossing a working entry. It has a restroom and one shower. Parking is small and goes early.

Neither has a tower. On a reef where people follow animals further out than they meant to, that's the single most important line on this page.

What to check that morning

South Maui faces south, which means it gets south swell in the northern-hemisphere summer and sits sheltered from the winter north swell that hammers the other side of the island. The National Weather Service publishes a surf height specifically for south-facing shores on Maui, three times a day, and that's the number that applies here.

Wind matters more than most people expect. Mornings on this coast are often glassier, and the afternoon sea breeze can turn a clear reef into chop and poor visibility. That's a tendency, not a schedule.

• Check the south-facing surf height, not the island-wide or north-shore number.
• Look at the water for a few minutes before deciding, particularly at the Landing where boat traffic adds a variable.
• Pick the entry for the least confident swimmer in the group.