Board the catamaran named Four Winds II for a 4-hour morning or afternoon cruise to Molokini Crater and/or Coral Gardens for humpback whale-watching (in season from December to April), green sea turtle-watching, and snorkeling, with breakfast or lunch at an extra $6 cost.

The boat is amply staffed with friendly and knowledgable staff. Besides the captain, there is a SNUBA instructor and guide, a bartender/food server, and a photographer/videographer, among other staff members.

Snorkels and face masks are included in the cost. Sodas, wine, and beer are included in the cost. We didn't have the breakfast so I can't tell you what's offered but the $6 lunch offers a choice of a freshly grilled cheeseburger, hot dog, chicken breast sandwich, or vegetarian burger and chips.

Novices as well as experienced divers are welcome. Children are welcome.

You may rent a wetsuit jacket for $5. SNUBA is an extra charge. Underwater cameras with a roll of 36 exposure film rent for $21 (you take the film with you to develop on your own). Copies of still photography and/or DVD copies of the day's filming is available for purchase—between $20 and $45. The photo/videographer takes your photo and video aboard the boat and underwater while you SNUBA/snorkel.

The catamaran takes you out for an hour of snorkeling at Molokini Crater or if wind/weather isn't that great, to Coral Gardens. The catamaran is partially glass-bottomed so you can climb to the bottom of the boat for your viewing pleasure.

The cost is $35.95 per person when you mention you saw their ad in one of the tourist books. Discount given at time of booking only.

The company, Maui Classic Charters, operates the boat Maui Magic as well. The company is a sponsor of the marine science department of the University of Hawaii and has donated a boat to the program.

If you are an experienced snorkeler with decent swimming skills, you will find Maui to be a wonderful place to swim with the fish and sea turtles, with a backdrop of beautiful coral reefs. We now own our own gear, but it is very reasonable to rent while in Hawaii. You can even rent on one island, take the stuff with you and return it on another. Snorkel Bob is probably the best known around and very accommodating for those of all skill levels.

With gear in hand, you are ready to venture out into the ocean. Our favorite snorkeling experience during our week was at Makena Bay. This is a remote area off the beaten path. You'll need to park up on the main road and hike down about a half mile to the beach. Because of the lava formations, you will have a tough time finding a place to lay out. This is really just for Snorkeling!

After your half-mile hike down into the woods, you will come upon the beach landing area. The lava rocks are very sharp so you should wear sneakers or beach mocks if you don't have fins. Getting in can be quite the challenge especially with those dorky fins on. The locals at the scuba/dive shops highly recommend this place as the best offshore beach snorkeling on Maui. The coral reefs and fish were incredible. We also saw a couple of sea tortoises. Because this is a rather protected, inlet bay, the waters are very calm, making it easy for even the most novice of swimmers. The water is deep, however, so floatation devices should be used by anyone concerned about their swimming abilities. The good news is that you won't have to worry about tides or currents. The water is pretty much flat.

If you are interested in other "do it yourself" snorkel trips while in Maui, be sure to pick up the book "Maui Revealed." You will find it useful in helping to find those out of the way places that only the locals know about!

Kapalua Bay is truly a natural wonder. It's a beautiful horseshoe-shaped bay with very well-developed coral heads. It can be a little tricky getting in and out, as there are some large rocky areas at the water line. Just look for the light-colored water. That indicates a sandy bottom and makes your entry into the bay much easier. The variety of fish at Kapalua is far greater than Molokini, and the water is a bit warmer. You can swim way out to the outer reef without danger of getting sucked into the Tahiti Express. We saw three varieties of moray eels, a pair of turtles wedged into holes in the outer reef, and HumuHumus too numerous to count, same with Yellow tangs. There were huge Blue Cavalle (in the Jack family), bright yellow trumpet fish, schools of needle fish floating near the surface, and Bird Wrasses--male and female--Christmas Wrasse, and Rainbow Cleaner Wrasse. The list goes on and on.

If you want to get hooked on snorkeling for life, go to this beach first. This is also a great beach if you just want to sit back and relax. There is plenty of sugary sand and not as many people as the other more centrally located beaches. All in all, I think Kapalua is my favorite beach on Maui. There is a small public parking lot, but it tends to fill early, so mornings are best. There are restrooms and two showers. There is a paved walkway the runs the length of the beach, kind of like at Ka'anapali, and there is lawn behind the walkway. It's the perfect spot to have a picnic. I was in the water so much, I didn't get any pictures of this beautiful spot unfortunately.

This is the reef the snorkel tour boats take you to when they talk about snorkeling at "Turtle Town." Boy, they aren't kidding. There are turtles everywhere here. Big ones, medium sized and little ones. I also saw a small free swimming octopus. Several different kinds of moray eels and Picasso triggerfish. This was also the only snorkel spot where we saw saddleback butterfly fish. There is public parking, showers, restrooms, and a nice picnic area. The beach itself is quite nice, with a great view of Molokini. It can get a little crowded, as the beach is shared with the Maui Prince hotel.

Anyway, we got all ready for the Black Rock dive. I managed to get the flag caught by fishermen right at the beginning, but they were cool about it. After that, we made it down to the wall and it was incredible. There were dozens of huge eels, some that were four feet long. There were hundreds of fish, too, including these giant blue ones with big sucker mouths. We found what Dan thought was either a cuttlefish or a squid and played with it for a while. Its whole body was translucent and we could shine our lights through it. It was red, except for the eyes, which were green. One of the eels swam into this little cave with a crab and they fought, and I saw another eel snap up a little orange and purple wrasse and the eel held it sideways in its mouth for a while. There were some weird lobster crabs and some other diver tried to spear one, but the spear bounced off. I found a few big lobsters, plus a big crab that we watched scurry around for a while.

We saw so much stuff it's hard to even describe it all. Then at the end, we turned into this little cove and the six-foot sea turtle was there again, only a couple feet from us. It curiously peaked out of its spot, looked at our lights, and then swam up and away. They're such beautiful animals. They move in such a graceful way. We saw another smaller on a few minutes later. Finally we ran low on air (60 minutes at 30 feet) and swam in to the beach.