Molokini

Mt Molokini Crater

The Molokini is a snorkelling and scuba dive resort with extraordinary sea views and depth. The Molokini is a snorkelling and scuba dive resort with extraordinary sea views and depth. The Molokini Crater is a very favourite snorkeling and scuba dive area. Molokini is home to several hundred different types of sea life (some of which can't be found anywhere else than in Hawaii) and merits the special care it can.

What makes Molokini a half-moon? While many travel guides (including the most popular) mistakenly attributed Molokini's half-moon form to the movement of the waves, those who know the oceans here might have noticed a major issue with this theory: in the case of Molokini, the fall-out was primarily small and moved so far southward that the leading rim of the setback reverted back to the volcanic craters to be ejected each sweep.

Winds and swells are usually quieter early in the morning and the freshwater is then more inactive. When you are exposed to seasickness, a large vessel such as Pride of Maui (larger/stable motorised catamaran) is a good option. Molokini Island is located in the Alalakeiki Canal between South Maui & Kaho'olawe.

Created about 200,000 years ago by igneous activities, Molokini developed unilaterally. Because of the lack of a north face, the crescent-shaped south side is blocking most of the movement of the waves, while the caldera opens towards the sea. There is a large, sheltered cliff with quiet waters, the ideal haven for plenty of sealife as well as world-famous snorkelling and caving.

The Alalakeiki Canal has powerful flows. One time I was on a boat to Molokini and against alerts from the crews, a customer chose to go swimming around the pit. Luckily for this fellow, only a heap of stinking eyes from the flight and the other passangers passed him - the tides in this part of the canal are very heavy, and outside the Molokini protection screen an unexperienced diver has little chances of going anywhere the tide won't have him.

Beginning in World War II and for some considerable amount of then, unlike Kaho'olawe, their nearest neighbour in the West, the US soldier used Molokini as a bomb sniffer. The early Hawaiians came to Molokini to catch food, chase poultry and pick feather. According to the Hawaiian myth, Molokini was born when both the goddess Pele and her rivals, a mo'o (gecko), fallen in love with the same princes.

The Molokini is said to be the lizard's cock, and Pu'u Ola'i, her skull. The Alalakeiki Canal between South Maui & Kaho'olawe - you must take a ferry to get here.