Maui

Lanai Snorkel and Dolphin Watch from Maalaea

Badge of ExcellenceMaui, USA

5 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Get ready for fun in the sun on this guided, 5-hour dolphin watch and snorkeling adventure. Sail away to one of the best dive spots in the world — the beautiful blue waters off the island of Lanai. See Hawaiian Spinner, bottlenose and spotted dolphins swimming alongside the boat, then jump in for a snorkel above a coral reef with a wide variety of marine life. All the required equipment is included, plus enjoy a continental breakfast, lunch, and refreshments along the journey.

Enjoy a dolphin watch and snorkeling adventure
Sail along the waters off the island of Lanai
See a variety of marine wildlife in their natural environment
Breakfast, lunch and refreshments included
Fun for the entire family

What's Included

Certified Marine Naturalists on board
Premium snorkel gear, including optical masks for eyeglass wearers
Flotation devices, snorkel instruction, fish i.d. class
Onboard Jr. Naturalist Program for kids
Continental breakfast: banana bread, assorted pastries, fresh island fruit, juice, Maui coffee
Lunch: chicken breasts, garden burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, veggie salad, chocolate chip cookies
Unlimited soda, juice, and filtered water
1 complimentary alcoholic beverage (adults 21+ with valid picture ID)

Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off
4 oz. Reef-safe sunscreen in a fully sustainable tube from sugarcane available for $17 onboard
Affordable rentals of wetsuit shirts, underwater cameras, binoculars

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Harbor Shops & Restaurants
Maalaea, HI 96793, USA
Check-in at the PWF retail store in Ma'alaea Harbor Shops next to Maui Ocean Center Aquarium shared parking Check-in 45 minutes prior to departure time

Start time

07:00 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
Not wheelchair accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level

Children must be accompanied by an adult
Children 4 and under are free (one per paying adult). Children ages 5-12 pay child rate/all children must be on reservation
Please check in 45 minutes prior to your departure time at our Pacific Whale Foundation Ocean Store located in the Harbor Shops at Ma'alaea, adjacent to the Maui Ocean Center Aquairum.
To protect the reef environment and in support of the statewide ban on sunscreens, we will no longer allow the use of any non-reef safe sunscreen on board any snorkel eco tours. 4oz Reef safe sunscreen will be available on board for $13
You will need to bring your own towels and credit cards for any onboard purchases as the vessels are cashless except for gratuities
For safety reasons, the use of full-face masks is not permitted on our snorkel ecotours. We do provide high quality snorkel gear on board for all guests.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 70 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Monica_T

This was a great trip!! The crew was amazing! Incredibly polite, knowledgeable and did not skip a beat in service. Boat was super clean and spacious! Great lunch! Best captain! We had many dolphins sightings as well! Highly recommend!!

Reviews

4.5

212 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 212 reviews

No dolphins, bad food, cold and wet, also…parking.

Mikayla_O, Apr 2024

We unfortunately did not have a fun experience and do not find it worth the money. We have had better experiences for less money, and regret trying somebody new. The first error I accept as mine, but was still disappointed with the description- parking. We were told to share the parking lot with the aquarium. It’s my fault for not understanding that “sharing” meant, pay for the parking because we don’t own it and somehow believed we were an exception with the reservation, but we were not. Please if you do this excursion, listen to the million and one pay to park signs and know you will have to pay for parking on top of your reservation. They do not redeem the parking for you, which I have found every other activity so far HAS done. Secondly, the food. We didn’t have high expectations, but we didn’t have no expectations. Even the food that was meant to be hot was cool or cold. Most everything was tasteless, and bland, the one soda I asked for was given to me but it was just carbonation and no syrup. We were expecting your typical grilled out meal, and I personally find it hard to screw that up but it was nothing impressive whatsoever. Quantity was not a problem- mostly because most people didn’t eat or finish their food because upon discussion, they felt the same way. The trip. When I initially booked this trip I wasn’t expecting hours jetting through the water to an island just for barely an hour to snorkel, but that’s what it was. They mentioned before we left on “what to expect” that there was 90 minutes at least, which also felt short, but we didn’t even get that. It’s a snorkel trip, but you will barely do that. The reef was hard to see, and I saw a max of five fish from very far away. I struggled to understand why we even go over there considering there were much better reefs around Maui. The service people were nice, the provisions for floats and goggles were good, and they were very educational. We saw no dolphins. Two whales jumped out at some point but only once and almost nobody saw them. They were convinced we would see dolphins and no whales but we really got neither. It’s the end of whale season- which is why I booked a dolphin tour… but they can’t control that it was just disappointing. It was cold during the boat ride and hard to stay dry anywhere. I never could dry off because there wasn’t enough time and you were always getting re wet while racing through the water, which even on a hot day feels cold. They let us know when we got there that turtles weren’t super well known for the area- which I wished I would have known because previously, seeing the turtles is one of the coolest parts. We read a lot of reviews prior to going. I’m sure some people see more and have better experiences, but ours was disappointing. We kept saying “well at least we will get food” and when that came back bad, we were a bit at a loss, cold, queasy, and wishing we had just booked something shorter around Maui that would have been cheaper, and actually given us the opportunity to snorkel longer. It was a lot of money. I spent the whole year saving for this trip and doing the activities, and this was a bigger one because it felt like it was a longer snorkel time and a good way to get on the boat. Neither was enjoyable, and the snorkeling was little to none.

Awesome

Earl_C, Apr 2024

Whales, dolphins beautiful fish and friendly humans , great food and great stories and money went to a great cause

Best snorkeling spot!

Deborah_M, Mar 2024

Great snorkeling! Crew was very nice. Only complaint was the food, but still an overall good choice.

Best tour🤩

Kaelyn_M, Feb 2024

Best high light of the day was seeing dolphins and baby dolphins 🐬 by the boat and of course snorkel as well definitely recommend! 😍

Great experience

Tracy_M, Jan 2024

Incredible staff ensured we had what we were taken care of, they shared information about the wildlife and ensured that we not only got pit to the reef (lanai), but that we saw tons of dolphins and whales

Wonderful, fun trip🌞

Kathy_G, Jan 2024

The spinner dolphins that came up to the boat were a joy! So much fun🐬 The staff was great and the boat was clean and safe. The hot chocolate the captain brought us was delicious.

Worth it!

Kristi_B, Dec 2023

Fantastic trip and worth every penny to be the only boat at a prime snorkeling location. Would love if we could audit people's sunscreen to ensure they're using reef safe sunscreen too.

checkin was messy

Tianyin_W, Nov 2023

Checkin was terrible. Didn’t receive full checkin info from pacwhale or third party booking website and we missed the boat.

Response from Host, Nov 2023

I am so sorry to hear about your obviously disappointing experience. Thank you for letting us know about the incorrect check-in information from the third-party site. Since the Lahaina fire destroyed our operations out of there, we've had to operate all tours out of Ma'alaea location. While we have updated that information on our website, it appears there is an issue from a third-party site. I would greatly appreciate you contacting me directly at johngaskins@pacwhale.com so that I can learn which third-party you booked through and correct the issue. Although we have communicated all of the updated correct information to such partners, obviously something was missed by someone that negatively impacted your vacation plans with us and I will make sure it's corrected so such incidents don't happen again. I look forward to hearing from you.

We had a great time!

Christina_L, Nov 2023

The perfect trip! We saw whales, snorkeled and saw tons of fish, ate yummy food and enjoyed Ollie’s cocktails. The staff was welcoming, kept everyone safe, and all did a great job. We had a great time.

Dolphins and fish.

Becky_M, Nov 2023

We encountered quite a large pot of spinner dolphins on the ride out and one was a juvenile learning to do is spins and it was fabulous to watch. They came right up to the boat so we could see them underwater as well as some very close spins. The snorkeling was quite good. My only downside, was that there were not good directions to where I was supposed to go and my Google app sent me downstairs from where I was supposed to be and I couldn't find it and I was getting very frustrated. Something like saying it was across from the Marine Center would have been helpful

Wonderful snorkel trip to Lanai

Deborah_C, Nov 2023

All the staff on the boat were so knowledgeable & friendly. The reef where we snorkeled was great. No crowds like Molokini. Food was good too.

A beautiful dolphin experience!!

Michael_V, Nov 2023

Awesome experience with seeing dolphins swim right next to the boat!! The staff was extremely kind as well fast with service. Highly recommend for a good time with family, friends, and loved ones!

Fun trip

Laura_C, Oct 2023

We saw dolphins twice, that was cool. And the babies were a bonus! Crew were all very nice, good food and drinks!

Perfect Day snorkeling and seeing dolphins

Anita_W, Oct 2023

We saw 3 separate dolphin pods. Saw spinner dolphins, bottlenose, and spotted dolphins! The snorkeling was in a beautiful area with calm and clear waters and perfect views. The crew was very informative and friendly. They swam with us and pointed out cool things in the water. The meals were also delicious.

Worth it! Great experience

Erica_W, Oct 2023

Great experience. I was not sure what to expect. The crew was awesome, we saw dolphins and snorkeling was like being in a giant aquarium. The 5 hours went by fast and I would pay to do this again tomorrow if I was not leaving. Definitely booking here next time I visit.

Great experience with a great crew

LInda_N, Aug 2023

The best snorkeling experience that we’ve been on and we’ve been on several. Comfortable tables and chairs for eating and viewing. The boat was very roomy and clean with friendly crew. Lots of little touches like they brought breakfast and water right to us at the beginning. and prescription masks for free. Lunch was good (and included) w the ability to get seconds and a well stocked bar. We saw so many dolphins on the trip back. Snorkeling eqpt was in good repair. They offered a little snorkeling 101 but didn’t make you stay for it if you didn’t need it. The only thing extra we paid for was a wet jacket which was reasonable ($10) if you wanted it. The best of the best.

Good Times in Lanai

Jenni_A, Aug 2023

Crew was excellent. Friendly and accommodating. Very safety conscious. Good food. Fun day! Saw a few dolphins.

Big Dolphin Siting Trip

Jim_A, Jul 2023

My mother wanted to see dolphins and boy did the captain & crew delivered on this trip (estimated around 150 dolphins)

Awesome

Emily_S, Jul 2023

The crew were absolutely amazing , the boat was nice with a bathroom . Knowledgeable and and trained for emergencies . Would definitely recommend and do again

10 out of 10!

Shannon_S, Jun 2023

The captain was fun and caring. The whole staff was super sweet and caring. We were lucky enough to see a group of dolphins before snorkeling and it was magical. The price is right. 10 out of 10.

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