In Search of Beautiful Reefs in Lanai, Hawaii

Healthy Herbivores

  I feel pretty lucky that I can come back to Maui for a quick two week vacation and have amazing adventures with great friends. One of these adventures was on my old boat, the Ocean Adventurer, for an all-day snorkel trip to the island of Lanai. 

Kelly diving under as Ben stands guard

Early Morning Rays

   Lanai is often called the "pineapple isle" because it was once a massive pineapple plantation. Nowadays it is owned by the business software mogul Larry Ellison and is more of an elite tourists destination. Although at the moment the two major hotels that are on Lanai are closed for upgrades. Which means that the snorkeling around the island is almost completely untapped except for the few snorkel boats adventurous enough to make the drive from Maui.

Predator jacks search for food

Kelly freediving deep

Underwater swim-thru

   We had wavy conditions but almost no wind. We found great snorkeling conditions at Lighthouse, Barge Harbor, Dinosaur Cove, and Shark Fin Rock. It was a good mix of shallow healthy coral and deep dropoffs. We did see a monk seal lounging on the beach and a spotted eagle ray flapping at the surface but nothing too big underwater. Kelly did find a beautiful yellow-margin spanish dancer which made both of us very happy! It does seem like back-side Lanai is the best place to find those little guys.

Beautiful snorkel backside Lanai

Jackson and the fishes

  Ben did a great job driving us back and taking the boat high speed through the narrows. It is always so great to see healthy reefs, especially after spending a couple of years on Oahu where the dense population seems to have effected the reefs. Another wonderful adventure here in Hawaii.