At anchor in Honolua Bay
Honolua Bay is tucked into the northwest corner of Maui. The bay is ringed by coral reefs – when the big wintertime north or northwest swells arrive at the bay, these reefs convert the waves into a powerful and fast right-hand point break. Honolua is considered one of the top surf spots in the world in the winter.
Tropical rain showers not only rinse the salt off of Madrone but also sometimes lead to lovely rainbows
In the summer, it’s a different world at Honolua Bay. What swell there is comes from the south, traveling to Hawaii from the winter storms in the southern hemisphere. Since the bay is open to the north, the waters are generally flat calm. And those same coral reefs that shape the point break provide fantastic snorkeling.
Madrone surrounded by snorkelers and snorkel tour catamarans
We’re not the only ones to take advantage of the snorkeling. Every day, four or five 60′-80′ catamarans bring tourists from Kaanapali and Lahaina to the bay for snorkeling tours. These big cats arrive around 9am, and the last of them head for home by 2pm or so. When combined with all of the snorkelers who come by car and then hike the half mile trail to the bay, there can be 500 or so people on the beach and in the water. It makes for fantastic people watching!
Mike hard at work in Honolua Bay
In order to protect the coral, moorings have been installed for the catamarans to tie up to. These catamaran moorings are located ~8-10′ below the surface of the water and can’t be seen above the water. We anchored in the deep part of the bay the first night, and we scouted the mooring locations the next morning. When the cats left for the day, we were able to move in to a perfectly protected spot just a couple hundred feet of the beach.
Sunset over Molakai from Honolua Bay anchorage
Honolua Bay has been our top anchorage so far in Hawaii.
