Guide
Where to Snorkel on Maui, and When
Featured
The trade winds decide this, not the guidebooks. Almost every good snorkelling site on Maui is excellent at eight in the morning and mediocre by two in the afternoon.
10 min read
Dana Whitfield
Outdoors & Ocean Editor
Beat: Beaches, Snorkelling, Best Time to Visit
Dana crewed on Māʻalaea snorkel boats before writing about them and still reads the trade forecast before the weather app. She covers the water, the summit and the trails: Molokini and shore snorkelling, humpback season, diving, and the Haleakalā and Kīpahulu hikes. She will tell you plainly when the conditions are wrong for the day you had planned.
4 guides · 4 news posts
Last updatedDana's most recent update to this site was .
Long-form
Guides by Dana Whitfield
Reported guides to Maui, each with its own publication and last-updated date.
Guide
Haleakalā Sunrise: How the Reservation Actually Works
FeaturedA timed reservation is required for every vehicle entering the summit between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m., and the good dates go in minutes. Here is how the system works, and when to skip it.
9 min read
Guide
Reef-Safe Sunscreen and Ocean Etiquette on Maui
Maui County's rule is stricter than the state's: mineral only, no prescription, no exceptions. Most visitors arrive with a bag of sunscreen they should not be using here.
9 min read
Guide
Whale Season on Maui: Months, Boats and the 100-Yard Rule
FeaturedRoughly ten thousand North Pacific humpbacks winter in Hawaiian waters, and a large share of them choose the shallow basin between Maui, Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi. You can watch from a car park.
10 min read
News desk
News under Dana Whitfield's byline
Shorter, dated pieces about what is changing in Maui.
How this was written. News published under Dana Whitfield's byline was drafted by machine from primary sources — operator notices, government and municipal releases, published schedules — and every factual claim in it was matched to one of those sources before it published. A Maui Guide editor can change or pull any of it. Our editorial standards.
Seasonal
Basking Honu, Rare Nests, and the Ten Feet Everyone Is Meant to Keep
FeaturedHoʻokipa gets turtles on the sand most afternoons. Actual nesting on Maui is far rarer than visitors assume, and the nests that do appear need space.
Travel alert
Maui County Requires Mineral Sunscreen, and the Rule Covers Use, Not Just Sale
FeaturedHawaiʻi restricts the sale of oxybenzone and octinoxate. Maui County goes further and reaches the bottle in your beach bag.
Travel alert
Haleakalā Sunrise Still Needs a Reservation, and the Good Dates Go in Minutes
FeaturedA timed reservation is required for every vehicle entering the summit district before 7 a.m. It is sold only through recreation.gov, and summer weekends clear fast.
Seasonal
Whale Season Runs December to April, and February Is the Month
FeaturedAround ten thousand North Pacific humpbacks winter in Hawaiian waters, and a large share of them pick the shallow basin between Maui, Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi.