Afternoon Snorkeling in Maui : Olowalu Beach

SNORKELING at Olowalu Beach Overview

Olowalu Beach is located in West Maui just south of Lahaina. It’s a great snorkel site on the island of Maui that is accessed right from the shore.

Also known as Mile Marker 14, Olowalu Beach is a thin stretch of sand right beside Honoapiilani Highway. The coral reef extends 500+ feet from the shore, which means there are acres and acres to explore at Olowalu Beach (some sites say 100+ acres, others say 400+). I personally didn’t think it was the best snorkel spot on Maui, but we saw more sea turtles here than we did anywhere else on Maui!

Parking and Facilities at Olowalu Beach

There isn’t a parking lot at Olowalu Beach but there are plenty of places to park along the ocean side of the highway. Before visiting, I had read multiple warnings to avoid parking in any dry/deep patches of sand as non-4-wheel-drive vehicles have been known to get stuck. Luckily we didn’t run into any problems, but it’s probably worth passing along the warning: avoid parking in the dry/deep sandy spots.

There are no restrooms, porta potties, or showers at Olowalu Beach.

Snorkeling at Olowalu Beach : Before you Go

Best time to Snorkel at Olowalu Beach

Snorkeling in Maui is typically best in the morning. Winds pick up in the afternoon and stir up the water, decreasing visibility and safety. Unfortunately, morning snorkeling isn’t always an option–like the day we drove back to Kihei from Hana (after our overnight-tent-camping-by-the-beach-adventure), and couldn’t snorkel until later in the afternoon. And, really, can you even spend a day on Maui without snorkeling?!? Isn’t that breaking some kind of rule or something?!?

From what I learned, Olowalu Beach is one of the best snorkel location options if you have to go later in the day (I didn’t want to break the rule and have a snorkel-less day in Maui, ya know?) Apparently it is protected a bit from the afternoon winds and the water at Olowalu is more calm than it is at a lot of the other popular snorkel areas.

While the best time to snorkel at Olowalu Beach/14 Mile Marker is still probably the morning, it’s also a good place to go if you are looking for somewhere to snorkel later in the afternoon.

Olowalu Beach – Avoid Low Tide

Another thing I learned about Olowalu Beach is that it’s not a place you want to snorkel when the tide is low. See how close the coral is to the surface? At low tide, when the water level can be one to two feet lower, there will be sections of the reef sticking out above the water. This makes navigating the area much more difficult and dangerous, both for you and the coral.

Luckily you can look online to find exactly when high and low tide is at Olowalu Beach. I used this site: Tide Forecast Lahaina Maui

Getting to Olowalu Beach

Use the map below to get directions from your location to Olowalu Beach.

Snorkeling at Olowalu Beach

The water was a bit murky at the shore, but it seemed to improve the further out we swam.

I didn’t think there were as many fish (or as much of a variety of fish) as there were at some of the other snorkel spots we visited (like Maluaka Beach, or Ahihi Cove), but we ran into sea turtles almost immediately:

This sea turtle was huge–definitely the biggest one we saw in Maui:

Though I was never super wowed by the fish we saw while snorkeling at Olowalu Beach, we kept running into more sea turtles:

And just as we saw everywhere we snorkeled, there were lots of red slate urchins, which I just love:

Olowalu Beach Shore Snorkeling : Overall Thoughts

Snorkeling at Olowalu Beach was a fun activity we did on Maui; swimming with so many different sea turtles was definitely the highlight for me. It’s a really great option if you are looking for some afternoon snorkeling (as long as it’s not low tide). If it’s morning, though, and you only have time to snorkel at one spot, I’d choose Maluaka Beach or Ahihi Cove over Olowalu/14 Mile Marker.