Artemis Catamaran Snorkel Tour Maui

The Artemis operates as a private charter, so the vessel is reserved exclusively for your group for the full seven hours. Exact passenger capacity should be confirmed at booking, but the private structure means you’re not sharing the boat with strangers — the crew is entirely focused on your party from departure to return at Maalaea Harbor.

The crew selects snorkel sites based on ocean conditions on the day of your charter, which is standard practice for responsible operators in Maui — fixed routes get skipped when surf or surge makes a site unsafe or poor visibility. Common areas for south Maui charters include reef systems off Molokini or along the coastline between Kihei and Makena, but your captain will brief the group on the plan once you’re underway.

That price is for the entire private charter, not per person — so the more people in your group, the lower the cost per head works out. Divide it across a group of eight and you’re looking at just over a thousand dollars each for a full seven-hour private sail with food, drinks, and gear all covered, which puts it in a very different category than it sounds at first glance.

No prior experience is required, and the crew provides a gear orientation before your first water entry. Flotation noodles are available for guests who want extra support, and the crew stays attentive in the water — this tour is rated for all ages, including kids and guests who have never snorkeled before. That said, you’ll get more out of it if you’re comfortable putting your face in the water and breathing through a tube, so a quick practice in the bathtub the night before is genuinely useful if you’re new to it.

Eat something light and bland before you board — crackers, toast, a banana — and avoid heavy or greasy food the morning of. Lunch is provided on board and the open bar runs all day, but an empty stomach and alcohol on a moving vessel is a combination that ends badly for some guests. The Maalaea Harbor channel is known for choppier-than-expected conditions, especially on the way out, so this isn’t overcautious advice.

From roughly December through April, humpback whales are extremely common in the channels around Maui, and the Artemis will absolutely slow down and allow time to observe them when they appear — the crew genuinely loves this part of the season. Outside of whale season, the waters still regularly produce spinner dolphins, sea turtles, and flying fish alongside the boat, so wildlife sightings are a realistic expectation year-round, not a guaranteed one.