How's Snorkeling in Aulani Lagoon (not Rainbow Reef)?

[soniam]

I am trying to decide how much we, or our son, might snorkel in the lagoon at Aulani. We will probably get him, or all of us, a length of stay pass for Rainbow Reef. I wonder if he might also like snorkeling in the lagoon. We all have our own snorkels and masks. I know Rainbow Reef provides equipment. Also, the snorkeling excursion we plan to do provides equipment. Just trying to decide if I should pony up and buy and bring fins. Ugh! 3 sets of fins in luggage I don't want to waste money buying cheap ones in Hawaii, because we end up going snorkeling at least once a year. Thanks

 

[PetePanMan]

Although still fun it really isn't very good. Not many fish and visibility can be poor if there are lots of people in water churning up sand

 

[soniam]

Although still fun it really isn't very good. Not many fish and visibility can be poor if there are lots of people in water churning up sand

Thanks. That's what I thought/was sort of hoping. I don't want to have to rent or haul more gear, since it would just be fins, especially since every thing we plan to do includes gear.

 

[aulanidreamer]

Lagoon 4 was much better than the busy Aulani one as it’s less crowded. It’s a small area though, so fins weren’t really necessary. We heard the turtle beach by paradise cove was good too, but never made it for snorkeling over there.

 

[PetePanMan]

Lagoon 4 was much better than the busy Aulani one as it’s less crowded. It’s a small area though, so fins weren’t really necessary. We heard the turtle beach by paradise cove was good too, but never made it for snorkeling over there.

this little beach area is better....there are a number of excellent spots elsewhere on the island.

 

[aulanidreamer]

Weird it posted again for some reason

 

[cgattis]

We didn't use fins anywhere on our whole trip. There are plenty of lagoon type areas that didn't require them. Which allowed enough room in my luggage for two little beach chairs, which DH was really happy to have

 

[Dvcfan55]

We snorkeled Aulani's lagoon many times on our stay with our (then) 5 year old son. There really aren't many fish or anything too exciting to see overall. There are some big fish (not sure what kind) further out in the lagoon where its deeper but you'll only see them in the morning when the water is clear and not churned up yet. No corral obviously or anything else to see. Being this was my sons first time snorkeling it was perfect though. Protective cove with no waves, etc. He loved it. However, we did the dolphin catamaran excursion through Aulani and experienced the best snorkeling I've ever seen. It was unbelievable. We brought our own masks (really happy we did) and borrowed their fins. Although you never need to stray far from the boat to see the most amazing fish and coral.

 

[AceVac]

If you walk down to the lagoon between Four Seasons and Paradise cove its snorkel heaven. All week there were a bunch of large turtles as well as a bunch of tropical fish. My wife and I had come back from Turtle Beach and our DVC rep asked us if we had checked out the lagoon. There were way more turtles in the lagoon than the N Shore, and because its a lagoon you could swim with them. It was an amazing experience right in Ko Olina.

 

[RustyR]

We rented gear from a local shop. Agree with paradise cove. Lots of stuff to see there and it is very tame and kid friendly (protected and easy access). We also went out at Kahe Point Beach park which is about a 5 min Uber ride north up the shore and saw a LOT more. I also snorkeled out past the break of the Aulani cove a number of times while at the resort and it was great. Turtles, sea snake, octopus, and of course lots of fish. It is night and day outside the cove vs inside. Swimming out can be a little hairy over the shallows depending on the tide, but once you are out it is mellow.

 

[GeneralTso]

Good heavens--don't bring all that gear! Rent it. It's easy and the few bucks it costs is worth the struggle with luggage.

 

[soniam]

Good heavens--don't bring all that gear! Rent it. It's easy and the few bucks it costs is worth the struggle with luggage.

We didn't end up buying, bringing, or renting fins. Fins were included with a snorkel tour from outside of the resort that we did. However, we always bring our own masks and snorkels. My son and I have prescription masks, because we don't wear contacts. Those are very hard to rent. Snorkels are fairly small. Ours are much nicer than you can usually rent and only have our cooties He didn't end up wanting to snorkel at the resort, so it worked out.

 

[nkereina]

We just bought goggles at Target when we got there. Tried looking in the lagoon of Aulani, but saw maybe one or two small fish. Not ideal for snorkeling.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We just bought goggles at Target when we got there. Tried looking in the lagoon of Aulani, but saw maybe one or two small fish. Not ideal for snorkeling.

Our experience as well.

 

[DMMom]

How does the snorkeling compare to Hanauma Bay? We are going in March and have 1 catamaran snorkeling excursion planned. Now I’m trying to figure out at least 1 or 2 other options. In the mornings, it is low tide at Hanauma, so I’m concerned that we would not see much since there will be spots where the reef is barely covered. High tide is not until after lunch, but I’m concerned the lots will be full.

 

[JLM2009]

If you have a particular mask or masks you like, then pack those. Fins need less of a perfect fit (and you aren't sharing a mouth piece with tons of predecessors) so you can rent those no problem.

We brought full face mask snorkels and were very happy to use them.

Have fun!