Does the Marriott Waiohai area have a reef or just a sandy beach?

[Denise L]

Thinking about Kauai, and wondering if you can snorkel from the beach at the Marriott Waiohai, and if you can see fish and coral and other interesting things?

 

[thinze3]

Yes, Waiohai does have a snorkel reef right there at the resort. It may actually be a lava formation, but there are plenty of fish to see.

Here is a nice aerial photo.

 

[Denise L]

Yes, Waiohai does have a snorkel reef right there at the resort. It may actually be a lava formation, but there are plenty of fish to see.

Here is a nice aerial photo.

Great! Do you recall how deep it is there? Any danger of getting cut by rocks? Does it get crowded there?

 

[CatLovers]

The Marriott Waiohai is on Po'ipu Beach, and even though you can't see it in the picture, just to the right is the tombolo. Great snorkeling to both the right and left of the tombolo. It's not very deep at all, but it is very rocky getting in and out of the water. We do it with fins so not too much of a problem.

 

[isisdave]

The photo posted by thinze is nice, but that is not where you snorkel. The dark rock shown right in front of the Waiohai is indeed lava, and the water's about two feet deep. Ouch!

About 100 yards east (to the right in the photo), where "waiohai" beach becomes "poipu" beach, there is a very nice snokeling area. It's not far offshore, probably 80 yards in diameter, about 8 to 20 feet deep, and usually, even in the summer, calm enough to float on for hours. Best in the morning, of course.

 

[thinze3]

Great! Do you recall how deep it is there? Any danger of getting cut by rocks? Does it get crowded there?

The beach is a slow steady decline and is very safe if you stay close to shore. To me, the best snorkling depth is at about 6'-10', but at that distance out you need to be careful of the currents. The rocks can be a problem also if you get to shallow, as the waves can sometimes be deceiving.

I found this web page that has some photos somewhat similar to what you may see.

There is plenty of good beach off to the right (when looking at the aerial view photo), and even further down is the island as mentioned above. It has great snorkling as well. Also as mentioned above, fins are very helpful for both protection and getting around.

 

[Lv2Trvl]

Fish and turtles and seals!

Denise -

Lots of fish and turtles and monk seals frolicking in the surf! Easy access from Waiohai. Watch the signs down at the tombole - have seen the old "shark" sign up a few times, usually current and wind warnings in the winter months. There is a lifeguard at the tombole part of beach - in front of Brenecke's ... sometimes when you look at the crowd on the beach it looks "too" crowded - but it is a really big area to swim and snorkle. Always enjoyable.

One time when we were there - lucky enough to have a beach front room - we watched (from our balcony) local spear fishermen go out on a Saturday night - with the lights on their foreheads - so we could watch them out at the far reaches of the reef - their under water lights looking for fish. It was great fun!

Enjoy your stay - we don't go back to Waiohai until October - but are heading over to KoOlina 4/26!

Aloha -

 

[Denise L]

Thanks for the replies! It sounds like a great place to play.

I'm actually just planning for our next trip to the islands, so I don't have a Waiohai stay booked yet, but that will be the plan, hopefully for 2009. I'll have to add it to our week on Maui and make the most of our airfare costs! It sounds like a great family place!

 

[andypoole]

It is a great family place. We were in Hale 8 on the 4th floor overlooking the pools. We would watch the families at play in the pools whilst having our breakfast on the balcony (lanai?) and wished we'd had access to such a place when our children were young.