Explore the Best Places to Swim and Snorkel

Water is my earth symbol and I’d never turn down a chance to be in or just next too water. If the mosquitoes have taken over, I’ll stay away but not much else keeps me away. I do not know when I learned to swim. My parents learned quickly enough that I’d not get out of any pool until I was ready to fall asleep and was very wrinkly. It wasn’t until later in life that I finally experienced snorkeling, learned to love freestyle laps and even got open water dive certified.

Many of my beach area vacations include snorkeling. Our recent April 2025 trip to both Maui and Tahiti were no exception. Tahiti had the clearest water chock full of colorful corals and fish. While Maui wasn’t as clear, it was where we stumbled in to several turtles from medium to huge in size. It was a most memorable experience.

All my underwater photos are frames from video clips taking with our DJI Osmo Action Camera. The videos came out well and in hindsight I should’ve also tried to take still photos. Between my underwater motion and the fish swimming, it was a challenge to find frames that were blur free. Do you have a preferred underwater camera?

Swim in Maui Waters

Ahihi-Kinau Natural Reserve is a popular area for snorkeling. Several years ago they built out a small parking area, a $5 parking fee and porta-potties. A short, rocky walking path guides you to the ocean. There is no beach only lava rock. The rocky shore makes it hard to hang out on the shore.

The snorkeling here is always worth the visit.

Although you can snorkel without a wet suit. The water has enough depth and motion to feel chilly. Plus the added flotation is a plus for floating comfortably. The visibility was ok and even better when we had the sun shinning down on us.

Our second snorkel location was Maluka Beach just 10 minutes north of the Preserve. We all agreed that Maluka Beach’s coral area was more interesting and colorful. We enjoyed the beach area and would plan a return with a cooler and chairs!

This is also where we first saw a couple of turtles. They were small to medium and this is where you can see my visibility wasn’t great.

Our 3rd location we surprisingly right outside the resort we were staying at. How fun to wander out your door, hit the beach, and head on in. Although there wasn’t a lot of coral and the water was deeper and cooler. Guess who likes that environment! More turtles. I didn’t have the camera with me that afternoon so you’ll have to trust me when I say we say the biggest turtle ever.

Here’s our blue water view looking along the coast to our resort area and directly in front of the resort.

Bora Bora and Ta’Haa

We spent 10 days in the French Polyensian Islands. We stayed on Tahiti before and after our island hops to both Bora Bora and Raiatea. From both islands we were able to take a guided boat tour. The Bora Bora boat tour was all snorkeling followed by a traditional lunch. Snorkel was great but we both agreed, lunch could’ve been skipped. From Raiatea, we took a Ta’haa full day tour which included snorkeling along with several other tourist stops and ended with the best lunch ever. We enjoyed stuffing ourselves that afternoon.

View from Mainland back to The Westin Bora Bora

Bora Bora Snorkeling

We packed our own wetsuits, water shoes, masks and snorkels. For this outing I wore a rash guard and water shoes and brought my mask and snorkel. We both had fins provided by the tour guide. We only needed fins at two of the four stops

This ended up being a fun day trip with 4 snorkeling stops. Each spot was different and unique. It was fun to get in and out of the water at such a variety of spots. Two of the stops would’ve been more interesting if we were diving. Rays swimming far below and a barley visible manatee were sighted on the two stops that weren’t as snorkel worthy.

Below are images from the other 2 snorkel spots.

This stop we got to see nurse sharks and sting rays. It’s a shallow water area and there’s obviously fish feeding activity to attract these docile, graceful creatures. The water was so shallow. You literally hopped out of the boat. Then, you walked among the swimming sharks. Occasionally, a ray would glide on by.

There was a lot of water movement with the people and boats all around us that even my video clips weren’t as awesome as I thought they’d be. It’s difficult to describe how it felt being in the water with these creations around me.

Our last and best stop was to the outskirts of a motu. We ended up at the coral gardens and the ocean and lagoon waters meet. At this stop, the guide was very particular that you followed him out against the current. Once we swam some distance we turned and let the current pick us up for a spectacular coral garden float.

Ta’haa

Ta’haa is a short hop from both Bora Bora and Raiatea. Raiatea was our 2nd island stop we took a full day trip out to visit Ta’haa. Ta’haa can be experienced via full day tours from Bora Bora as well. For this trip, we would’ve preferred to just snorkel. From Raiatea, I ended up only locating tours for a full island experience . Along with the snorkel stop, we visited a vanilla farm, rum distillery, and a pearl farm.

Snorkeling here was better than the Bora Bora coral gardens. Once the boat anchored, we need to hop into the water and make our way out to the motu shore. Our guide had us walk along the motu out to just before the ocean break. No fins are needed here, just water shoes.

I launched myself into the current and was propelled quite a distance through coral and fish. Eventually a sandy pocket of ocean bottom appears and you can stand and really take in your surroundings. I really wanted to repeat that swim through the coral. It went by so quickly, it was hard to take it all in.

Snorkel Planning

If you ever want to travel somewhere and enjoy snorkeling I do recommend packing the following:

• mask and snorkel
• I suggest looking at flipper socks. Neoprene booties that keep the fins from chafing too much on your feet.
• rash guard and possibly a spring wetsuit no need for a full body suit unless you want to dive
• water shoes – useful for really shallow coral areas where using fins would do too much harm as well as rocky shores
• underwater camera and stick
• reef safe sunscreen – even with a rash guard the backs of your legs could be exposed for too long

We have fins and rarely travel with them. If you know you’re only snorkeling via a group tour, they will typically provide fins (and other gear). If you are doing your own off shore snorkeling (like we did in Maui), you can usually rent fins for the day.

Many sunscreens will be labeled reef safe. I suggest double checking the ingredients to ensure they are absent of the following:  oxybenzone, octinoxate, and octocrylene. 

Which was my favorite

They were each unique. Both Tahiti island tours let us experience the clearest water snorkeling we’ve ever had to date. The Ta’haa coral garden was slightly more vibrant and larger in size than what we saw in Bora Bora. I’d not hesitate to do either of them again.

Then we have Maui. I love that I could walk down to the beach and snorkel. It is so accessible. I could swim with the turtles before dinner!

About the Photo Challenge

A weekly themed photo challenge hosted by Terri. Check out her Blog and come back to visit for more #SundayStills and traveling posts!

More Sunday Still Posts

Thanks for visiting our Retired Life & Travel blog and I hope you enjoyed finding the #SundayStills Challenge. You can join the weekly challenge by visiting our hosts blog Second Wind Leisure. and checking out Terri’s post for this week, In The Swim but Staying Safe.