Molokini Crater
Maui, Hawaii, United States · 8–30m · beginner · semi
Crescent volcanic crater with 40m+ visibility inside the protected bowl.
Conditions today
Retrieved · refreshed hourly
good
Good — 0.7m effective waves in the morning window.
Limiting factor: waves
- Wave height
- 0.9–1m
- Wave period
- 8.7–9.7s
- Wind chop
- 0–0.3m
- Sea temp
- 27.1–27.5°C
Ranges span today's hours. Wave height here is the raw sea state — the rating scales it for how exposed the site is. Semi-exposed — partial protection, so swell is scored at three-quarters of its open-water height.
Next few days
- TodayGood — 0.7m effective waves in the morning window.good
- ThursdayGood — 0.7m effective waves in the morning window.good
- FridayGood — 0.7m effective waves in the morning window.good
Each day is scored over its morning dive window, the same as today's rating.
Dive briefing
AI-generated
The crescent crater offers beginner-friendly diving with depths from 8 to 30 metres across a semi-exposed site. Conditions are good today, with waves the limiting factor. The rating reflects 0.7m effective waves in the morning window, so expect manageable conditions in the protected bowl. Sea temperature sits at 27.1–27.5°C.
Divers commonly log green sea turtles and humpback whales here, along with reef fish including yellow tangs, black triggerfish, and wedgetail triggerfish. You may also encounter thin-shelled rock crabs and saddle wrasse. The site's 40m+ visibility inside the crater makes for excellent observation.
Written by Claude (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) from the rating, forecast, and sightings on this page — it has no other source and cannot look anything up. Treat it as a summary, not as local knowledge.
Commonly seen here
Most-recorded species near this site, ranked by research-grade iNaturalist sightings from divers, snorkelers, and naturalists.
Chelonia mydas2141 sightings
Grapsus tenuicrustatus625 sightings
Humpback Whale(opens on iNaturalist)Marine mammalMegaptera novaeangliae607 sightings
Zebrasoma flavescens448 sightings
Melichthys niger430 sightings- no photoRhinecanthus rectangulus393 sightings
Acanthurus sandvicensis390 sightings
Thalassoma duperrey389 sightings
Species come from iNaturalist — research-grade sightings logged by divers, snorkelers, and naturalists nearby. The ranking reflects what people photograph most, not guaranteed abundance. Ask a local operator what's actually being seen. Species names link to iNaturalist for range maps, seasonality and more photos. Photos by iNaturalist contributors under Creative Commons licences — individual credit on hover.