Molokini

Molokini

Aerial photo of Molokini
Geography
Location	20°38′00″N 156°29′46″W / 20.63333°N 156.49611°W / 20.63333; -156.49611
Area	23 acres (9.3 ha)
Highest elevation	165 ft (50.3 m)
Administration
Hawaiʻi, United States
Demographics
Population	0

Molokini is a crescent-shaped, partially submerged volcanic crater which forms a small, uninhabited islet located in Alalakeiki Channel between the islands of Maui and Kahoʻolawe, within Maui County in Hawaiʻi.

It is the remains of one of the seven volcanoes that formed the prehistoric Maui Nui island, during the Quaternary Period of the Cenozoic Era.

The islet has an area of 23 acres (9.3 ha), a diameter of about 0.4 miles (0.6 km), is 161 feet (50 m) at its highest point and is located about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) west of Makena State Park and south of Maʻalaea Bay.

The islet is a Hawaiʻi State Seabird Sanctuary.

Molokini is a popular tourist destination for scuba diving and snorkeling. Its crescent shape protects divers from waves and the channel's powerful currents. However, experienced scuba divers will also drift dive off the 300-foot (91.5-meter) sheer outer wall, using the channel currents to carry them along. In the morning, when winds are calmer, smaller tour boats can also bring guests to safely snorkel the backwall of Molokini as well.

The crater houses a lush reef with excellent visibility as deep as 150 feet (46 m). Molokini is home to about 250 species of fish, many endemic (see Ecology below). The best conditions occur in early morning. The water depth ranges from a single foot near the shore to 20–50 feet in the majority of the allowed dive spots.

Because Molokini attracts many boats, the Hawaii State Division of Boating and Recreation established mooring buoys and "Day Use Mooring Rules" for Molokini to protect against damage from dropped anchors. Its popularity has led many water-sport guides to lament that overcrowding has made the experience less attractive.

In Hawaiian legend, Molokini was a beautiful woman. She and Pele, the fire goddess, were in love with the same man. The jealous Pele cut her rival in two and transformed her into stone. The woman's head is supposedly Puʻu Olai, the cinder cone by Makena Beach.