We took the Sunset Sail to Lanai. This trip started at 10am and arrived back around 7pm, so the sunset part in the name is deceiving. It was a very long trip, which became a bit much towards the end, but it was still nice.

On our way out to Lanai, we stopped to go over the saftey briefing in an area with a bunch of turtles, so after receiving our briefing, we were able to search for some. We saw a few, but not as many as another excursion we took earlier that week.

On the ride over, they serve up some cinnamon buns and fruit which was nice. Different than the traditional bagles and fruit you typically see on other boat trips. It was about an hour's ride out to the island which was relaxing.

Prior to our arrival they served up some wraps as well, turkey and tuna. They were very good (a theme). The one downfall was that a couple next to us were vegetarian and they didn't have anything for them to eat at this time. The were basically told that they could pick out the meat from the wraps.

Once we arrived on Lanai, we took a couple of shuttles over to their beach. They had chairs and mats for people to lay on as well as snorkle gear and flotation devices for everyone. When you arrive you have to go through a saftey briefing that's short.

The waves were huge during this time of year. To help people get past the huge waves to snorkle, they had someone in the water with a surf board helping people out there. In addition, they had another staff member out in the water in case anyone needed help. I certainly felt very safe.

This was some of the best snorkeling we did during our entire trip to Hawaii. MUCH better than Molokini or Black Rock. We saw this big turtle feeding down at the bottom for a while and then he came up within about 4 feet from us to get some air. It was so cool (but we kept our distance).

While at the beach they have some tortilla chips with salsa and hummas, which were both very good as well (see the theme). In addition, they had POG juice and water for everyone to drink.

After spending a few hours on the beach, those who wanted to took a tour of the island. We decided to take advantage of it and take a tour of the island. There really wasn't much to see on the island. It was still interesting to see how they live and the differences between the islands. Would I do the tour again? no. Would I recommend the tour to someone? maybe.

After our tour, we went back to the dock where there was a picnic area for Trilogy where we had dinner. We had chicken, noodles, peas, salad, and a few other things. It was a nice dinner, certainly the best I've had on this type of excursion.

After dinner, we boarded the boat, left the harbor and actually sailed for a little while back to Maui. Once we got far enough off the island, there wasn't enough wind to continue sailing, so we powered back to shore while the sun was setting. Another nice touch about the ride home was that one of the staff members played the ukalale (sp?).

Would I recommend this trip to others? absolutly. Would I do this trip again? maybe. I'd be more likely to try a different trip with Trilogy to try something different.

My wife and I took the Trilogy V for a snorkel trip to Molikini and it was not as good as everyone says. I would definitely recommend the Gemini over Trilogy for a snorkel cruise. First of all, the Trilogy was very crowded. There were far too many people for the available outside seating, maybe even twice as many. On the sail out, we were too slow to stake out a spot to sit– all of the seats and even the comfortable places to sit on the deck were all taken. So we had to sit uncomfortably on the deck the whole way out. Also, I found the captain to be annoying. She was overly loud and sarcastic in way that was not funny, and she addressed the passengers with long lectures on how to do each little thing—her delivery was more suited for 6 year olds than adults. When the wind picked up and a passenger asked to sail she grudgingly put up the sails, only to taunt the man when the wind died. I can understand her hesitation to sail though, since one member of her crew didn’t know how to use a winch and another couldn’t tie a cleat.

We spoke with some Maui residents at dinner that evening and they said that Trilogy got really bad publicity for exactly all of this a few years ago (arrogant, annoying, crowded and targeted at kids) and have been working to change their reputation. They have obviously gone back to their old ways.

I've been on many, many snorkel cruises over the years and this one just didn't stack up. I think most of the positive reviews are simply because the snorkeling and whale watching are excellent. But you don't need a pricy cruise to get that. And regardless, the staff should be friendly. Go with the Gemini. The boat was nice. It was not crowded. It was less expensive. The crew was friendly and very informative. And there was open bar after the snorkeling (no drinking on the Trilogy).

We have been on all of the Trilogy excursions and loved every single one. We have taken these trips over the course of 10 years and have always had the same consistent, great experience. Maybe a bit more pricey than some of the other snorkel trips but hard to beat this experience and it's worth the extra money. The staff is fun, the food is great and it's a wonderful way to spend time out on the ocean. I think our favorite was the trip to Lanai because it was so different and we toured the island. But we also had a lot of fun going to Molikini (twice) and up to Honolua Bay. It's worth going at least once on Trilogy and my guess is if you return to Maui you will travel with Trilogy again!

My girlfriend and I took the snorkeling trip to Molokini. Everything was perfect, the crew was amazing. If you needed it, they had it. If you wanted it, it was probably there as well. You're served everything on the boat from your first cinamon roll to a refill on your last cup of soda which is both an excellent way to insure safety (less people running around on a boat the better) and gives you just an amazing feeling. Most of all though everyone on the boat was actually happy to be doing it. Smiles all around and not once was there a sign of a bad attitude to be found.
The snorkeling sites were also great, we swam with several hundreds fish and I'm not kidding hundreds of fish at molokini, most were all pretty common, but there were a few needlefish, eels, angelfish, a few extremely large fish could be seen off in the distance as well. No reef sharks, which I was hoping for. Although the lack of sharks was a plus to my girlfriend. If you could dive to the deeper parts of the reef there were even more of the smaller varieties of fish you couldn't see from the surface.
The highlight honestly was the sea turtles after molokini though. Swimming with them was amazing and the crew does a great job of keeping people from harming or just annoying the turtles so they don't take off or get hurt. Meaning everybody gets to enjoy them. They are also great about calling people over to see the turtles and in spotting them so if they are out you'll see one and get to swim near it. Although that day there were five turtles and they seemed to be as interested in us as we were in them. Both places also had excellent clarity that day as well.
Both times getting back on the boat we were greeted with delicious food and drinks. Which after about 1.5 hours of snorkeling and swallowing more than enough sea water its just what you want. Then to help ease you away you do some open water sailing around Maui. Which is a perfect relaxing end to the day!
In closing they had the best service in Maui, period, the sea life was absolutely amazing, and the food was better than most restaurants I've eaten at on the mainland. I will be going snorkeling with them again and I highly recommend them to anyone thinking of going on a snorkeling trip. Especially first timers like my girlfriend was!