Ann Fielding’s Snorkel Maui

Ann is a marine biologist. She made sure our equipment fit properly and even provided rash guards and hats. She first gave us a lesson on the marine life we would see. We then snorkeled for an hour with Ann guiding us to the best and safest areas to see sea life. She snorkels with a boogie board so there is always a safe home base. After, she finished by summarizing what we saw and even gave us a signed copy of her book on marine life. We highly recommend Ann.

Ann Fielding is a sweetie! If you want a relaxing, personal water experience with a marine biologist, give Ann a call. Ann is especially great if you’re new to snorkeling, but she’s experienced enough to take you out if you have the skills.
If you’ve been researching Maui then you most likely have come across the «Maui Revealed» book. Just google the book and «Ann Fielding» and you’ll instantly know you’re in for a treat.
Here’s the caveat — Ann is semi-​retired and does the tours when she has time. If she’s overbooked, she’ll refer you to the folks at Ed Robinson’s Dive Shop (who are apparently excellent as well.) We were fortunate enough to have Ann show us around for a few hours. Her tour includes gear, snacks after snorkeling, with marine biology briefings before and after the trip out.
This is how our day went:
We met Ann at Ed Robinson’s Dive Shop at 7:30 AM to get fitted for masks, snorkels, and wetsuits. Ann made sure that our masks fit well before setting out for the nearby beach in Wailea. We had our reservations about snorkeling in that particular beach because of what we read in our Maui Revealed book, but we went with it.
Upon arriving, we set our stuff on the beach and Ann gave us a really cool marine biology lesson about the local ecosystem. She had laminated pictures of all the marine life in the area and if we should expect to see them.
Not soon after, we we in the water, newbies to snorkeling, floating in our wetsuits. The water was surprisingly clear! The girls in our group couldn’t swim and clung to a body board; Ann was very patient with them (even as one of the girls kicked so hard they were floating in circles for a while.) We saw fish (like the humuhumunukunukuapua’a), coral, sea urchins, starfish, etc. Ann found us a sea turtle that was lounging around the area for the past couple days. While you’re out, you can feel the a bit of the cold water currents mixing with the warm water from the shore.
Returning to the beach, Ann cracked open a tupperware of freshly cut pineapple slices and reviewed all the marine life we saw out in the water. To top it off? We each got an autographed copy of one of her books! A big hug at the end at the day was done.
If you’re looking to snorkel but away from all the touristy crowds, give Ann a call.