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Best Spots to Snorkel in Maui, Hawaii - Four Winds II Maui · Hawaii Travel Podcast by Hawaii’s Best: Plan a Better Hawaii Vacation

• 0:00
  Unknown: Now we have the 412 and we also have our other book my magic and we've been going to Molokini crater here on Maui now for over 35 years
• 0:10
  Bryan Murphy: Nikki and Ricci is the sales and marketing director for winds to Maui on Maui. And we had a great time talking about all the things for wins has to offer. If you're coming to Maui to snorkel or maybe just to relax for wins is a great experience for wins. Now, he has been around for quite some time since 1983. Four wins is a catamaran that is very stable, and it's great for the entire family. They actually have a glass bottom viewing room onboard, which is awesome for those who can't get into the waters. So if you're looking to do some snorkeling, but maybe you're not able to get in the water, this is a great alternative. But if you're looking to get in the water, this isn't also a great option to do. So during this episode, we talked about everything that the four winds has to offer. But we also talked a little bit about reef safe sunscreen and the importance of that. And they mentioned in this episode that a new law was gonna come into pass in the State of Hawaii in 2020.
• 1:10
  Bryan Murphy: It's actually 2021. The legislation prohibits the distribution of sunscreens containing the chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate that scientists have found contributes to coral bleaching when washed off in the ocean.
• 1:25
  Bryan Murphy: The Hawaiian sunscreen bill now awaits this signature of the governor. And right now it's slated for the new rule to come into pass. And January 1 of 2021, not 2020 as I mentioned in our interview together with Nikki, so stay tuned. This is gonna be a great one. Here we go.
• 1:49
  Hawaii's Best: Aloha Bye.
• 1:49
  Hawaii's Best: Welcome to Hawaii's Best podcast, learn the story behind Hawaii's Best experiences, influencers and businesses.
• 1:55
  Hawaii's Best: Discover everything that makes Hawaii the Aloha state. And now your host, Brian Murphy.
• 2:05
  Bryan Murphy: Aloha and welcome to Episode 13 lucky number 13 of Hawaii's Best. I'm so glad that you're here today. If you're checking us out for the very first time you're just finding out all about Hawaii's Best, be sure to hit that subscribe button. And anytime we release a new episode, you'll be sure to have that right and ready when you're ready to listen to it. So hit subscribe. Also drop a review and what that helps do.
• 2:33
  Bryan Murphy: It doesn't just boost my ego or anything like that. But what it helps do is it helps ring the show. And what that means is if someone is coming to Hawaii, it helps them be able to find Hawaii's Best podcast a little bit easier. So thank you so much for considering to hit subscribe and drop in an honest review below. Well, I don't want to take up too much more of our time because I want you to hear more from Nikki about four winds to Maui. You're gonna want to stay tuned and listen all the way through because I'll be sharing some of my key takeaways at the end of this interview together. So let's go ahead and let's talk story with Nikki.
• 3:19
  Bryan Murphy: All right, Nikki. Well, thank you so much for coming on Hawaii's Best. How are you doing today?
• 3:24
  Unknown: I'm doing well. How are you doing? I'm
• 3:25
  Bryan Murphy: doing fantastic.
• 3:25
  Bryan Murphy: Well tell us a little bit about yourself and what your role is with four wins.
• 3:31
  Unknown: Sure. So yeah, I do the sales and marketing for the four wins to Maui. We also have another book called The mind magic. So we have both those boats when I go with them now for almost three years. And it's a great company to work for and super established on the island.
• 3:46
  Unknown: They've been around since 1983.
• 3:50
  Bryan Murphy: Well, that that's some history. Maybe if you talk a little bit how did it all start?
• 3:55
  Unknown: Yeah, so we used to have some recently within the last four, four to five years, we've had some new owners to the company. And the previous owners, I unfortunately never got the chance to meet but I heard they're great people. And the company started back in 1983. We actually had the four wins the first four wins at that time. And then we also had the living row, which was a schooner in that boat is now in Seattle, actually, but the schooner society, but now we have the four wins too. And we also have our other both of my magic and we've been going to Molokini crater here on Maui now for over 35 years.
• 4:35
  Bryan Murphy: That's awesome.
• 4:35
  Bryan Murphy: That's such a sweet spot. What about you what are some of your favorite spots around Maui.
• 4:41
  Unknown: So I grew up I have been here now for about seven years and lived in kihei for six of those years and recently just moved to wailuku which is a really nice area. There's some really awesome height going away a ridge trail that's super high.
• 4:58
  Unknown: And then one of my favorite things To go to happy hour would be a female house over. Yeah, it's a great location, beautiful view. And then even just like just trying on days off to just go and do something I've never done think after seven years covered at all, but there's a lot of locations that I haven't seen yet.
• 5:20
  Bryan Murphy: Yeah, there's so much to see I know and all the hours but Maui specifically, there's a lot of hidden, little hidden gems.
• 5:27
  Unknown: Yeah.
• 5:28
  Bryan Murphy: Talk a little bit about four winds is someone's come into what are some of the criteria in order to, because I know you guys are, you know, offer a gamut of just kind of, you know, experiences, maybe kind of rattle off what some of those experiences are. And then if we could talk a little bit about what would be best to help prep ourselves before coming on board.
• 5:49
  Unknown: Yeah, so the four wins is those 55 foot double decker catamaran, super stable, one of the really good things about it is that it's great for all ages.
• 5:59
  Unknown: So we're super family friendly.
• 6:03
  Unknown: We actually have a glass bottom viewing room on board. That is pretty awesome, especially for a lot of people that don't want to go in the water, or they can't for some reason. But you know, we also do a waterslide as well into the water, which kids love and adults love it. They totally get after it. Well, yeah, you know, really the what we tell everyone is that to prepare for the trip is bring a towel and rub on sunscreen if you want to bring your camera or anything like that. But we even have received sunscreen on board that we provide our guests complimentary. So if someone doesn't have received sunscreen, we, of course, they just asked us and we have it there. In the winter, it can get a little chilly in the morning. So you just bring the light cover up.
• 6:46
  Unknown: But we just we don't provide towels. So we just always make sure to let the guests
• 6:52
  Bryan Murphy: know that as well.
• 6:52
  Bryan Murphy: Now if we're going out to the crater and say I've never snorkeled before, yeah. Is that okay?
• 7:00
  Unknown: It is actually a lot of people that have never even swam before. Oh, no way. Yeah, so one of the awesome things is we have these keyboards that we have specifically made for the for wins. You just basically picture like a large oversized boogie board, it has a finer cut out.
• 7:15
  Unknown: We have, yeah, adults and children can use them. We've had people you know, put their toddler on there and you haven't hang out and drag the message snorkeling, so they can still have fun. But we have life belts for adults that keep you afloat, we do belts instead of baskets because it allows you to actually snorkel the vest make it a little bit more difficult.
• 7:38
  Unknown: So even if you've never swam before, you can definitely still float and still look in the water. And then we do like this for children. That way. They're super safe, and the parents can enjoy themselves as well.
• 7:53
  Bryan Murphy: Mm hmm. Now, obviously, you guys are creating an awesome experience. But kind of on your end. I'm curious.
• 8:00
  Bryan Murphy: What are you hoping your guests walk away with after experiencing maybe four wins for the first time,
• 8:06
  Unknown: we hope that they walk away with something that they can cherish forever. Just a lot.
• 8:08
  Unknown: You know, as we live here, we know it's expensive. We understand that people are on Maui for a week. And that might be their whole year of saving for a vacation. And we just want to make sure that they have a memorable experience that they can pretty much cherish for the rest of their lives with their family.
• 8:27
  Bryan Murphy: That's awesome.
• 8:28
  Unknown: Yeah.
• 8:29
  Bryan Murphy: Nikki, you mentioned just a couple minutes ago, reef safe sunscreen, talk a little bit about what that is?
• 8:35
  Bryan Murphy: Why is that important?
• 8:36
  Unknown: So being was what we do. And take you know, of course, all the different snorkeling sites, we also go to Mauna Kea and coral gardens. And one of the things we really want to put out there is that the safety of the coral keeping it you know, as safe as we possibly can. And with three safe sunscreen, it's free of all oxygen zones. And the main ingredient in the one we use is zinc oxide. So I would say that one of the things that people misuse the most about sunscreen is the amount of time they leave it before putting it on. So we always recommend you know our trips in the morning start boarding at 7am. So make sure you have your sunscreen on as we're boarding or right beforehand and giving yourself that time to let it you know kind of soak into your skin so doesn't roll off the water.
• 9:25
  Unknown: Having an on board is nice because when we have spray sunscreen, it's really slippery on the decks. So we try to avoid that. And having that receive sunscreen just really tries to preserve the reef as best as we can.
• 10:38
  Bryan Murphy: Now if you guys are coming to Hawaii is important to note that a lot of these chemicals have been banned. And I believe it's 2020 or 2021. They're going to be illegal in the State of Hawaii.
• 10:50
  Bryan Murphy: So make sure you take a look at that before you make any plans with Buying sunscreen. Yeah, the easiest thing to do is probably just buy a sunscreen Once you are on Island.
• 11:02
  Unknown: Definitely, yeah, just to kind of eliminate that as a problem at all.
• 11:08
  Bryan Murphy: Absolutely. Maybe take us around Maui a little bit. I know road ohana. That's probably like probably one of the most popular attractions.
• 11:14
  Bryan Murphy: But what about you spoke a little bit about some of your favorite spots. But what are some things? So say someone has a week on Maui, and obviously, they're gonna come and experience four wins. That's a no brainer. But what else? What else would you add to that agenda for someone's first time on Maui.
• 11:32
  Unknown: One of the things I love about Mali is that the microclimate is every, it's different everywhere you go. So like, for example, somewhere like kihei is very dry. So you're guaranteed if you want to have some, you know, catch some rays and tan, you're going to want to go to the beaches and QA because other than the wind, it's always guaranteed to pretty much be sunny there. But the one thing I really love about like I was saying is that it's it's only about five degrees cooler, but there's so many beautiful hikes and stuff to do in that area. And then, like you said, the road to Hana, you end up going to Hana and it's pouring rain and maybe 10 degrees cooler. But one of the things that I always have my guests that come to see me do is usually the sunset on the crater. So it gets freezing cold up there, even morning nights.
• 12:24
  Unknown: You always want to dress warm for that. But you don't have to make reservations to do the sunset, but you have to make a reservation to sunrise. And that way you avoid getting up at 238 3am and having to go up there. So it's really beautiful.
• 12:37
  Unknown: To make a day out of it, you know, try to podcast for a distillery tour, try to do surfing, go dairy, then go check that out. And then another really awesome spot would be the lavender farm.
• 12:52
  Bryan Murphy: Recently, we asked some of our Instagram audience, what would you want to know about, you know, coming to Hawaii and a lot of people ask, what is the best time to come to Hawaii and like, obviously, anytime is the best time to come to Hawaii.
• 13:07
  Unknown: But
• 13:09
  Bryan Murphy: from your experience, if you had to like, you know, if we had to pin you down, what would you say is kind of like the best time of the year to come.
• 13:17
  Unknown: So I'm from San Diego.
• 13:17
  Unknown: So I'm used to warm weather year round, but we still do kind of have a winter where it's at least a little bit cooler. So I really appreciate that about Hawaii, especially Mowery, I would say December to February is like a great time to be here.
• 13:33
  Unknown: It's you know, cold most places throughout the United States or other countries. But here it's a little bit cooler, not as human, but you're still getting beautiful beach days, and maybe a little drizzle of rain at night. Just to me, it's perfect.
• 13:51
  Bryan Murphy: That's awesome.
• 13:51
  Bryan Murphy: What about someone who's coming to the islands to visit? What are some etiquette that you would want someone to know?
• 13:57
  Bryan Murphy: Like, Hey, be aware of this? Or, you know, make sure you do that?
• 14:01
  Bryan Murphy: Don't do this? What are some of those kind of tips that maybe aren't in a travel guide?
• 14:07
  Unknown: Yeah, so I kind of when I first moved to the island, I was an archaeologist for a while. So yeah, so I was really thankful to be able to get a cultural background about the islands as well as, you know, modern background. But I think one of the most important factors about coming to Hawaii is understanding the culture and respecting it, if you provide respect, and to the especially to the island itself. And not only that, for people that live here, they'll definitely respect you in return. I think that's one of the things that a lot of people miss is that, you know, it's a place that you're coming to visit on a vacation. But there's a lot of people that live here, and you know, just just respecting them and you'll you'll see a huge turn.
• 14:59
  Bryan Murphy: I think that's great. I, one of the things that I would encourage is if you're coming to Hawaii, and obviously you fall in love with the land you fall in love with the people and the culture and all that would be maybe take a half day and do a beach cleanup, there's always something happened but but give back to the community give back to the land. And that way I found that to be super helpful in people. Yeah,
• 15:25
  Unknown: yeah, definitely.
• 15:26
  Bryan Murphy: So what does the future of for winds to Maui look like?
• 15:31
  Unknown: Well, for like I was saying for wind in my magic or kind of under known as Maui classic charters. They've been a business since 1983. If there's anything we know, it's definitely you know, how to take you on an amazing snorkel tour.
• 15:48
  Unknown: And you know, Malley is a beautiful place and as we were talking about just respecting it, you know, respects The reef in the water in the marine life as well. I think my class charges me that round for another 30 years doing the same thing. And just making sure that everyone gets to see the beautiful side of Maui. And we love whale season whale season is probably. I mean, we kind of say, well, season is December to like mid to late March, because we never know we could see him earlier. We could see him later this year. We kind of saw him later into April, which was kind of different. But that's we do snorkel tours, but we also take you watching along with the cycle tour during the season. So I think we're going to be doing that for a long time.
• 16:36
  Bryan Murphy: That's rad. Yeah.
• 16:36
  Bryan Murphy: Where's your favorite place to snorkel?
• 16:40
  Unknown: My favorite place to snorkel? I would say coral gardens, a lot of people they come to Maui and they have bucket lists monkey crater, which is also very beautiful. I mean, the clarity, the water is, you know, it's unheard of on a great day. But one of the things great things about coral Gardens is you get to possibly start with turtles as well. So a lot of people don't realize that turtles don't go out to Molokini crater because it's about three miles off the closest shoreline and stuff smelly. Turtles don't make it out there. They feed off the algae on the rocks closer to shoreline. So coral Gardens is not accessible by swimming up there. You can't swim to it, you have to take a boat to get there. So it's totally within the western mind mountains and off the Pali highway. And it's just the reef over there is just
• 17:31
  Bryan Murphy: gorgeous. So come into four wins. Do you have to bring your own snorkel gear or do you guys provide?
• 17:38
  Unknown: No The great thing about our trips is we kind of it's kind of all inclusive, you basically you show up for the morning trip, we include breakfast and lunch, all your snorkel gear. We do refreshments all day long. But we also do beer and wine after snorkeling.
• 17:52
  Unknown: And there's no limit to the bar.
• 17:57
  Unknown: You know, it depends on the individuals limit. But other than that, the afternoon trip on the forums, we do much on that as well. And we include all the drinks and snorkel gear, and all the flotation and everything is also included.
• 18:19
  Bryan Murphy: That's awesome.
• 18:19
  Bryan Murphy: Now how can people find you guys on social on the interwebs
• 18:25
  Unknown: you can find us on Instagram under four wins Maui.
• 18:29
  Unknown: And then we are on Facebook as well under four wins. Molly.
• 18:33
  Unknown: Hashtag four wins Maui.
• 18:37
  Bryan Murphy: Well, Nikki, thank you so much for your time today.
• 18:39
  Bryan Murphy: Is there anything else that you would love to leave us with regarding Hawaii or four wins?
• 18:44
  Unknown: Oh, no, I think you covered everything. I appreciate your time and having us on here.
• 18:49
  Bryan Murphy: Absolutely. Thank you so much.
• 18:51
  Unknown: Thank you.
• 18:52
  Bryan Murphy: Well, I just want to thank Nikki again for her time today and for sharing everything that's going on with for winds to Maui. My biggest key takeaway from my conversation with Nikki was is important to get yourself out there and explore Hawaii. and exploring Hawaii is so much more than sitting on a beach lounging by the pool or sipping mai Tai's, it's so much more than that the land and the activities and the way to explore Hawaii. A lot of it is by experiencing what is under the sea. And what's cool about four winds as they allow you to do that. So if that isn't your jam, to do that, I just want to encourage you to put yourself out there and give it a try to view and see Hawaii from a whole different angle a whole different perspective. So So thanks again so much for hanging out today. Hit that subscribe button so you get notified for our next episode.
• 19:53
  Bryan Murphy: Until next time, be well. Aloha.
• 20:01
  Hawaii's Best: Thanks for listening to Hawaii's Best podcasts. Stay up to date on future episodes be sure to hit the subscribe button and follow us on Instagram at Hawaii's Best