Snorkeling on Vacation

[otter]

I’ve had a nice experiences snorkeling in a speedo in Hawaii. One was a couple of months ago on the south side of Black Rock, one of the busiest places on Kaanapali Beach on Maui. The water near the rock is sometimes teaming with fish, especially on calm days. People, teens and tweens mostly, jump or dive off the rock, and their activity and plunge through the waterline adds to the excitement of swimming in the area. I saw rivers of silver chum, thousands upon thousands, coursing along near the bottom, maybe twenty feet deep. I took a deep breath and went down. You have to understand that I’m a minimalist, not only being in a Dolfin racing brief, but also wearing only swim goggles, no snorkel. Just Cressi fins, yes. A reef triggerfish (humuhumunukunukuapuaa) accompanying the river of chum broke away, so I followed it for a bit, then looked up, to see a circle of masks at the surface looking down at the river and at me too. I made my ascent, trying to look as relaxed as possible, hands trailing, letting the fins carry me up. I felt even better when my wife told me I looked great down there, and sexy even. That made my day. And no one seemed shocked about seeing a guy in a speedo. I talked with a few friendly snorkelers and jumpers about what we were seeing. The only possible death stares came from a couple of guys wearing body suits and full-face snorkel-masks--Those masks are scary. Out of the water, we forgot where we put our towels and my deck shorts and ended up walking way too far up the beach and back again past hundreds of beach-goers of all ages. Lots of board shorts, bikinis, one-pieces, but zero other speedos. But heck, if people looked, I didn’t feel any approbation, I was feeling good about the water experience and happy in my skin. Proof again, it's a matter of confidence. Unfortunately the one or two snorkeling boat cruise I’ve been on have ended up being cancelled for one reason or another, but I’ve been ready with the speedo under shorts. There is so much snorkeling that can be done for free and as long as you want from the beach. On the whole, my experiences wearing a speedo in Hawaii have only left me wanting to do more.

[Scottiebum]

I’ve had a nice experiences snorkeling in a speedo in Hawaii. One was a couple of months ago on the south side of Black Rock, one of the busiest places on Kaanapali Beach on Maui. The water near the rock is sometimes teaming with fish, especially on calm days. People, teens and tweens mostly, jump or dive off the rock, and their activity and plunge through the waterline adds to the excitement of swimming in the area. I saw rivers of silver chum, thousands upon thousands, coursing along near the bottom, maybe twenty feet deep. I took a deep breath and went down. You have to understand that I’m a minimalist, not only being in a Dolfin racing brief, but also wearing only swim goggles, no snorkel. Just Cressi fins, yes. A reef triggerfish (humuhumunukunukuapuaa) accompanying the river of chum broke away, so I followed it for a bit, then looked up, to see a circle of masks at the surface looking down at the river and at me too. I made my ascent, trying to look as relaxed as possible, hands trailing, letting the fins carry me up. I felt even better when my wife told me I looked great down there, and sexy even. That made my day. And no one seemed shocked about seeing a guy in a speedo. I talked with a few friendly snorkelers and jumpers about what we were seeing. The only possible death stares came from a couple of guys wearing body suits and full-face snorkel-masks--Those masks are scary. Out of the water, we forgot where we put our towels and my deck shorts and ended up walking way too far up the beach and back again past hundreds of beach-goers of all ages. Lots of board shorts, bikinis, one-pieces, but zero other speedos. But heck, if people looked, I didn’t feel any approbation, I was feeling good about the water experience and happy in my skin. Proof again, it's a matter of confidence. Unfortunately the one or two snorkeling boat cruise I’ve been on have ended up being cancelled for one reason or another, but I’ve been ready with the speedo under shorts. There is so much snorkeling that can be done for free and as long as you want from the beach. On the whole, my experiences wearing a speedo in Hawaii have only left me wanting to do more.

Very positive story, thanks for sharing!

I have said before that it is so much about confidence and attitude, nothing to be afraid of!

[SEASPEEDO]

I speedo in Hawaii on every visit.... don't worry too much about what others might think....

[yamamay]

Thanks for the stories! I'm going to Maui soon, staying near Sugar Beach/Kihei. Not planning on wearing board shorts if I can get away with it. Love to hear any other success stories of speedo-wearing in Hawaii. It sounds like we can probably do plenty of snorkeling from shore without having to book a trip, I think that's going to be my go-to approach.

[otter]

For snorkeling in South Maui, go through Kihei and Wailea to the end of the road at Pérouse Bay, then hike along the northwest shore of the bay. You will find a series of smaller bays cut back into the lava, and there you are likely to find lots to look at underwater. One of the bays is called "the aquarium", so that gives you an idea of what it's like. Bring boots or good reef shoes, because you will be walking on knife edges. Early morning is best for calm waters. There are a lot of other snorkeling and swimming and sunbathing opportunities along that coast, just google, or ask.

Sugar Beach where you are staying blends on its north end into Maalaea Beach, a six mile stretch of sand that is famous for swimming, sunsets, long walks, and for being mostly deserted. Not so much for snorkeling, but a good place for your speedo! There is a bird sanctuary in the marsh on inland side, worth a visit. There are boat snorkeling trips out to Molokini. I've never done that, but it does sound interesting. Further afield on Maui as well, so much to do, snorkeling and otherwise, have a great trip.

[diveguy]

I’ve had a nice experiences snorkeling in a speedo in Hawaii. One was a couple of months ago on the south side of Black Rock, one of the busiest places on Kaanapali Beach on Maui. The water near the rock is sometimes teaming with fish, especially on calm days. People, teens and tweens mostly, jump or dive off the rock, and their activity and plunge through the waterline adds to the excitement of swimming in the area. I saw rivers of silver chum, thousands upon thousands, coursing along near the bottom, maybe twenty feet deep. I took a deep breath and went down. You have to understand that I’m a minimalist, not only being in a Dolfin racing brief, but also wearing only swim goggles, no snorkel. Just Cressi fins, yes. A reef triggerfish (humuhumunukunukuapuaa) accompanying the river of chum broke away, so I followed it for a bit, then looked up, to see a circle of masks at the surface looking down at the river and at me too. I made my ascent, trying to look as relaxed as possible, hands trailing, letting the fins carry me up. I felt even better when my wife told me I looked great down there, and sexy even. That made my day. And no one seemed shocked about seeing a guy in a speedo. I talked with a few friendly snorkelers and jumpers about what we were seeing. The only possible death stares came from a couple of guys wearing body suits and full-face snorkel-masks--Those masks are scary. Out of the water, we forgot where we put our towels and my deck shorts and ended up walking way too far up the beach and back again past hundreds of beach-goers of all ages. Lots of board shorts, bikinis, one-pieces, but zero other speedos. But heck, if people looked, I didn’t feel any approbation, I was feeling good about the water experience and happy in my skin. Proof again, it's a matter of confidence. Unfortunately the one or two snorkeling boat cruise I’ve been on have ended up being cancelled for one reason or another, but I’ve been ready with the speedo under shorts. There is so much snorkeling that can be done for free and as long as you want from the beach. On the whole, my experiences wearing a speedo in Hawaii have only left me wanting to do more.

Fantastic description! Reminds me of all the great times I had in Hawaii.

[yamamay]

Happy to report that I wore speedos (or squarecuts) nearly every day while I was in Maui. I only saw one guy in a speedo other than myself, but that was one more than I expected. At the resort pool, on multiple different beaches, and snorkeling! And to be honest why shouldn't I have? A lot of girls were wearing tiny thongs. All I'm doing is showing my legs. I swam with a sea turtle and manta ray and tropical fish in my red arena brief.

I won't say there were any problems, and I won't say I was hassled. One guy at a pavilion we stopped at on the way to a beach started talking to me about my shorts - I was wearing small rugby shorts over top of my squarecut. He wanted to know where I was from, if it was Europe, and if that's what people wear where I'm from, etc. His friend said ignore him, he's just jealous his legs don't look as good as yours. He might have been hitting on me, not sure. When I went back to the car later, actually every time I passed the pavilion, he would call at me. I didn't care for this but didn't find it threatening.

We went to twin falls one day, a short hike in north Maui that goes to multiple waterfalls, each with a basin beneath that you can swim in. My wife and I swam in them, and I wore my blue-and-white striped speedo. Because we hadn't brought towels from the car, we held our clothes and air-dried on the way back down, so I hiked down in just my speedo and flip flops, passing all the other guests along the way. We were not at all the only ones walking around in swimsuits so this just seemed natural.

Also stopped by Little Beach for a quick bit of nude sunbathing. All in all a great trip.

[otter]

It's great to hear that your Hawaii vacation played out well. I like your story about hiking back from twin falls in your speedo, meeting other folks naturally on the trail. That's along the famous (infamous!) road to Hana. I've done the hike in the National Park's Ohe'o gulch in a Speedo swim suit (deck shorts), but next time I'd like to do it in a brief (imagining very light rain). Ohe'o means bamboo in Hawaiian, and the trail threads an amazing climax forest of it with a waterfall at the end. The last time near there we also visited Hamoa beach (perfect break for body surfing), and Venus Pool, (A freshwater pond separated from the ocean by a thick dam slick black rocks). My avatar photo was taken on the ocean side of Venus Pool.

[yamamay]

We also went to Hamoa beach. It was a short stop but worth it. The breaks were very powerful, good for surfing but not so much for casual playing about on the beach. Venus Pool was on our list of things to do but the parking lot was closed due to construction and we were kind of tired so we didn't want to find alternate access and skipped it.

[otter]

Earlier this week I did get to go on a Catamaran snorkeling tour in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. The snorkeling itself was disappointing, It's not Hawaii. Only one kind of fish, Sergeant Majors, plentiful around a couple of rocks, but the water was cloudy, and there was no visible coral, more flailing snorkelers than fish. And they made us wear floatation vests, due to coast guard and company insurance. I hate that, but I see their point. I think that is probably common on this kind of tour. From now on I'll avoid this kind of tour for that reason alone. They did allow ditching the vest for swimming near the boat and for jumping off the deck.

As for the speedo experience, that was fine, enjoyable. On the trip out I wore shorts over the Arena briefs, and talked with quite a few tourists and staff on board. After swimming, I stayed in the Arena while they served lunch and on the way back to port in Quepos. Talked to a lot of the same people, and if they were shocked by the exposed skin, they made a good show to conceal it. Of course there were a lot of young women sunning on the prow canvas in bikinis. I talked to 3 young men from the Netherlands who had obviously been hitting the gym and went shirtless to show off their 6 packs. Board shorts though. In retrospect I wish I'd done a little more proselytizing for speedos.

[diveguy]

Of course there were a lot of young women sunning on the prow canvas in bikinis. I talked to 3 young men from the Netherlands who had obviously been hitting the gym and went shirtless to show off their 6 packs. Board shorts though. In retrospect I wish I'd done a little more proselytizing for speedos.

It's a crime, or at least a damn shame when fit, athletic looking young men squander their speedo wearing opportunities in board shorts. I guarantee the girls were feeling more sensuous in their bikinis than the dudes were in their board shorts. And shame on Europeans for allowing themselves to be dictated by backwards American cultural influences.