If you’ve done much research at all about snorkeling on Maui, you’ve probably heard about Turtle Town. There are some underground caves offshore in this area (plus a lot of algae that they feed on) that attract a large number of turtles so it’s pretty reliable to spot them swimming in the area. A lot of the Molokini snorkel boats make a stop offshore in the area for snorkelers, but if you know where to go you can snorkel in the area from the beach too. 

In general, “Turtle Town” is roughly the area of Makena Bay from Makena Landing Park (on the north end) to Maluaka Beach (on the south end). And the two best access points are at Makena Landing and Maluaka Beach. 

The turtles swim around so there’s always a good chance of spotting one wherever you are, but for the best odds you’re going to want to swim out away from shore a bit. 

It’s not necessarily unsafe and a lot of people snorkel in this area on their own, but I would recommend staying a little closer to shore than you see the people snorkeling on the boats maybe unless you have a paddleboard. I’m also generally a fan of wearing a flotation belt when you’re snorkeling (especially if you’re not on a tour), and of course making sure there’s somebody on the shore who is tracking where you are. 

If it were me, I would enter the water at Makena Landing and swim a bit south/away from the shore from there. It’s a fairly protected area and there’s often other snorkelers there. 

But if you want to post up at a beach for the day, it’s probably best accessed from Maluaka Beach.