Voted Hawaii's Top Attraction by Zagat Survey US Family Travel Guide.  The marine park is conveniently located right off the freeway on the East side between the main vacation locations on the North and South shores of Maui.

As you enter the park, you first go to the "Living Reef" exhibit.  With over 60 exhibits and hands-on activities, the Maui Ocean Center is the largest tropical reef aquarium in the nation.  Here, you will get an up close view of Hawaii's beautiful tropical fishes and see some of the more fascinating varieties of eels, lobsters and some real oddities.  I found the garden eels to be very interesting.  If you have little ones, don't forget to check out the "Tide Pool" section where you can touch star fish and other sea life as you exit the building.

 

Next up is "Turtle Lagoon" which is a two-tiered pool with viewing areas from the top and sides.  Very nice up close views of Hawaii's green sea turtles here.

 

After that comes "Hammerhead Harbor" which is another pool with side viewing of the scalloped hammerheads.  Not too large, but still very fascinating to watch.

The Whale Discovery Center has a life-size model of a humpback whale calf and interactive displays. Each section reveals a fascinating story about Hawaii’s exceptional sea creatures, including their strange defense mechanisms, unusual mating habitats and ties to Hawaiian mythology.  I like the display where you stick your hand in the box to feel simulated humpback whale skin.  After the whale area, comes the 750,000 gallon Open Ocean Exhibit which is filled with a variety of sharks, rays, trevallys, etc.  This is where you can walk through a 54 foot long acrylic tunnel surrounded by these fish.  A little eerie, but very cool.

Open daily in Maalaea Harbor Village, with restaurant and gift shop.