Kaiwi Channel FAQs

Send us an email at mauinuiswim@gmail.com.  What we need to know upfront:

How many crew members will you bring?  

What month/year(s) are you interested in swimming?  Be sure to look at our new flexible swim window plan.

Maui Nui Swim offers a modular build:  (full course planning, crew/support vessel, event insurance, flexible lodging and ground transport on Molokaʻi, drone pilot, feeder, news media connections, and/or kayaker) depending on your needs.  

We will send you a swim application (timing matrix).  Easy!

We know that every swimmer comes with significant resources.  Through collaboration we work within a swimmer's budget in order to maximize chances of success.Talk to all the swimmers we have worked with.  Look at our results.

Oʻahu: We recommend lodging in and around Waikiki.

Molokaʻi: Maui Nui Swim can provide a house that sleeps up to 8 on the departure beach.  Our terms are incredibly flexible meaning you pay to stay for just one day during your whole window.  Of course if desired you can stay longer.

Maui Nui Swim can hook you up with a private vehicle on Molokaʻi that you can pick up at the airport (MKK) and drop off at the beach for a fee.  There is no Uber or Lyft on Molokaʻi and the local taxi service requires reservations in advance.  Getting around Oʻahu is much easier.

Honolulu Airport (HNL) offers access to most rental companies and Uber and Lyft are ubiquitous on Oʻahu.

You can take a boat but this is not advised if you plan to start your swim once you arrive in Molokaʻi.  Mokulele Airlines is the carrier that offers flights between Oʻahu and Molokaʻi.

No.

Maui Nui Swim works closely with the Hawaiian Channel Swimming Association (HCSA).  Book your swim with Maui Nui Swim, successfully complete it according to HCSA's rules, and receive your official HCSA cap and certificate.

Yes!!!- just ask anyone that booked with Maui Nui Swim like the Zemaitis Brothers, Legendary Oʻahu Swimmers Colby Dimsdale and Tim Lorge, Olympians Petar Stoychev and Andreas Waschburger, Oʻahu to Molokaʻi all-time record holder Loren King, and Norihito Yoshioka- the first swimmer from Japan to complete the Kaiwi Channel.

The Hawaiian Channel Swimming Association (HCSA) fees for Kaiwi Channel swim crossing ratification can be viewed here.  

Honolulu offers a variety of options to prepare for your upcoming channel crossing.  We recommend getting familiar with the temperature and salinity of our ocean before your swim.  Ala Moana Beach Park and Kaimana Beach are excellent venues to log in some swims and acclimate to the local conditions while on Oʻahu.  Looking for someone to swim with contact us.

Hawaiʻi is also home to a large number of outdoor, long course meter format pools that are free of charge to the public.  For a complete listing visit the Department of Parks and Recreation.  There is also Cooke Memorial Pool on Molokaʻi.

Available through Maui Nui Swim

Maui Nui Swim announced a new and flexible program.  We post potential swim windows for the next 1-2 years.  Swimmers may apply for one or more windows.  We announce 1 week before the swim window if we think the weather will be good.  We announce 3-4 days before the window if we are going to swim. 

First come first served: There will be a list for each potential swim window.  Swimmers are placed on each list based on the date of their original application.  Once we determine a window is optimal we begin contacting swimmers in order of application.  Once we have a swimmer(s) ready to come to Hawaiʻi during an optimal swim window we offer a contract.  Swimmers will have a deadline to respond.

The costs of travel to Hawaiʻi do not increase much when booking last minute and many swimmers have been ʻweathered outʻ over the last several years.  Therefore the lowest risk strategy to swim the Molokaʻi Channel is to apply for the program and wait for optimal conditions.  Maui Nui Swim can help find lodging on Molokaʻi or Oʻahu depending on swim direction.

This approach is similar to the famous surf competition in Hawaiʻi called the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational.  World class surfers every year have a 4-month window.  Competition organizers watch the conditions during the window and announce shortly before when the competition is a go!

Follow us on Insta to see the complete list of swim windows.  Apply now!