Maui Ocean Center Aquarium, Maalaea Harbor

Maui Ocean Center is an excellent aquarium in a breezy, tropical setting at Maalaea Harbor. The indoor areas have tanks of interesting fish you've never seen before! There are garden eels, standing upright, harlequin shrimp, looking silly, whitemargin unicornfish, with their strange horns in front! There are small, pretty tanks of jellies or seahorses, some with black light to show the bright coral, as well as large tanks of sharks and the deep reef. A tunnel lets you walk through a tank, with sealife above and around you. An exhibit shows cowrie shells and cone shells. I remember seeing an island piled high with these at the Great Barrier Reef!

The outside area is delightful, with wonderful air off the ocean. There is a fountain pool made of lava rock with beautiful fish swimming around, a touch tank of starfish and sea cucumbers, a turtle lagoon, banana trees with sugar bananas on them, and a whale sculpture. Exhibits about seabirds show the birds found in Hawaii, including the red-footed booby, which also has a blue bill. A tank with fish, sting rays, and a submarine communications buoy that had washed up on Maui's shore in 2016, shows how military vessels pass by Hawaii. In this case, the communications buoy was likely sent out by a ballistic missile submarine to study American submarines, and communicated with a satellite, allowing the ballistic missile submarine to remain hidden deep below the water. Hawaiian spirituality is woven throughout the displays, including a ko'a or fishermen's shrine of stones, created for the god of fishing (a master fisherman who lived in the11th century), and dedicated to the shark guardian.
An indoor exhibit shows whale migration patterns, describes their feeding strategies such as lunge feeding and bubble net feeding, and shows a real baleen plate that is like a sieve for straining out sea water and trapping small fish. An interesting exhibit about Hawaiian history shows newspaper articles and photos about Kaho'olawe, one of the eight Hawaiian islands, that was used by the American military for bombing target practise, and is now covered in shrapnel and unexploded ordnance. It is a sad history for the island. One thing I didn't know is that only 18 people lived on the island after 1866. But the bombing caused ecological damage, and also much noise on the island of Maui. In 1990, all bombing and munitions training was ceased by order of Congress. In 1993, cleanup of the island began, a difficult task using helicopters since there are no harbors or airfields on the island.
A man makes woven fish toys from palm fronds inside the Kaho'olawe exhibit hall, and you can buy one for your child. There is also a gift shop with marine themed toys. 
There is a Starbucks coffee shop across Hauoli Street, if you need a snack.
After your visit, have lunch or dinner at Paia Fish Market South Side at Kihei Kalama Village, a 17 minute drive south, and then let your kids burn off energy at the shaded playground in Kalama Park. Watch a beautiful sunset at Ulua Beach or one of the other beaches in Wailea.

Directions

Maui Ocean Center is located at 192 Maalaea Rd, Wailuku. Open daily 9-5. Admission is $50 for adults, $40 for children aged 4-12, $45 for seniors aged 65+, and free for children under 4 years old. Tickets are slightly cheaper if booked online one day ahead. Hawaii residents and military receive a discount of about $20. You must also pay for parking in the machines in the parking lot. Hawaii residents can park for free but must still register with the parking machine.

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