Whalewatching in Maui

[Frozen Tundra Belgian]

We are sailing on the POA which docks in Kahului, Maui. We are planning on doing the whale watch cruise on our own with the Pacific whale foundation in a few weeks. Which harbor would be better to go to, MA'ALAEA or LAHAINA?

[jakz2fun]

I just returned from a land-based trip to Maui, and both places had great trips. The last one I went on was on a Pacific Whale Foundation boat from the Ma'alaea harbor. It was very easy to get to from Kahului, much closer than Lahaina. And we were not out of the harbor by even 5 minutes when we had spotted several whales. We followed a competitive pod for a while, when we spotted 2 whales breaching farther out. We went toward them and were treated to more breaches, tail slaps and fin slapping. It was a fantastic trip and I had a great time!

 

I went on 4 whale watching trips total, and can recommend all of them:

Captain Steve's Rafting/whale watching trips - whales got extremely close to us and were going under the raft. We stopped farther away from them, but then they approached us.

Gemini tour - out of Kaanapali beach

& one other that was an Island Foundation but I can't remember the name - out of Lahaina.

 

There were so many whales there last week that we were guaranteed to see whales. We were watching them from our lanai every day.

 

Have a great trip!

[ratherbecruisin]

What time of year is whale watching? We are trying toplan a family trip to Hawaii, and want to make sure it is during whale watching time!

[Suebee]

Jan to March is peak season, but the whales come in as early as November through May.

[Ms.Bee]

Hello Suebee....we have been to Hawaii before and did do a whale watching excursion out of Lahaina (Pacific Whale Foundation), it was wonderful to see the lovely whales.

This year, we will arrive in Hawaii on May 10th in Honolulu and off to Maui on May 15th. We then will return to Honolulu on the 20th of May to board the Pride Of America. What do you think our possibilities are of seeing whales?? I know the Humpbacks might be pretty well gone by then, are there other whales to see? I just love the whales and wondered what you thought our chances were of seeing them again.

Mahalo in advance.......Ms. Bee (Denise)

[spleen93]

Don't think that they'll be running whalewatching cruises in May - they may market them as sunset cruises or snorkeling cruises but not whalewatching. You may get lucky and run into a pod of spinner dolphins or something along those lines (other whale encounters are much rarer) but I wouldn't count on it.

 

Spleen

[Ms.Bee]

Maholo Spleen for the reply. No whales......I sort of thought that was the answer for the month of May. Maybe we will get lucky, who knows?? We will just have to return again to Hawaii during the whale season!

Thanks again.....Ms. Bee;)

[Frozen Tundra Belgian]

First I want to thank Jakz2fun for the whale watching info, suggesting to go to the MA'ALAEA harbor for the whale watching excursion. We just returned from our trip to Hawaii and this was the most amazing thing we experienced was going on the Pacific Whale Foundation Whalewatch. The tour guides were very enthusiastic because it was the first day in three weeks that it wasn't raining and the ocean was calm. As soon as we were out of the harbor we had sightings of whales all around us, the crew couldn't believe themselves how many whales where out there and how active they were. But the most amazing and unforgettable thing was when we were stopped to observe a pod of two very large esort males a mother and her calf. To our surprise and the crews they came right to the side of the boat, we actually got wet from one of the whales water spouts. The crew members were in tears because they said they never themselves experienced something like this with the whales coming so close to the boat and how lucky we were to experience this rare occurrence. Unfortunately these tours are only available from Dec. 1 - May 15 so we were lucky to be in Hawaii the same time as these magnificent whales.

[Ms.Bee]

Frozen Tundra, Ms. Bee here.......what a wonderful treat you were blessed with!! I love the whales, you must of been in heaven for a while!! Thanks for sharing, Aloha

[Shellyjean]

I am so excited-just booked my whale watching tour for next monday! I got the discounted time-I hope the whales are out then and they discount that time cause people are scarce!!

 

The Pacific Whale Foundation customer service agent was great and helpful, and I can't wait.

 

I have been on a whale watching tour before-saw Orcas here in the PNW, but this is a whole new thing for me, and I am looking forward to the educational portion of it. I remember learning alot on the last one, and the naturalists told us about a lot more than just the whales. Orcas are the prettiest whales I have seen, but I imagine I will find things to love about the humpbacks. I just hope it stops raining!! Of course I did my last WW in the rain and it was STILL glorious. I imagine rain in Hawaii has got to be even better than rain in Washington:) I am so excited. Did I say that yet????

 

Shelly

[yancycruiser]

Thanks to all of you who posted whale watching information. DW and I have been on two whale watching excursions - one in Maui with the Pacific Whale foundation in 1989 and one in Alaska several years ago. Truly wonderful experiences.

 

We are going back to Maui in January for a cruise and six days on Maui. We plan to do two whale watching excursions and appreciate all the information provided.

[Ms.Bee]

Shellyjean, we were in Maui for our whale watch with the Pacific Whale Foundation during mid April in 2003. We did see whales.....it was the end of the season and they were not plentiful, but we did see them! I wish you the luck of the many whale tails.......enjoy.....Aloha, Ms. Bee:rolleyes:

[jakz2fun]

I am so glad Frozen had a good time. I was truly amazed with all of the whale activity while I was there. What a treat to have them so close to the boat.

Shelly - the whales are around all day. If there are some in the area, I am pretty sure you will see some.

Have a great time! I can hardly wait for my return trip to the Islands in October (to the Big Island this time).

 

JoAnn

[Dorothy]

We just got back from Maui a couple of weeks ago. There were so many in comparison to February last year. We did the whale watching tour out of Lahaina. A word of warning, if you get motion sickness, take something. The boat we were on was moving so much we all had to hang on or we would have gone overboard. Had a fabulous time though. The whales are magnificent!

[4minus1]

just got off POAM. we saw whales everyday off of the ship--even dolphins. we did book a whale watch thru pacific whale foundation and viewed them upclose. went on March 26. awesome. Mom and baby were followed by the "male of the day". Asked my husband if I could have one of those "males of the day"...

[camella]

We didn't book any whale watching because we leave April 9th. Anyone know if there are any sightings while you are at sea? I know in Alaska they sometimes have some, but I've never been that lucky. We have been on several whale watching trips in the northeast and were out in very very rough seas and barely saw one whale and by the time we got to the side of the boat where it was, it was gone. Just wondering that would be awesome!