whale watch

[alaswhales]

I am new to the Hawaii board and would like to know what tour if any, you would recommend in Hawaii for a close up whale watching excursion??? We will be there in Jan or Feb and are open to islands at this point in time. We will be in Oahu for a couple of days and then can go to whichever island we want. While I have heard it is best viewing in Maui, is there a tour from the big island near Kona? I would love to visit the volcano, so it would be best if we can find a good tour there. Thank you.

[Splinter]

Maui is best for whale watching. That time of year you can often see many whales from ashore on the drive south of Lahaina. You take a whale watching trip in Kona too, but there are fewer whales, and not on the same day you go to VNP. VNP is actually closer to Hilo, if you cruise stops there.

[NeoJava]

Maui is definitely the BEST island to take a boat out for whale watching. The whales tend to linger longest in the waters between Maui, Lanai and Kahoolawe. We will usually pick up one of the many booklets you find at the airport and tourists spots that are filled with coupons for whale watching. There's booklets like Maui Gold and 101 Things to do on Maui. Also have the same types of booklets for ALL the islands. You can find whale watching boats off all the major islands.

 

Kona is on the opposite side of the Big Island than the volcanos. Take you an entire day to do the volcanos from Kona so unless there isn't anything else you want to do in Kona, you may consider something other then going to the volcano.

 

Jan/Feb is the best time of year to go whale watching. Take a zodiac type boat if possible. They are able to get the closest however if you get seasick, a larger boat may be a better idea. If you like snorkeling, you should do a snorkeling trip to Lanai or Molokini. In Jan/Feb, the snorkel boat crews will get close to the whales to and from Molokini and Lanai so you get to see whales AND snorkel some of the best sites you'll find. When we did snorkeling at Molokini a few years ago, we had a mother whale and calf come up to the boat and the baby jumped out of the water a dozen times about 40ft from the boat. Pretty cool stuff. :)

 

ENJOY!

Glenn

[alaswhales]

Glenn,

Are the zodiac boats the rubberized rafts that are closer to the water that I have read about? Do you happen to know the name of a company that does it. As much as I would love to get a picture very up close, I am also very afraid to see one THAT close up. I work with a guy that came out of the water from scuba diving in Hawaii a few years ago, and a whale came right up to the boat, and he got a picture of it. It was right at the surface and you could see his eye. They could have reached over and touched it. My friend that I will be there with for a few days wants me to kayak with her. The thought of that scares me half to death!!!! You actually snorkeled with the whales??? Do you have any pictures? We will actually be in Hawaii for a few days, so we can pick whichever island we want to go to. Could we stay in Hilo and take a whale watch tour from there that goes to Maui? Sorry for all of the questions. I see you live(d) there, so I figure you would know more. My boyfriend actually knows someone that lives in Kialua ? on Oahu, and works at Sea Life Park with the dolphins, but we lost his email address.:)

[Moets]

How is the Whale Watching in Marz on the Island Oahu, Honolulu?

Who would you recommend for a excursion?

[sceptic]

There is a suggestion in some of these responses that boat captains will approach to within close proximity of whales. Technically, this is against the law. A boat cannot approach to within 100 yards of a humpback (or "harass" dolphins").

 

However, they get around this by observing the direction that a whale is moving and move their boat within the expected path of the whale but still several hundred yards away, then cut their motors. It is far less aggressive and the whales will sometimes come near to take a look at the tourists, or just ignore the boat. Or change directions. Hey - they're animals. They do what they want.

 

So if you're on a boat and you want the captain to boogie straight at the animal, they won't. The good ones can "read" the direction of the whale, get far in front, (several hundred yards) and wait.

 

And Maui is the best whale watching locale. Not that the other islands are awful, but the shallower waters between Maui Lanai and Molokai make it ideal for them.

[NeoJava]

Alaswhales,

 

The zodiac boats are the rubber boats with motors. Some of them are pretty good size. The one we took held 16 people with room to spare. I can't give you the names of such boats but if you pick up one of those tourist booklets at the airport when you arrive, you'll be able to find a few I'm sure.

 

Sceptic is right, boat operators are not allowed to approach within 100 yards of a whale. IT'S THE LAW! If I made it seem that we drove right up to a whale, that's not what I meant. We did get close and turn off the engine and the whales got closer. A baby whale breaching 40 feet from the boat wasn't as bad as you'd think. If an adult whale did the same, we might have capsized in the wake. Since it was a baby whale, I doubt that it's mother would have let it come much closer to our boat. There was an incident in the papers a couple years ago where an adult whale started bumping a large 80ft whale watching ship (not a zodiac) off of Maui. This went on for a good 10-15 min. The whale breached and people on board said they were pretty much looking into the eyes of the whale. Scary for some but pretty cool for others. This probably won't happen if you go whale watching, it's pretty much once in a lifetime. Also, you will NOT snorkel with the whales. If you snorkel at Molokini or Lanai, you will take a whale watching excursion to and from Molokini or Lanai, but there are no whales AT Molokini and Lanai at the snorkeling sites.

 

As for kayaking with the whales. I knew a guy that went kayaking before the sun came up off of Maui, about 4am. Said he was about 30yds off the beach and there before him were mother and calf whales. They were snoozing and he just sat there, maybe 20 yds from them so as not to disturb. Personally, I wouldn't whale watch in a kayak but I've seen it done. To go whale watching in a kayak, you'd have to be at least a mile or more off shore and that's pretty deep water if you fall in. However if you're friend wants to just kayak (without going after whales) on any of the islands, kayaking is wonderful here. Catching a wave in a kayak is REALLY FUN (until you fall off the kayak and have to get back on). You can find spots along some coasts on all the islands that are not accessible by car. However, you have to be in pretty good shape to reach those spots in a kayak with the tides and wind. IT'S HARD WORK! I would suggest kayaking on Oahu at Kailua Beach Park and going around the two islands (Mokulua and Mokumanu) off Lanikai Beach. (do a web search)

 

This is LANIKAI Beach:

 

The BEST area to whale watch is between Maui and Lanai and Kahoolawe. I think this is the birthing area for humpbacks and the reason they trek here from Alaska. There is whale watching on all islands (we go to the Makapuu Lighthouse on Oahu with binoculars every year) but you'll have the best luck off of the WEST side of Maui. The Big Island is east of Maui (check the map) and Hilo is on the east side of the Big Island so I can't give any rave reviews of whale watching off of Hilo. (I've never whale watched in Hilo)

 

Hope that answered your questions. :rolleyes:

ENJOY HAWAII!!

Glenn

[alaswhales]

Glenn,

Yes, you did answer my questions. I did not take your first response the wrong way. Maybe others did. I did already know the laws on how close they can get to whales in the US. I just came back from whale watching in Alaska in June. I was only asking due to the fact that I know some companies are better at finding the whales than others. For example, in Alaska, I went on a tour from Allen Marine and I thought it was done very poorly. We hardly saw any whales. They were all distant. They didn't seem to even try to find any. They got their money and just went out. Now that isn't to say that the entire tour company is bad. Just the very young driver and staff we had on that tour. They were joking around with each other and not watching through their binoculars much. The same company at a different time with different driver took others from our ship and they saw many whales that breached and great whale tail shots. That is what I went to Alaska to see. The only whale I saw breach happened right next to our ship while leaving Skagway at 11pm. It was great. I had heard much about the Capt larry tour in Juneau, but I was afraid that something might happen and we would miss the ship. I went with the tour from the ship so that wouldn't happen. I know that you can get to a certain point and the whales are allowed to come to the ship, just not you to them. The guy I am speaking of at work had been on a dive trip, and wasn't there for the whales. It just happened that the whale came to the boat. The captain had told him that if he had still been in the water it would have been ok to stay, but since he had gotten back into the boat, it would be illegal to get back in the water. Sorry for rambling, I was just trying to get the point across that I am not trying to break any laws in getting too close to them and I REALLY don't want to kayak with them. As I said, that just scares the crap out of me!!!!! I also have no desire to snorkel with them. They are too big for me to be in the water with. I just wanted to see pictures of it if you had done it. I am not that brave.:cool: Now see, that is what I am afraid of........a whale tipping over a boat. I have been told it hasn't ever happened. Did you have life jackets on the raft? Thanks so much for all of your help. I guess it is Maui. My boyfriend and I were there in 1998, but only for 24 hours. We did the West Maui helo ride during the day, and then got picked up at the hotel at 2am to go up for the sunrise bike trip on Haleakala which was awesome!!!! We did get to see a whale spout from up in the air while coming in. Was hoping to see some while we were on the boat ride out to the submarine, but none!!! Didn't get to do the sub either as the battery was dead when we got out there. Had to come right back to shore. He got seasick, so there went that excursion! Ha-ha! We were there Dec 16th. Maybe a few days too early. We should have gone to Maui for longer but the hotel in Waikiki was already paid for for the week. Thanks again.

[NeoJava]

Alaswhales, glad that I could help. Sorry, no pics of the whales from that trip to Maui. We're locals, we can see whales all the time, we don't take pics of whales! :) I don't think you need to worry about a whale tipping your boat over. Just so long as your boat doesn't get too aggressive with a calf while it's mother is there.

 

We did the bike ride down Haleakala a few years ago. GREAT TIME doing that but getting up at 2am is a bit much for our vacations to a neighbor island these days.

 

One thing I did want to mention, the reason I thought the zodiac boat was better for snorkeling/whale watching is because you're closer to the water compared to other boats. Also since the size of the boat is smaller, it seems to be less threatening to the whales so they may be more inclined to come closer.

ENJOY YOUR TRIP ALAS!

Glenn

[cruisers4ever]

We are planning a cruise in 2008, ? month, are we able to see whales all year long? I am hearing Jan.Feb. seems to be the best, this would not be the time for us for sure, anyone been later in year and seen whales?

[spleen93]

The whales (humpbacks, that is) are in Hawaii only during the winter - during the summer, they migrate to Alaska to feed. So hence, January and February are the best. Season probably really starts around November and usually finishes up around March or April though people have reported some whales in May as well.

 

Spleen

[hawaiideb]

We had really good luck with them several years ago. Haven't heard if they are even still around. I liked the sailboat option. We sailed out and since we weren't using a motor we must not have been threatening. An adolescent whale swam right under our boat. The boat was big enough I didn't feel in danger, although we did wear life jackets. The owners were very nice, we had to share with cruise passengers, but they were polite as well. I would like to do this again when we move back! Maybe next winter!!!

[fionan]

a question for locals really - when is the earliest we might see whales? Am travelling on Norwegian Wind 8th Nov sailing, arriving Maui on 16th November - is that too early to hope for a whale sighting?

[spleen93]

November is possible. The first whale sighting is usually around October or so - they'll be starting to come around November or so though the rush doesn't really begin until mid-December/January.

 

Spleen

[Tinabrn]

Pacific Whale Foundation is probably the best and safest tour operator, and they are in Lahaina, Maui. http://www.pacificwhale.org will give you whatever information you may need. All proceeds go for the benefit of the whales. I have supported them since going on one of their tours ten years ago...March is a great time, February should be fine as well, in April they start heading back to Alaska. Have a wonderful time!!

[spleen93]

I do agree about Pacific Whale Foundation. Really like this company.

 

Spleen