Whales in Hawaii

I asked when we were in Aulani, and there were brochures about whale watching excursions that had pick ups in Aukani. Is Ohahu a good place to see whales from, or should we really plan to stay in Maui for awhile when we go for whale watching?

We are thinking early 2017.

Thanks,
Bobbi

You can see whales off of Oahu between Dec-early March.
Maui is a much better place to see them though because they love to swim in the channel between Maui, Lanai and Kahoolawe.

Maui for sure. We have used several different vendors but Ultimate Whale Watch was by far our favorite. If you are going early in 2017 you will see whales for sure.
Bobbi, I have been watching for a report about your Hawaii trip. What did you think?

Thank you Jean!

I loved Aulani, and together with the RCCL cruise from Vancouver, it was a vacation that was about as perfect as can be! We were 6 relatives and friends. Bill, my brother in law, who has fought pancreatic cancer had a great cruise, only 1 "bad" day as he is trying to get used to an insulin pump. My new knees worked wonderfully, we went snorkeling off the coast of Lanai, and I was able to climb back on the boat! The other couple were our neighbors in Ohio, it was going to be our reunion since our house was supposed to have sold in July. ( New story, buyers could not get mortgage, we are going back to Ohio, beginning next week)!

Aulani has so much going for us, we never wanted to do any excursions, just swim, snorkel, relax, partake in activities like ukulele lessons! We did the character breakfast and it was fun!

My sister and Bill did take the excursion that included a wild boat ride ( her description, much speed and fun!) barbecue on the beach and then a 2 hour horse back ride! They saw fabulous mountain sights as well as sea turtles.

I cannot wait to go back to Ailani!

We went whale watching in January last year, with the Navatek boat from Honolulu. We saw a ton of whales and spinner dolphins. The food wasn't amazing, but we were there to see the whales and were completely happy with that.

pamelaj said:

We went whale watching in January last year, with the Navatek boat from Honolulu. We saw a ton of whales and spinner dolphins. The food wasn't amazing, but we were there to see the whales and were completely happy with that.

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Love your avatar! I saved my wristbands, I look at them and remember.

Thanks for the suggestion.

When I went snorkeling off Lanai last month we were treated to dozens of spinner dolphins swimming and jumping. What a sight!

bobbiwoz said:

I asked when we were in Aulani, and there were brochures about whale watching excursions that had pick ups in Aukani. Is Ohahu a good place to see whales from, or should we really plan to stay in Maui for awhile when we go for whale watching?

We are thinking early 2017.

Thanks,
Bobbi

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Maui is the best. I love the whale watch through Pacific Whale Foundation. They are a non profit and very knowledgable. I have been on at least 12 whale watches with them and each one was great. They are reasonable in price.

We prefer Maui for whale watching also. We have done a bunch of different companies over the years but Ultimate Whale Watch was by far my favorite. It is a dinghy style boat and I was a little fearful at first but it was WONDERFUL. Such an intimate feel. I am totally addicted to whale watching. We rent condos overlooking the ocean from VRBO when staying on Maui and sit on the lanai for hours. I could literally spend my entire Hawaii vacation whale watching.

We are at Aulani right now and have seen several whales from the beach front here at Aulani. Tonight I saw a whale breech in the distance and the other night I saw a mom and her calf (based on the sizes of the blows) swim past Aulani right at sunset.

We were on the Big Island last week and took a whale watching excursion out of Kailua. The naturalist on board said the humpback population in Hawaii this season was way down. He said the week before a friend emailed him a photo of a humpback that was still in the waters off Anchorage, Alaska, which is extremely uncommon this time of year.

I'm with jekjones and traveled, hose awesome Humpback whales are one of the main reasons we go to Hawaii in January or February. LOVE them!! I have seen whales from my Ocean View DVC villa at Aulani more than once. Most of our Hawaii time is spent on Maui, Ka'anapali Beach area and the comparison between how many whales one will see is huge. Those mama whales love to congregate in the Au'au Channel between the leeward shores of Maui, the windward side of Lana'i and south of Moloka'i. The channel is no more than 300-400 ft deep and where the mama whales are, that's where the males are going to be as well, so there is a LOT of action!!

I always follow the first whale sightings in Hawaii, and though there was a very early sighting off of Kaua'i as I recall this year, the whales have apparently been slow to leave Alaska. Some researchers think it is because it is an El Nino year. A fact many don't know is that the Humpbacks don't eat while in Hawaii. There's really nothing for them to eat. They eat krill and small fishes as their throats are no bigger than a grapefruit.

Lastly, Pacific Whale Foundation is the boat we first took for a whale watch years ago. They were fine but a lot of folks that frequent Maui, live on Maui, or are big whale supporters do not hail them as a favorite. Though it can happen to any boat on the water in whale season, they have hit these beautiful animals more than once with their boats. I prefer the catamarans like Teralani, Gemini or Trilogy for whale watches, or for an even smaller watercraft, we like some of the raft tours as well.

Bobbiwoz, so happy your trip was as wonderful as you had hoped!