We just returned from our first whale watching excursion of 2016. We purchased season passes from Maui Adventure Cruises that cover 10 trips at a cost of $289. As we were leaving Lahaina Harbor, we saw splashes in the near distance. As we approached the two surface-active humpbacks, we saw one doing pectoral fin slaps and the other was slapping his tail and also doing tail throws. When we were at optimum viewing distance, one whale did a series of full breaches. His entire body came flying completely out of the ocean. We could even see the tips of both flukes. The whale continued to breach and we were fortunate to witness over forty breaches and even one double breach. At least five breaches were close enough to the raft so that we could see the pinkish areas of the whale's fins. Best of all, I managed to see all but one of the breaches from start to finish.
We saw at least ten whales and witnessed breaches, tail slaps, tail throws, pec slaps, upside down pec slaps, head slaps, spy hops, and lots of splashing. Through a hydrophone we heard the males singing very clearly.
Humpbacks have most definitely arrived in Maui. The ocean today was like a lake- extremely flat with almost no waves. The West Maui Mountains and Molokai's mountains were cloud free and gorgeous.
We are going two more times today.