Shagboy

Last post in the consolidated whale watching forum is November 22,2015. I was hoping for first hand information a bit more current.

KenfromDE

We have seen some whales off Waikiki in the last few days. The whale watching boats have also been pausing there indicating they probably see them also.

hawkxp

Saw a few between Kawaihae and Hawi a few days ago. But agree that it doesn't seem as many as normal.

Shagboy

We will be on the Big Island the third week of February, I hope the tardy travelers are back by then.We are staying at Hapuna Beach so it is encouraging to know there are a few whales in North Kohala.

FlyForFun

I am leaving for Maui this weekend and will be whale watching all-day for four days. The humpbacks have been slower to arrive in their breeding and birthing areas this year. I will report my experiences beginning Sunday.

bocastephen

I think El Nino is going to cause either/and a lower or later attendance by the whales, but my guess is they will get there eventually because they will birth in the shallower waters, and there aren't many shallow places to rest safely between Alaska and Hawaii.

Truth be told, El Nino is even delaying the arrival of snowbirds from the NE and Canada to Florida, so it's not just the whales.

FlyForFun

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.

VickiSoCal

I did not go out on a boat but sawy many, many whales from the Fairmont in Wailea last week.

FlyForFun

Yesterday afternoon we saw a lot of whales. We had a fairly close encounter when two whales approached the raft and swam underneath and then stayed by the boat for a few minutes. On our second whale watch that afternoon, we saw a baby who was about a week old and another calf that was bigger and probably three weeks old.

This morning we found an active competition pod with at least eight males competing for the attention of a female. We spent over an hour watching the males do massive head lunges, blow bubbles, and slap their fins and tails. One male breached. We saw another whale breach when we headed towardsthe harbor.

Shagboy

Here is a report from the local newspaper about the whales in the waters off the Big Island. http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/news/...tors-say-whale. Seems the whales are right on time.

Passion4Points

We just returned on February 10th. We saw probably 15 whales on our two hour Ocean Sports whale watching adventure that left from Kawaihae. We did not have to travel far to see mom, her baby, and her escort, along with several in the distance, and some that swam under the boat and were quite close to us. In addition we saw a pod of spinner dolphins and they gave us a bit of a show. I know it was a bit of a slow start to whale season this year, but I bet by the time you arrive, it will be in full swing, so no worries!

FlyForFun

We are back in Maui for a long weekend of whale watching. I went on four excursions yesterday and have four scheduled for today. The humpbacks are plentiful and quite active. On Saturday we had a real treat with over one hundred spotted dolphins interacting with humpbacks. We even saw a baby whale playing with dolphins. Competition pods are seen frequently where males compete for females. We watched a comp pod with at least eight humpbacks; several of the males had bloody chins from ramming other males. Lots of head lunges, bubble blowing, ramming, and whacking were witnessed. We experienced numerous close encounters with whales swimming under the raft and surfacing next to the boat - definitely an excellnt reason for going with a company that offers rafts and smaller boats.

travelpye

I have been to Maui whale watching in late Jan. and early Feb. it was a fabulous experience each time, both seeing whales from hotel balcony and on the tours from Lahaina.

I want to take my great-niece next year, but we need to go last two weeks of March during her spring break. Will most of the whales be gone by then? I have read whale watching season extends into April and I have read it concludes in March, so I worry late March may be too late. My alternate idea is to take her to Big Island to see volcano instead, if we may be too late for the whales.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Looking up thread I see some reported seeing fewer whales this year. We were in Maui from Jan. 28 through Feb. 3. We did not see quite as many from our hotel balcony (Hyatt Regency)as previous year, but then we spent less time on it. I brought a 12 year old with me this year. It was her first time seeing whales and we did tours each day. They were phenomenal. Multiple whales at a time, spy hopping, double breeches, calves learning to breech, tail slapping, pectoral fin waves, double breeches close to the boat. It was an incredible experience for us both. I had told her Maui was my Disney world, meaning I loved it as much as she loves Disney. By the time we left, she said the same

Anyway, I cannot take her out of school next year, hence my post upthread asking what we might reasonably expect if I take her back last two weeks of March.

controller1

Whale season is typically listed as from December 15 - April 15. With that said, we've been to Maui around December 18 and again around April 13 and only saw a couple of whales.

This year, we were in Maui from February 25 - March 11. We took a Trilogy whale watching cruise from Ka'anapali Beach and during the two-hour cruise saw at least 30 whales.

travelpye

Thank you for your reply. I do appreciate it.

The first time we visited Maui it was midDecember and we did see a few whales. I thought that was awesome. (My only previous whale watch tour was from San Diego, late season, and we saw one at a considerable distance.)

When we returned to Maui in 2016 and 2017, we went in late Jan. and early Feb. to be there peak season, and there were whales everywhere--active whales at that. Since we need to go during her spring break next year, earliest we can be there is about March 19. Sounds promising that we could see more than when we were there in midDecember. That's good. Thank you.