Whale Watching in Maui

For Jon and my 4th wedding anniversary (and 3rd anniversary living on Maui), we cashed in a gift certificate for a this 6 hour Captain Steve's Dolphin and Whale Watch Lanai Snorkel Cruise. We had been waiting for a special occasion to use this certificate and wanted to use it during whale season in hopes to see some whales!

A morning wake-up call of 5:30am was no fun, we even questioned if it was worth it... um yes it was. At 6:30am, the 3-person crew took about 10 of us out on a large zodiac-style motor boat. The beauty of these smaller boats, rather than a large catamaran or yacht, is that they can maneuver into hard to reach places, and they can get closer to the whales! In Hawaii, it is illegal to approach a whale closer than 100 yards. If a whale just so happens to pop up next to a motorized boat, they must kill the engine or put it in neutral until the whale is safely 100 yards away. Whales are more likely to be comfortable around a smaller boat than a big catamaran, something I soon found out.

Another thing about a small boat though... is it's a lot harder for us motion-sick prone people (Jon and I). It’s all fun and games until the captain stops the boat and we sit and 

ROCK 

back~and~forth

back~and~forth

I had been on a few whale watches before, but usually on a larger catamaran where the passengers can’t feel the motion as much, and the tours were only a few hours, not 6. 

yes we got sick....

BUT it was worth it! Once the boat would start moving again we'd feel better :D Then worst when we stop.... then better! Oh my gosh, what annoying customers we were, I'm sure. We tried to keep quiet and sit in very uncomfortable sea-sick silence, but I'm sure we were the reason the boat didn't go to certain areas. 

Whale season is during our winter and early spring, beginning in November or December.The whales are in the process of migrating through the Hawaiian Islands during this time. They just came from feeding in the North and pass through Hawaii to breed, birth, nurse, and raise their young. It is not uncommon to see whale tails and fins splashing about off the coast of the beach. These active splashes are usually babies playing around, with their mom not more than a body's length behind. You'll still see whale breaches and splashes of mom, but mostly of her potential suitors showing off. Most common are the whale spouts. That's when you know to keep watching, they might put on a show for you, or dive down and disappear into their underwater life. 

We saw plenty of whale spouts, fins, small breaches, and a few whale tails. But the most amazing part of our trip included a mama and calf that swam up TO us, maybe 20 feet away. The tour guides believed the mama wanted to allow the calf a teaching moment about boats (us). The mama whale was huge- imagine a 45 foot whale weighing 40 tons compared to our boat which was half the size! The calf cruised along looking at us, and the mama even seemed to push the calf to swim closer towards us.

"-See honey, now this is a boat

-They seem small but are dangerous

-Never swim in front of them

-They are loud and annoying, but they won't hurt you if you're careful

-Come on, get a closer look"

“this is funnnn!”

~~That’s how I imagined their conversation going under the surface~~

We stuck our waterproof camera underwater: check out this jaw dropping footage!

The ride over to the neighbor island Lanai included most of the whale watching. Then we hung out at a few stops to snorkel along the cliffs, where you can’t get to unless you have a boat. My favorite snorkel spot was Manele Bay alongside the harbor. It is a marine sanctuary so fishing is prohibited and ocean safety and protection is well regulated to harbor a larger fish population and allow the reef to be more abundant and organically grow (although I’m sure the amount of boats at this spot doesn't help the reef).

Sea sickness is hard on a long tour. We felt so stuck. If the boat would anchor for a snorkel spot, we’d feel queasy on the boat because of the rocking, so we’d get in the water. But the water is moving plenty just like the boat, and the sickness feeling would come back! So we’d get back on the boat and feel that rocking again. All we wanted was land, or to continue to keep moving forever. Neither happened for 6 hours. 

But the beauty of the serene and majestic sea was so heart-warming. While cruising on the high powered motor boat across the sea, the ocean appears so untouched, unbothered. Its glassy and continuous, until a break in the surface from a whale fin or tail J We would love to be ocean people. To buy a boat and sail around the world, but our bodies cannot handle… Maybe it’s all God’s plan because if we didn’t get so sea sick, then we would sail off into the sunset-- into the extremely dangerous sea. God’s just trying to keep us alive.

The view on the way back to our island from Lanai

The very helpful, informative, professionally FUN crew at Captain Steve's Snorkel Adventure

Overall, this year's wedding anniversary was pretty unforgettable, for various reasons! Afterwards we jumped off the boat, kissed the ground, tried to recover from our sea legs, and walked off the queasy feeling before getting right back into another moving vehicle to drive home. We got some food and had a nice dinner at home-- Jon cooked of course, the dinner wouldn't have been so nice if I did :)

Oh the perks  of living in paradise... During whale season you can get free or discounted hook ups for whale watching trips, or other fun excursions on Maui. But whale watching isn't only viewed off of a $150 whale watch boat, you can see them right from the shoreline. We live on the 6th floor ocean view of our condominium and see whale splashes and breaches all day long, or while we walk along the boardwalk, or while sitting on the beach. We love whale season! Reminds us that these is more going on in life than our own little lives.

Maui No Ka Oi