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Maui Whale Watching Pacific Whale Foundation

Our Maui whale watching cruise began at 8AM at the Pacific Whale Foundation in Ma'alaea, about 30 minutes south of Lahaina. This non-profit group offers a popular and inexpensive tour - we chose the 'Eco-Adventure' tour.

We saw a large number of individual whales, as well as groups of whales.

One group kept milling around us and a nearby boat. A huge whale separated fromthe others and swam directly toward our boat. The whale rolled over a bit, with one large eye watching us as she slowly swam under our boat.

So what was happening here - humans on a whale watching tour, or whales on a human watching tour?!


Maui whale watching: a whale dives under our boat during our Pacific Whale Foundation Eco Adventure. The boat crew was very knowledgable about humpback whales, and explained what was happening as we watched. We learned a lot -
• groups of whales are called 'pods'
• male whales don't help in raising the babies (calves)
• calves are huge when they are born
• the whales don't seem to eat the whole time they are in Hawaii - they just mate and have calves
• the Maui whales go to Alaska to eat for the summer months
• about 4000 whales spend the winter months in the warm waters around Maui.

Learning about humpback whales during our Maui whale watching tour with the Pacific Whale Foundation. The crew provided a fun learning experience about whales for the kids with their Junior Naturalist program (Erin is wearing the sunglasses).

In addition to watching whales, several activities kept everyone busy for the whole day. We got to stop for a couple hours for some snorkeling at Molokini.

We saw lots of tropical fish. When we returned to the boat, we had a grilled chicken, burger, or hot dog lunch (only one per person!) waiting for us.

And, on the way back from the trip, the boat stopped to watch green sea turtles before we returned to the harbor.


Maui Ocean Center

The Pacific Whale Foundation Ma'alaea location is right next to the Maui Ocean Center, which includes a humpback whale exhibit.

According to the Zagat survey U.S. Family Travel Guide, the Maui Ocen Center is the top-rated Hawaii attraction and one of the 50 top-rated attractions in the United States.

So you may want to plan an afternoon visit after your morning whale watching tour.


Lahaina Pacific Whale Foundation

There is also a Pacific Whale Foundation store on Front Street in Lahaina for their whale watching boat that departs from Lahaina Harbor.


Maui Whale Watching Pages

Maui Whale Watching Overview

Free Whale Watching Beaches & Cliffs

Whale Watch Tours
Pacific Whale
Ultimate Whale Watch
Watch Whales and...
Sail America II
Sail Scoth Mist
Snorkel Gemini
Snorkel Kapalua Kai
About Maui Whales
Maui Ocean Center
Whalers Village Museum

Maui Whale Watching Videos




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