Maui Whale Watching Pacific Whale Foundation

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?!


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.

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

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