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Maui Whale Watching Ultimate Whale WatchTrip Report. The Ultimate Whale Watch, one of several whale watch tours out of Lahaina Harbor, provided two hours of pure adrenaline fueled fun. We selected the 7am time slot - since most Maui families on vacation don't want to get up that early, the price is discounted.
Ultimate Whale Watch
The Ultimate Whales Watch whale watching tour specializes in photographic, non-threatening close encounters with whales and has hosted film crews from National Geographic and BBC Wildlife. The 28 foot raft is powered by two large outboard engines, and it is faster and more maneuverable than the catamarans, racing yachts, and larger whale watching boats on Maui. We spotted a Hawaiian monk seal - a rare sighting of this endangered species on inhabited parts of Hawaii - swimming among the rocky ocean break as we motored out of Lahaina Harbor.
Maui Whale WatchingThe girls had a great time just hanging on to the side as we cruised along at 35 miles per hour - this was definitely an example of 'half the fun is just getting there'.
The captain dropped a microphone into the water, and we listened in on a symphony of whale grunts, groans, and squeals. Sitting low on the ocean, dragging our feet in the water, and quietly listening to the whale music was peaceful and relaxing. Then the action started again as a mother and baby whale both breached (jumped out of the water) one after the another. The humpback whale calf did more of a baby breach but was obviously trying to jump just like its mother.
We experienced the illogical? fear that the giant adult whale would surface and overturn our relatively small raft. We were sitting so low to the ocean in the raft that the whales look bigger and closer.
The fin looked like a giant wing. Then the fin slapped down on the water and made a load snapping sound. Our guide explained that no one knows the purpose of the fin slap.
Maui Whale Watching VideoMy Maui whale watching video from the Ultimate Whale Watch boat includes a breaching humpback whale, whale songs and sounds, and diving whales. Click on the PLAY button in the image below to view the video.
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We went from one extreme to another - jetting quickly to another location, then sitting quietly in the water waiting for whales.
But later, a whale approached us, then circled away and back and submerged just as it got to our boat, then went below us, just a few feet below the bottom of the boat.
At another stop, a large whale turned completely over and waved its pectoral fin above the water.
