Whale watching excursions in Maui
 

Does anyone have any suggestions on good whale watching boat tours in Maui. We will be there in a week. And is there any time of day morning or afternoon that is better to see the whales? We will be staying in the Kanaapali area. Thanks.

You can try Pacific Whale Foundation. I've heard it is good.

Or, this site has a few tours. It also lists places to see them from shore:

http://www.activity-hawaii-travel-gu...ng-hawaii.html

This site has a place to see them from shore:

http://www.budgettravelonline.com/bt...060400838.html

Other sites:

www.mauihawaii.org

www.visitmaui.com

This is an excerpt from my trip report (we stayed in Ka'anapali for a week last March):

Whale Watching:

from about January through March, pacific humpback whales migrate from Alaska to the shallow waters off Maui to breed and give birth. You can see whales from the beach, from your hotel balcony, and from the deck of a catamaran (or other boat). We did all three. We agreed that the Trilogy catamaran whale watch tour (a two hour excursion leaving directly from the beach in kaanapali) was the highlight of our trip. The sail itself would have been worth the $35 per person. Fairly calm waters, a big stable boat, and the most clear, most deeply blue water we have ever seen. Then we had three close encounters with a mother and calf, including hearing their calls through an underwater microphone. Great experience.

We've stayed on Kaanapali twice,both times specifically to do whale watching in February and March. We have taken excursions with several operators. Trilogy is our favorite. You can board right on Kaanapali Beach, which saves a drive to Lahaina or further south.The boats are comfortable and the staff works very hard to find whales to view. The staff is also quite knowledgeable about whales.

We were not satisfied with the one excursion we took with Pacific Whale Foundation, although many posters speak highly of their trips. On our excusion, the captain didn't try very hard to find whales, and we never saw any. He stayed in one very limited area. It was a big boat and felt like a cattle call.

We just got back this week from Maui and we did some whale watching. We took Aloha Blue Charters and like a previous post they found nothing and really made no effort. The next day we went on Pacific Whale Foundation for about 1/2 the price of the first cruise and actrually saw whales. The captain was radioing other boats to see where the action was and we were impressed. Their boats are bigger and less rocking and rolling in case you get seasick.