Whales in April
 

We will be in Oahu and Kauai April 4-13. Will we be too late to see whales? If not, where would our best chance of seeing them be?
Thanks,
Arlene

Technically, whale watching season goes till May, so you should be OK (I think). I'm going on my very first whale watching cruise tomorrow, 2/18, with Paradise Cruises. www.paradisecruises.com

If you go with them, go on the 1st or 2nd day of your trip. That way if you don't see whales, they give you a voucher to go again for free, and you have time to do it if you feel like it.

Hope you see some whales! Let me know how it goes!

We will be on Oahu the first week of March what are the chances of seeing whales from shore. I get motion sickness so really do not want to take a tour.

I think you're just pushing the end of the season; we went in April and ended up seeing one at a distance after several hours - really we just saw the spout. They said April was the extreme end of the season. Good luck - hope you get to see some!

Our boat took us past Diamond Head--really, much more east toward Koko Head--and we got to see a pod of whales. It was a momma, a calf, and a "male escort." They call them that because these escorts are not necessarily the fathers, but guys who might be interested in mating with the hot momma at a later date. (Sounds like Hollywood, doesn't it?)

We didn't see any of those dramatic whale scenes where the whales are jumping WAY high out of the water; however, we did get to see bodies and fin- or tail-slapping. Please note that we are required by federal law to keep a minimum distance away from any wildlife here (there was an idiot out on a kayak stalking the pod and at one point I thought they were going to whack him out of irritation). Anyway, I guess it depends on your experience. I have lived here in Hawaii all my life and have NEVER seen a whale in person. I thought I'd be disappointed if I didn't get to see the whales totally leaping out of the water, but I found myself getting super excited just to get a fin wave! It's hard for me to rationalize taking a tour to someone else, but for me, this was well worth it. I'll post the photos on my blog later this week, maybe Wednesday (not today!): www.myadvertiser.com/kakaako

bdwick: If you are going to look from shore, I've been told that you need to hike up to the Makapuu Lighthouse (if on Oahu) at or before the crack of dawn. From there, you may see whales frolicking on the east side of the island. You won't see any on the south shore.

We have gone to Kauai in the spring (normally the beginning of April) and see whales every time. We go out with Kauai Sea Tours on their sunset cruise and normally also see dolphins and turtles on the cruise too.

OK my blog--with whale photos--is up!
www.myadvertiser.com/kakaako

You need to scroll down and my headshot is on the right. click on my photo to get to the blog.

Just wanted to let anyone else know that was interested in seeing whale that we saw them put on a great show 3/5/08 at Makapuu lighthouse at about 11:30 am. Some of the people that were there said it was a better sighting than they had on a whale watching cruise.So we were very lucky to be there at the right time.

arlene17: We spend two weeks in Hawaii every April (4-19, this year). We have seen whales every time we have taken a catamaran or sunset cruise.