The Whales Are Back! PWF Reports its First Sighting of Season

“The Pacific Whale Foundation’s Ocean Explorer vessel reported spotting its first whale sighting of the season with assistance from Maui Diamond this morning, Oct. 8, 2018 at 8:08 a.m.

The sighting occurred 2.4 miles North of Molokini heading towards Māʻalaea Harbor”.

http://mauinow.com/2018/10/08/the-whales-are-back-pwf-reports-its-first-sighting-of-season/

Glad to hear it!  We'll be there in a month and I can't wait!

Can someone disembark and find whale watching tours close to the port in Maui?

2 hours ago, Lindypc said:

Can someone disembark and find whale watching tours close to the port in Maui?

 Which port are you referring to? You could be docking at Kahalui (don't think there would be many tours sailing out of there, but maybe vendors would take you down to Ma'aleaa Harbor) or tender into Lahaina. There are MANY discussions about vendors out of the Lahaina Harbor, as well as our favorite, Capt Steve's out of Mala Harbor, just north of Lahaina.

We tried to book Capt. Steve's in Maui and they do not start their tours until mid Dec.  We ended up booking with Ultimate Whale Watching - hopefully they are also good.

3 hours ago, Hobbes67 said:

We tried to book Capt. Steve's in Maui and they do not start their tours until mid Dec.  We ended up booking with Ultimate Whale Watching - hopefully they are also good.

 When are you going to be there? The reason they don't start until mid December is the numbers can be low. As I understand, last year there were a number of whales sighted late November, everyone got excited, then not much until late December.  We whale watched in late February..everyone was reporting low numbers, but we got to see a fair number, but not as many as previous years. The whales control their schedules.

We will only be there on Dec. 11 and Captain Steve's doesn't start until Dec. 15.   Can you recommend a catamaran whale watching excursion?

Pacific Whale Foundation uses differing vessels. We have not any other vendor that uses catamarans that we are aware of.

When do the humpbacks start heading north?  Will be cruising into Hawaiian waters very late March/early April so hope to see some from the (small) ship.

1 hour ago, cruising cockroach said:

When do the humpbacks start heading north?  Will be cruising into Hawaiian waters very late March/early April so hope to see some from the (small) ship.

 They start north when the babies are ready, and the females who are breeding have completed their mission. This can be as early as mid February. However, it extends out to early April. Most of the vendors stop tours in the first 10 days of April. We have whale watched as late as March 30, saw mostly males, which is fine as they are usually very active. But after April 1 is borrowed time. You might see some, you might not.

Thanks.  Well be coming from the south so unlikely but who knows?  We've had good luck seeing whales in the spring and autumn migrations along the N. American west coast.