Maui Whale Watch & Lahaina Tour

[runninggalintexas]

I'm thinking of booking this tour through NCL for our Maui day. Has anyone gone on it? I am also a little worried about getting sea sick since this is likely a smaller boat. Is there any opportunity to do whale watching on dry land? :)

[Susan-M]

You can see whales from shore, but not nearly as close up as from a boat tour. When is your cruise?

[runninggalintexas]

Its in early February.

[CruiserBruce]

I doubt NCL is going to put you on a smaller boat. More likely they will put you on a larger boat.

[Susan-M]

You'll be able to see lots of whales at that time of year from shore. I would consider renting a car and heading to west Maui.

 

There is a scenic viewing area not far from Maalaea, after you've made the turn to head to W. Maui, where you can often see whales (when we were there in April, there was a worker from the Pacific Whale Foundation stationed there for the day to provide info and help with whale spotting, and they even had binoculars for people to use.)

 

From there, I would continue heading all the way up to Kapalua and walk along the Coastal Trail once you get to Kapalua Bay - you'll likely get some good shows from there.

 

In addition to looking for whales, you can make some stops at interesting places (including Lahaina) and make a whole day trip out of it. Bring your bathing suits and towels too.

[runninggalintexas]

Thanks for the info! I don't typically have problems on a cruise ship but I went deep sea fishing once and was feeling pretty bad. I am thinking the whale watching boat may be similar in size to the fishing boat.

[runninggalintexas]

I haven't read any posts about watching whales from land. I am thinking it will be a much better experience to go on the boat. Maybe I should just get some Dramamine and go for it!

[Susan-M]

I haven't read any posts about watching whales from land. I am thinking it will be a much better experience to go on the boat. Maybe I should just get some Dramamine and go for it!

 

There are no organized whale watching tours from land if that's what you mean, but we often see them from land when we are in Hawaii, and we've had some great shows from the whales .... but as I mentioned above, you'll see them a lot closer up if you go by boat, so I would consider that a better experience. Dramamine sounds like a good idea.:)

 

Here's a link to a blog by a person who is currently vacationing on Maui and posting her blogs on the Maui Tripadvisor forum. The whale watching photos are incredible.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Susan-M