Best season for whale watching in Maui

[jsf]

We are going to be in Maui on a cruise in the May of this year and would like to go on a whale watching tour, we were wondering if this a good time of year to do this. Do the whales stay in the Hawaii area this time of year or do they head for Alaska after the winter?

[lovecruzin]

May is a bit late but still should be some. However, not like earlier in the year where you would most likely see them from the ship.

http://blog.sailtrilogy.com/blog/best-time-see-whales-maui

 

[s0479]

We were there in March last year and saw tons!  Not sure about May.

[WatchHill]

We did a trip to Hawaii and onto French Polynesia in late January. It was prime whale migration time. On of our snorkel tours to an extinct volcano by Molokini, it tuned into a mega whale watching day.  We could see them in the harbor while the ship was at anchor, then on the dive boat, female whales were pushing their young under the dive boats to protect them from aggressive males. We were very lucky to be on a dive boat that was part of a Pacific Whale protection organization, with crew who were very knowledgeable. 

 

Darcy

[mayleeman]

I think whales gather throughout the year, but the best is December thru Mid-May, with the peak in Feb/March.

 

Our kids live there, in Kihei which is on the west side looking out at the whale sanctuary. We went in January, and I could see spouts from their lanai (they never had, so they didn't believe me until I got a phone video of a few). The following December (2017) I counted over 100 in about 4 hours from the beach we were on. Saw a couple full breaches that time. Pretty cool.

 

If you go on a whale watching excursion and can choose from where, make sure you check out the museum just north of Kihei from which many whale watching boats leave directly into the sanctuary.

 https://mauioceancenter.com

 

You can get more info about the whale sanctuary here:

 https://hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Most of the humpbacks are on their way to Alaska in May.