Whale watching on a zodiac

[bajae]

I'm looking at doing a whale watching tour when we stop at Maui in December. I just looked up what a zodiac boat was and find the idea of being on that small of a boat (raft) around whale scary. I know the boat will not get close enough to the whales but what if the whales come close enough to the boat to accidently knock it? 

 

Can some share about their experience? Thanks!

[CruiserBruce]

We have done a over a dozen whale watches at Maui in a RHIB...what you are calling a zodiac. We have been very close to whales...the whales can be very curious about the boats, and the whales are pretty comfortable around the boats...the mothers will bring their babies over to check out the boats, or hide underneath them from undesired male attention. But have never had a whale touch a boat.

 

I can tell you whales have very bad breath.

[princeton123211]

9 hours ago, bajae said:

I just looked up what a zodiac boat was and find the idea of being on that small of a boat (raft) around whale scary. I know the boat will not get close enough to the whales but what if the whales come close enough to the boat to accidently knock it? 

 

Can some share about their experience? Thanks!

We do it a few times a year and only on a zodiac-- by far the best way to do it. The closeness to the water is the best part for us-- you dangle your feet over the side and put GoPros into the water etc. All things you cant do on some of the larger boats that do the whale watching tours. Just too many people for us.

 

The whales can get quite close but only by their own choice-- once a whale is spotted within a certain distance any vessel must stop their engines and drift until they pass. Sometimes the whales swim by and sometimes they can get very close as Bruce said. We've had whales get very close and go right under the raft but not touch the boat. They are very intelligent and aware of their surroundings-- you have nothing to worry about in terms of getting harmed by a whale in this scenario. They don't have any interest in colliding. Competitive pods, where the whales are a bit more boisterous, can usually be spotted at a distance and a captain would not put the raft in the middle of that. 

 

All this being said our favorite operator, Captain Steve's, lost both of his rafts in the fire. I haven't been back so haven't checked to see if they have plans on restarting their business. There were a lot of boats lost in the Lahaina fire. I would check and double check that any options you are looking at are actually operating as most of the good whale watching was out of Lahaina. 

[CruiserBruce]

@princeton123211, I follow Capt Steve on FB. They haven't announced any plans there yet. I suspect they are probably still dealing with the loss of their house and office, so the boats are just one thing on a big list.

[bajae]

38 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

We do it a few times a year and only on a zodiac-- by far the best way to do it. The closeness to the water is the best part for us-- you dangle your feet over the side and put GoPros into the water etc. All things you cant do on some of the larger boats that do the whale watching tours. Just too many people for us.

 

The whales can get quite close but only by their own choice-- once a whale is spotted within a certain distance any vessel must stop their engines and drift until they pass. Sometimes the whales swim by and sometimes they can get very close as Bruce said. We've had whales get very close and go right under the raft but not touch the boat. They are very intelligent and aware of their surroundings-- you have nothing to worry about in terms of getting harmed by a whale in this scenario. They don't have any interest in colliding. Competitive pods, where the whales are a bit more boisterous, can usually be spotted at a distance and a captain would not put the raft in the middle of that. 

 

All this being said our favorite operator, Captain Steve's, lost both of his rafts in the fire. I haven't been back so haven't checked to see if they have plans on restarting their business. There were a lot of boats lost in the Lahaina fire. I would check and double check that any options you are looking at are actually operating as most of the good whale watching was out of Lahaina. 

We will be stopping in Kahului and I'm looking at an excursion from the ship so I don't know who they work with. We will actually be there Dec. 25, 2024 and since it is Xmas day, I feel like our options may be limited so I've reserved this excursion to make sure we have something. Thank you for your information it helped a lot. I'm more excited now than fearful. 

[bajae]

5 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

We have done a over a dozen whale watches at Maui in a RHIB...what you are calling a zodiac. We have been very close to whales...the whales can be very curious about the boats, and the whales are pretty comfortable around the boats...the mothers will bring their babies over to check out the boats, or hide underneath them from undesired male attention. But have never had a whale touch a boat.

 

I can tell you whales have very bad breath.

Thank you. That sounds wonderful, bad smells and all. 

[princeton123211]

2 minutes ago, bajae said:

We will be stopping in Kahului and I'm looking at an excursion from the ship so I don't know who they work with. We will actually be there Dec. 25, 2024 and since it is Xmas day, I feel like our options may be limited so I've reserved this excursion to make sure we have something.

Most likely a smart idea-- Ubers/taxis etc will also be limited on Christmas Day. Hopefully they bus you to the other side-- the whale watching off Kahului on that side of the island isn't nearly as good as it is in Lahaina Roads-- the area between Maui, Molokai, and Lanai. If I had to guess, with Lahaina not an option, you will be going out of Maalea. 

 

6 minutes ago, bajae said:

I'm more excited now than fearful. 

Enjoy it-- being on a zodiac for a whale watch off Maui is one of Hawaiis great experiences. 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 11/22/2023 at 9:35 AM, princeton123211 said:

Enjoy it-- being on a zodiac for a whale watch off Maui is one of Hawaiis great experiences. 

 

Amen to that. There are going to be a lot of lonely whales in Lahaina Roads this winter wondering where all their friends went.

[gjvn]

DON'T BOOK WITH REDLINE RAFTING, Maui Whale-Watching Tour by Raft from Kihei. They would not wait 3 min, in fact they left early without us. I called their contact number which they do not answer, only voice mail ( poor communication). So I texted informing them our cruise ship was slightly delayed and we might be a few minutes late. The responded they would tell Capt. We had to pay $63 dollars for Uber to the meet up location. We arrive exactly at 11:03, verifiable from Uber. The dock was only 50 ft. away and their boat was already gone. The company lied to Viator and said we were 35 min late. We have text and Uber records to prove when we arrived. One of their employee's said the Capt. was probably busy and probably did not check his text but what a regular at the pier said was more like they saw an opportunity to take out someone out for cash and pocket the $$$ while denying us a refund. Food for thought. I would not trust Redline bad customer service and communication. Their booking info said they leave at 11, but they left before. There 2 other boats were tied up to dock at 11:03. DON'T TRUST THEM book another company.

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, gjvn said:

e arrive exactly at 11:03, verifiable from Uber. The dock was only 50 ft. away and their boat was already gone. The company lied to Viator and said we were 35 min late. We have text and Uber records to prove when we arrived.

Sorry this happened to you. I have not used Redline but have used another outfit called Captain Steves extensively in the past which operated similar rafts further up the island. Was this a private tour you booked? 

 

Typically we would always have to be at the dock 20-30 minutes before departure because there are up to 20 people on these rafts so boarding takes time which is why they ask you get there early for an on time departure. Sounds like that could have come into play. Also sometimes booking direct with the outfit rather than through a third party aggregator like Viator can result in better communication in these situations. 

[CruiserBruce]

Another not so great review of a Viator related provider. 

[princeton123211]

17 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Another not so great review of a Viator related provider. 

Call me old fashioned but I just don't understand why someone would pay a commission to a site like Viator when you can just book direct. Even if the company you are using pays the commission to Viator you are still helping a small local business. Just takes a tiny bit of research. 

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, princeton123211 said:

Call me old fashioned but I just don't understand why someone would pay a commission to a site like Viator when you can just book direct. Even if the company you are using pays the commission to Viator you are still helping a small local business. Just takes a tiny bit of research. 

Totally agree. And the fact the vendors are essentially low bidders obtained by Viator, their motivation is definitely questionable.

 

I am sure the motivation is the buyer sees the ship's excursion price is XX, and Viators is 2/3rds or 3/4s of that...so, easy choice. And certainly much easier than doing any real research.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

23 hours ago, gjvn said:

DON'T BOOK WITH.....

 

...Viator. Who does that?

[gjvn]

1 hour ago, KeepCalmBearOn said:

 

 Who does that? Viator is TripAdvisor, Many Smaller companies book through them, and sometimes the rate is even lower trough them, as opposed to directly though vender. I have never had an issue with them in the past. and Not even in this case they were very responsive reaching out to the vender.  Viator did not deny the refund, Redline did.
I booked with them because of the time slot available and not to go on bigger boat. 
They might do great tour but to not to be willing to wait less than 5 min is un acceptable.
This is 1st time I've ever had a problem with a vender in over 20 years. I rarely book my excursion with the ship. 

 

Edited March 14 by gjvn

[KeepCalmBearOn]

There was no way to quote you, but here is my two cents on Viator or any huge travel vendor.

 

When I travel and book, I book directly with local vendors. I don't want the "head office" six time zones away and impossible to contact when something goes sideways.

 

That same philosophy applies to vacation rentals. When possible, I use local real estate agents, not national sites like Airbnb.