Pacific Whale Foundation Questions

[Preds]

I've done a search to try and find answers to the following, but still have several questions.

 

My wife and I are cruising on the Pride of Hawaii in 9 days with our 14yo and 11yo boys. The POH has an overnight in Kahului. I want to book a whale watch tour for the family with the Pacific Whale Foundation, but they have 2 locations, 15 different sail times each day and a half a dozen boats!

 

Can anyone help me with answers to any or all of the following?

 

1. If you had to choose one port over the other for a PWF whale watch, which would it be? Maalaea or Lahaina? Why?

 

2. Do you prefer 1 boat over another? Their newest boat was recently launched and is called the Ocean Discovery. Does anyone know if it has advantages over their older vessels?

 

3. How early is too early? They have cruises as early as 7:30am, others at 10am. I've read that the earlier the better (due to lesser winds and calmer seas generally in the mornings). Are the whales more active at one time over another?

 

4. What time do you have to be at the pier? IF you have say a 10am tour, do you need to be their by 9:30 or 10am (just so we can plan our time appropriately).

 

5. Realisitcally (taking into account traffic) how far is the drive from Kahului to Maalaea or Lahaina?

 

6. How often are excursions cancelled due to rough seas? We really want to do a morning cruise, and are thinking to do so on our 2nd day, since the 1st day we'll lose time in the morning picking up the rental car and whatnot. By waiting to do this tour day 2 are we risking not being able to see the whales at all?

 

Your answers are MUCH appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[PDAZ]

I'd pick Lahaina only because it is the better port -- more to do there. Maalaea seemed too conjested and windy to me! Parking can be an issue in both ports, but I've never had a problem finding a spot in a lot in Lahaina.

 

We had our PWF whale watch at 12:30 -- it was a great time because the boat wasn't crowded -- I guess everybody was at lunch! We saw an incredible number of whales -- lots of breaches, tail and fin slaps -- just amazing. I don't remember which boat it was. The crew did say that we saw more whales than the 10 am tour, but I don't know if that was just by chance or whether they were more active at that time of day.

 

We were told to check in at 11:45 am. Actually, we arrived in Lahaina at 9:30 am; my parents then went on the 10 am Atlantis sub and were back in time for the check-in.

 

We were off the Pride of Aloha at 8 am, had a bit of a delay at Thrifty picking up our car but we were still in Lahaina by 9:30 am. I think the drive to Lahaina only took us about 30 minutes -- we hit no traffic going over. However, there is construction along route 30, and we hit a big delay on the way back -- it took us 90 minutes to get back from Lahaina to Kahului. Can't predict what you'll run into!

 

We didn't have reservations. I called PWF the day before when we were in Kona to make a reservation and was told that if we missed our trip (the ship was late docking, we ran into traffic, whatever reason...), we would still be charged. I was told they had a lot of open seats for the next day, so we just took a chance. We went right to their booth when we arrived in Lahaina, and we had our choice of tours -- the 10 am, the 12:30, the 1:15, etc. The 1:15 tour only had a few seats available -- maybe that's the one the ship uses? We opted for the 12:30 tour -- only had 30 people or so on it (ship holds over 100), so we had plenty of room to run about and see the whales on all sides.

 

I can't recommend that you skip the reservation -- I don't want to be responsible for your missing out on a whale watch trip! But if by chance there are no tours available on PWF, there were several other tours available from the dock in Lahaina (there are 15-20 or so booths offering various tours), so your chances of going on a whale watch are very good.

[Beach4me]

I've done over a dozen PWF whale watches. I HIGHLY recommend them.

 

I prefer Lahaina because I've seen many, many more whales in the Maui channel. The seas out of Lahaina are also much more calm (at least in my experience). Plus, the scenery is prettier - with Molokai and Lanai both within sailing distance.

 

I prefer morning trips. The sun is in a better position. There seems to be less boat activity in the morning than as the day progresses. I think a perfect morning/early afternoon is a morning whale watch followed by lunch at Kimo's.

 

As for boats, I prefer the sailboats just because I like sailboats. However, their catamarans/trimarans are also very nice boats. You are closer to the water (and hence the whales) in the sailboats. But with the kids, you might actually feel more comfortable on the cats/tris.

 

It has been a couple years since I've been to Maui for a land vacation. At that time, it was a 45 minute drive from Kahalui to Lahaina. But, check with PWF - they can tell you what it's like now. (And then post what you find out here, if you don't mind. I'm going back to Maui for 3 weeks next Jan - just wondering how much traffic has increased.)

 

I have never had them cancel a ww in the last 20 years. If you do decide to wait until the second day, be sure to do a test drive over to Lahaina - check out the parking, etc so you don't feel so rushed the next day. And if you're over there at dinner time, I recommend Kimo's for dinner too!

 

Don't know if you have ever done a ww but they are magical. If you haven't had the priviledge before, I'll be happy to give you some whale spotting tips.

 

Enjoy!

[Preds]

PDaz and Beach4me, thanks for the tips and detailed replies!

 

I've put in a reservation for 10am on the 2nd day out of Lahaina (why stress ourselves rushing to get the car, then rush to Lahaina and whatnot on day 1).

 

One of my sons has a tendancy to get sea sick on cats, thus the likelihood of calmer seas in the morning is very attractive (4 years ago we did a Quicksilver Catamaran tour to the Great Barrier Reef, and the seas were quite choppy making out then 7yo son quite seasick)!

 

As for the drive from Kahului, I'll be sure to post when I find out. The Revealed books say it's about a 45 minute drive, but of course local traffic can change everything!

 

As for the whale watch, we did one 6-7 years ago out of San Diego in the month of January, but the Pacific was REALLY choppy and whale sightings were minimal (though we did have a mom and calf off the portside). With the ocean so choppy however, good clean sightings were difficult at best.

 

If you have spotting tips, please feel free to share! I read another post (probably yours LOL) suggesting to look for the water blasts from the blow holes on the horizon, and keep an eye in the surrounding area to look for flute, pecs, rolls or breaches. But that's about all I have LOL.

 

Thanks again.

[beachchick]

Preds:

 

As for the drive from Kahului, I'll be sure to post when I find out. The Revealed books say it's about a 45 minute drive, but of course local traffic can change everything!

 

It is an average of 45 minutes to 1 hour from Kahului to Lahaina. Besides traffic (which can be pretty heavy at various times of day), you may run into construction, which may delay you further. You absolutely must plan to leave at least 1-1/2 hours before you need to be there because, in addition to any possible travel delays, you need to find parking and then walk to the harbor. There is parking close by, but it can be difficult finding a spot, so you've got to give yourself a bit of time for that.

 

It's entirely possible that you will have light traffic, no construction, and find parking immediately. In that case, you can take the extra time to wander around Lahaina's Front St. If not, you will have left yourself enough of a cushion to not have to stress about getting there on time.

 

DH and I have made this drive numerous times, and it has taken anywhere from 40 minutes to well over an hour. I always err on the cautious side. Besides, Lahaina is a fun little town.

 

beachchick

[Beach4me]

PDaz and Beach4me, thanks for the tips and detailed replies!

 

If you have spotting tips, please feel free to share! I read another post (probably yours LOL) suggesting to look for the water blasts from the blow holes on the horizon, and keep an eye in the surrounding area to look for flute, pecs, rolls or breaches. But that's about all I have LOL.

 

Thanks again.

 

LOL! Yep - that sounds like a post I made on this board a few weeks ago. No need to repeat then.

 

Lahaina is one of my favorite places on Earth. As beachchick said, if you are "stuck" with extra time there, I'd call you lucky! ;)

 

Hope you see lots of whales! btw - I don't know the min age for Bonine but you might want to ask your doc if your son can take it. I like it MUCH better than Dramamine...doesn't make me tired or weird-headed. BUT, you definitely need to ask your doc about it before giving it to a child.

[Preds]

LOL! Yep - that sounds like a post I made on this board a few weeks ago. No need to repeat then.

 

Lahaina is one of my favorite places on Earth. As beachchick said, if you are "stuck" with extra time there, I'd call you lucky! ;)

 

Hope you see lots of whales! btw - I don't know the min age for Bonine but you might want to ask your doc if your son can take it. I like it MUCH better than Dramamine...doesn't make me tired or weird-headed. BUT, you definitely need to ask your doc about it before giving it to a child.

Actually, Bonine already comes in a childrens version. We already have it from our last cruise, but thanks for the tips!