One of the most amazing experiences you can have in Maui

#1 Must See Tour In Maui

I have been lucky enough to visit Maui three times over the years. Each visit was about a week in length leaving plenty of time to explore and have more relaxing beach days. There are four things I recommend visitors schedule time for in their first visit. Today we are going to go over the first recommendation which is a whale watch.

ℹ️ What to Know

The Pacific Ocean is teeming with humpback whales during winter months. They travel all the way from Alaska when the weather cools and their food supply diminishes. During this time they breed and give birth to their calves. The water surrounding Maui is extremely shallow, freeing them from predators. Once they give birth, they teach their calves to breach. You may remember from school that whales are mammals and their calves stay with their mothers for up to a year.

🐋 When to see whales

The best times to schedule a whale watch is between December to April. But, whales are in Hawaiian waters as early as November. The best location to see whales is the west side of Maui. You can even see whales jumping out of the water from the beach or a lanai. For a much better experience, consider booking a whalewatch. You will not be disappointed!

⛴️ What tour to choose

There are a few factors you should take into consideration when choosing a tour. Is anyone in your group prone to seasickness? Is anyone elderly or with reduced mobility? If you answered yes to either of these questions, I would recommend going on a bigger boat or catamaran. But you should know that you will be with many more people and will not have an up close and personal experience.

There are many tours operating from Lahaina Harbor. Some even will pick you up right on Ka’anapali Beach (weather permitting). Our tour last March was scheduled to pick us up from the beach but the location changed at the last minute. This should not be a problem as you will no doubt have a rental car.

🚣 My recommendation

We chose Ultimate Whale Watch & Snorkel https://www.ultimatewhalewatch.com. I highly recommend this small business. I am not exaggerating when I say it was one of the best days of my life! 😀. We chose the 2hr VIP tour which was $115 per person. These tours take place in small inflatable rafts. You are so close to the water you can put your hands and feet in. There is only space for 14 people as well so no matter what side of the boat you are on, you are going to get to see whales!

✨ What makes this tour so special

Whales are protected in these waters and the team ensures that they follow the law. There were even times when they cut the motor because whales swam within 100 yards of us.

The small boat size meant we regularly had close encounters with whales. They swam under our boat, they breached right next to us. They looked at us watching them. We were encouraged to tap on the side of the raft. These curious creatures will swim up to you to investigate. As a result, we had a tour that lasted over 2 hours and I lost count of all the whales we saw up close.

🎒 What to bring

📸 Camera or 📹: I made the mistake of bringing a heavy DSLR camera. I thought it would be better for the zoom and the quick shutter speed. However, I ended up putting it away. I kept missing the shots and the whales were SO CLOSE to us that I didn’t need the zoom. I ended up using my iphone 12 and got the best pictures and videos with it.

🤳 Go Pro: I wish I knew about this in advance. You can bring a gopro with a long selfie stick and put it in the water. The tour guides were doing this themselves. I am sure they get amazing footage of underwater shots and I would bring one if I go again in the future.

🧢 Hat and sunscreen: There will be some coverage but this is Maui and the sun is strong. You probably are not used to the tropical sunrays. Don’t ruin your vacation with a bad sunburn!

ℹ️ What else to know

I booked 2-3 weeks in advance. There were some sold out tours but as long as you are flexible and don’t need to go out on a certain day you will be fine.

If you are worried about getting seasick, book an early morning tour. We went out on the 7am tour. We had a cup of coffee and drove to the harbor. After the tour was over, we had breakfast. I did not feel sick at all but I was a little worried about it and I am glad I went on an empty stomach. It is also warm and sunny early in the morning so we had great weather.

If you are staying in Ka’anapali they will pick you up on the beach or you will have to drive to Lahaina Harbor. It is a short 10 minute drive and there is plenty of parking.

🌺 Lahaina Strong

Lastly, consider donating to the Maui United Way https://www.mauiunitedway.org/. The community of Lahaina suffered a devastating fire in 2023. Many of the roads are still closed. The destruction of the fire is evident. People are still displaced. It is not realistic to expect people to stop visiting such a beautiful place. But, I do believe in being a responsible and respectful. People in Hawaii are so friendly and share the aloha spirit with all of us. The least we can do is to help out any way we can to rebuild this beautiful historic town.