Whale season in Hawaii runs from Novermber 15th thru April 15th and by far one of the best places to catch the whale action is on the gorgeous Valley Isle of Maui. If you are taking a family vacation to Hawaii during the season, then whale watching is a must do. My family and I recently went on a whale watching trip with the Pacific Whale Foundation's Ocean Discovery out of Lahaina harbor. They do a multitude of boat tours, including sunrise, sunset and snorkeling trips.

As you walk Front Street in downtown Lahaina, you will see that there's no shortage of finding a boat to take you out whale watching. We chose The Pacific Whale Foundation because of their fantastic conservation and educational efforts to help keep our whales and sea life safe. They not only aim to make your trip memorable, they also want to teach you and your children about the marvelous whales you encounter.

Once we set sail, my children, age 2 and 5, played peekaboo with the whales with my youngest hollering, "whales, where are you whales?!" Answering back, we soon spotted a plume of mist, sprouted up from a nearby whale. The show got a round of oohs and ahhs from the 80 people on board and made us all thirsty for more action. We came up to another boat that was getting a real treat from two whales who seemed to be circling the boat, waving at the spectators and throwing up water through their spouts as if to offer relief from the Lahaina sun.

During our excursion the marine biologist with The Pacific Whale foundation taught us about all about the visiting whales. We learned how they travel from Alaska to Hawaii to mate and have their calves. We learned that the whales were about the size of a school bus and weighed in upwards of 90 THOUSAND pounds...my children were in awe of this. The idea that one of the largest mammals on earth was in eye's sight, it was mind blowing.

Our captain took us out farther towards the island of Lanai where we found a group of young male whales duking it out. Testing their strength and practicing the moves that would eventually attract a female to mate with. Evidently, it seems, size does matter with whales, as does strength, so the males practice their jarring and slapping of their tales all to gain the recognition and be the king whale with the ladies. The kids sat on the deck, holding on with their eyes peeled, so as to not miss a splash.  After about an hour, the salt air and rocking of the boat, along with the excitement, quickly left us with two sleepy kids who took a nap under deck, while the boat continued our search for more whale action.

Excitement, learning, and a nap, yes it was a very successful trip, one we will soon do again.  April is a wonderful time to catch a whale wathcing tour, when the whales are even more active off the coast of West Maui. From start to finish the customer service, crew and captain at The Pacific Whale Foundation were all top notch and it's easy to see how much they love our ocean life and sharing it with all that come for a visit. You can find deals if you purchase online and children 0-6 board for free.

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