Humpback whales go to Maui for breeding and give birth to their calves because of the calm, warm shallow water between Maui and nearby smaller islands, Lanai (15 km, nearest land distance)), Molokai(10 km), and Kaho'olawae (12 km).
Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Kaho'olawae islands
What was unique about this whale watching trip we had, compared with our previous whale watching trips, was that we saw whale breaching water 5 times! 4 times really close and 1 time a bit far away.
We booked the trip with a small provider at Lahaina Harbor, whose boat was actually a speed rafter, a small boat compared to other whale watching boats. This along with a pretty aggressive captain, made it possible for us to see whales up close and personal.
Lahaina Harbor
A speed rafter
Shortly after we left the harbor, we saw a mother whale with her calf swimming, in and out of the water, and a whale breaching water far away south from the boat, east to Lanai island. Our boat, however, moved closer to the northern shore of Lanai per Capitan's intuition, and we saw whales swimming around multiple times, and blew air. The most exciting part of the whale watching was when they breached water unexpectedly, and really close to the boat for 4 times! But I did not catch any of them on my camera. Justin and Nicholas each captured the breaching once, and served as proof of my claim!
Watching whales breaching water in documentary can never match the first hand experience.
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