WHALES AND MORE WHALES
Have been coming to Maui since 1989 and finally took a Whale watch cruise. Due to age of friends and desire to board boat off stable dock (vs. walking up boarding ladder of a beached boat with surf crashing in on you), we scheduled with Hawaii Ocean Project.
Boat was well equipped and feeling of safety was very positive with experienced captain and crew. Safety emphasized with pre-tour talk and careful navigation of waters off Maui & Lanai.
Open air and interior seating available on two decks of boat. Very limited obstructions to view of waters. Ability to move around boat while moving slowly, a plus. Captain and mate provided interesting facts and information about whales, the marine environment as well as the visible islands in the vicinity very helpful.
And then there were the whales. Because these people know the habitat, the animals and their activities, we quickly found several groups of whales. Detailed explanations allowed for a greater experience, rather than just scanning the horizon looking for these critters.
The tour was for two (2) hours and it never got boring nor did we wish for it to end sooner than it was scheduled. Plenty of different whale groupings spotted, and there was no feeling that they were just rushing you out to the channel and taking your good vs. bad luck to see whales. They just found them and kept the right distance to allow safe passage past our boat. And then they moved the boat and found another experience for us.