Hawaii, Day Five: Whales, Humans, and Stress

If you’re going to visit Hawaii, and/or Maui specifically, I say go during Humpback Whale mating season.

When my family visited California, grandma wanted the kiddos to see whales.

So, she spent a decent chunk of change to buy tickets on a whale watching expedition.

Or, cruise.

Or, 3-hour-tour.

(Like the Minnow!)

(The S.S. Minnow, specifically.)

Guess what?

We didn’t see squat.

It was a waste of time, and money.

In Hawaii?

Damn… whales were everywhere.

You’d be at the hotel pool, and suddenly everyone would rush to watch a pod swim by.

You’d drive down the coast, and see multiple pods.

And, we took a catamaran from Maui to Lani and saw more whales than you can shake a stick at.

(And Spinner Dolphins, which are simply amazing. It was like seeing a Cirque du Soleil show, only instead of many different acrobatics, the dolphins just jump out of the water and spin. Side note: the Captain of our boat asked, “What do you think of when you hear, ‘Spinner?’” I responded, “5-foot-2 gymnast.” My wife elbowed me. Hard.)

Now, having just the limited experience, I can say that over the course of seven days, watching whales frolic, slap their tails, and simply surface for air, never got old.

It was super cool, start to finish.

Maybe after a few years of living on the island you grow used to it, but we simple-minded tourists absolutely loved it.

Such cool creatures.

I can’t believe it was ever OK to hunt them for food/blubber-oil.

We humans really suck sometimes.

Photo by Island Dream Productions

@islanddreamproductions