In Lahaina, Maui, the ocean is more aproud than a body of water. Just picture this: boats bob quietly in the sea, while the salty wind rushes around your head and suddenly—an enormous monster emerges from beneath the waves. This is Lahaina’s whale-watching season. The stars are the great humpback whales which provide such a spectacular show! I went on a boat to the place with high hopes of catching a glimpse of these magnificent animals. Just as we put out to sea, our guide Ben told us in brief how a humpback makes a couple of journeys from Alaska. Lahaina, it seems, is where they can bear chittering waterborne babes and find a mate. “Three thousand miles” for such an escapade, Ben laughed. That’s real devotion! It’s like some great international whale conference out there, damn everybody who wants to show up for it.
The best time to see the leviathans is from December through April. This is when they are at their most boisterous. The water to the west is full of these huge big clumsy mammals, breaching and fluking like they had their own Olympics. Just how remarkably short of dexterous their tails are as they glide all round you can hardly resist touching them–if a little absurdly not.
The boat paused some time. Suddenly came a whale out of nowhere. Everybody on board gasped and cried. It was spellbinding, the sort of moment that makes Nature push the `Wow’ button. If you’ve ever been in a whole boatfulof people shouting in chorus, it keeps with you.
On deck, speakers offered whale songs as well. The rows of haunting notes reverberated throughout the hull. Ben told us that these sounds were mix of lullaby and gossip. It’s like some mystic ocean going on. To actually hear the sound while imagining small whales who’ve just about learned to sing? Can’t help from giving you the warm fuzzies.
A quiet word to visitors: trips in the morning usually have fewer people with seas which are less rough. However, don’t think you can get away without putting on suncream—the sun in Maui truly knows no half measures. Bring along plenty of bite-sized snacks as well as your entire electronic records: as much your own mementos of the trip are part memory lane memento from the experience should help ensure that later chiming hours
Lahaina, Maui: The biggest reason whales visit their warm-water haunts. When they head south every year and finally leave the cold up north, why not include Lahaina in your travel plans? Nature is waiting and she puts on quite a show!