Maui Whale Watching
Trilogy donates a portion of its proceeds directly to the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.
Compare Tours | Whale Watching Season | Humpback Migration | Captain's Log | Guest's Story
Riley Coon reports, "First Humpback whale of the season" — 11/05/2010
Voted #1 four years in a row (2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010) in the Maui News Readers Poll.
"Trilogy is the BEST! They really deserve six stars." 
"It was a whale smackdown right before our eyes."
— Lynn read guest's encounter
"Trilogy Whale Watching is Fantastic! One of the highlights of our trip." — Kyleinno, LA TripAdvisor review
- Trilogy Excursions rated "excellent" by 258 travelers
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Whale Watching Specific Tours
Trilogy limits the number of guests to 35-40 so everyone has a front row seat to their whale watching experience. On-board Naturalists are educational and entertaining while our wide, stable catamarans offer a safe viewing platform. Conveniently leaving from 3 locations in Maui, including Lahaina Harbor. All Trilogy tours can encounter Humpback Whales in season.
Captain Coon says, "guaranteed Humpback Whale sighting or next whale watch tour is free!"
"I saw the Pacific Whale Foundation boat (more like a ferry), and they were jammed packed..." — P F., San Fran, CA 
Lahaina Whale Watch
New! Due to popular demand, Trilogy is now offering a whale watching tour leaving directly from Lahaina Town. And Like all our other Maui whale tours, Trilogy limits its number of guests so everyone has a front row seat. On-board Naturalists are educational and entertaining.
~ 2 hours | Adults: $ Teens: $ Children: $
"Trilogy wow'd us! The knowledge learned...the views, the whales...that appeared right in front of the boat..." — Chad & Amy
Kaanapali Whale Watch
Wide, comfortable, catamarans offer a stable viewing platform that makes this ocean experience safe for the whole family. Trilogy limits its number of guests so everyone has a front row seat. On-board Naturalists provide education on Humpback whales.
~ 2 hours | Adults: $ Teens: $ Children: $
"One of the best things we have done on any island vacation...Thanks for the great time!!!" — Suszett, KS Customer Comments
Maalaea Whale Watch
Leaving conveniently from Maalaea Harbor, this trip offers the most direct route to some of the best whale watching in the world. Trilogy's on-board Naturalists make this tour educational and entertaining.
~ 2 hours | Adults: $ Teens: $ Children: $
A Sanctuary Dedicated to the Endangered Humpback Whale and its Habitat
The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary (NOAA) is dedicated to protecting the Endangered Humpback Whale and its Habitat. Trilogy is an official sponsor of the Whale Sanctuary and has been involved in supporting and promoting the goals of the Sanctuary since its inception. Captain Jim Coon (co-founder and CEO of Trilogy) was the first Chairman of the Sanctuary Advisory Council (SAC) and served as such for almost a decade (Jim is still actively involved helping to determine the management plan and direction of the SAC).
Visit NOAA's Official Whale Sanctuary Website
Maui Whale Watching Season
Q: When is whale watching season?
A: Humpback whales begin arriving in December and leave in April
Q: What are the best months for whale watching in Maui?
A: Best time to sea Humpback whales (in order): February, March, then January.
Q: When is the absolute peak time?
A: The whale census takes place the last week of February which is absolute peak time.
Hawaiian Humback Whale Migration
Humpback whales make mammoth journeys every year between their feeding and breeding sites. In the Winter they travel to Hawaii (arriving in December and leaving in April), a distance of nearly 3,500 miles from their feeding grounds in Alaska, to mate and give birth. This migration takes the humpback approximately 4 to 8 weeks to complete. The majority of the humpbacks that travel to Hawai'i end up in the waters off Maui. The juveniles usually arrive first, followed by the adult males, adult females, then the pregnant females.
Spy Hop
Tail Slap
Breach
Once they have arrived they can often be seen right off the coastline of Maui or from boats like the Trilogy. Humpbacks put on spectacular shows of breaching, tail slapping, spy hopping and fin slapping. The males are known for their singing as part of their mating ritual.
As Summer approaches they leave our beautiful, warm waters. They make the long journey back to Alaska where they will find plenty of small schooling fish and krill (a small shrimp like crustacean) to eat and fatten up their blubber. An adult humpback can eat over 2000 pounds of krill in a single day.
Humpbacks are an Endangered Species due to how easily hunted they were. The estimated worldwide population is only 12,000.
Captain Randy Coon's Log...
When we first started our business back in 1973 there were an estimated 600 Humpback Whales that migrated to Maui each winter - arriving sometime in November and leaving sometime in March. In the late 1970's an international ban on hunting the Humpback in the North Pacific was adopted by most nations. Now, almost 35 years later, the population of migrating Humpback Whales is estimated to be between 12 & 15,000!!
So, just by sheer volume we are seeing whales here earlier and whales that stay later in the spring. It is not uncommon to see the first whales arrive in October and we have seen Mother and Calves here as late as June. And instead of 2 or 3 sightings per day we now see dozens every day during the months of December through March.
Guest's Story: Mammal Encounters
On the first day of my 50th Birthday Aloha Extravaganza, we took a catamaran sailing trip on Trilogy Excursions from the island of Maui over to the island of Lana’i. On the way over and back we hit the marine motherlode.
We were up at 5:20 a.m. and departed the Lahaina harbor an hour later, while the thumbnail of a moon was still hanging in the sky. With the arrival of the sun came the first of our treats – flying fish – looking like shooting sparklers over the crest of the waves. They were the warm-up for the dolphin pod that followed. Spinner dolphins and their chunkier cousins, bottlenose dolphins, raced in front of and alongside the boat for quite some time.
After we docked in Lana’i, we hopped onto a zippy Zodiac raft and again found ourselves amidst another (the same?) large pod of these graceful creatures. They were clicking and squeaking their greetings as they came alongside. Marty leaned way over the side and stroked the back of one of these playful escorts.
There were some babies in the mix, nestled in and arcing and diving in tandem with mama. Just as we headed back to the harbor, one of the youngsters decided to strut his stuff, repeatedly shooting up and twirling, twirling, twirling before baby splashdown. I expect he was saying, “ Mom! Look at me!! Look ma! Look! Ma! Look!!”
After a few hours of snorkeling, beach time and lunch (thank-you, Capt. Patty!), we headed back to Maui. It was then we encountered three leviathans of the deep: one female and two male humpback whales. From a short distance away, we could see the female had a coy lead. The two males followed in mating-hot pursuit, each trying to convince her that he could provide the superior gene pool. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the three turned their straight line chase to a ring-around-the-rosy – the “rosy” being our boat! The two males slapped and flapped fins and tails and repeatedly blew spray in the effort. As the sun illuminated one particularly geyser-like blow, one of the crew exclaimed, “Hey, that was rainbow-makin’ whale snot!” One barnacled male arched out of the water and rolled over on his rival. It was a whale smackdown right before our eyes. Those two bad boys only needed some of those sumo wrestler underoos to complete the scene. Then the three rounded the boat and headed off again, spouts a blowin’.
Welcome to Hawaii.
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