Watching for Whales in Waikiki

Winter is the time of year when the humpback whales are in the waters around Hawaii. They leave the cold waters of Alaska in the fall and swim about 6000 miles in only about 6 to 8 weeks to mate, eat and have babies. I have to admit that whales have pretty good taste. Hawaii seems like a great place to mate, eat and have babies to me… ;o)

Since there were no whales to be seen the last time we were there, I was really hoping to see some this time round. The Osbornes had gone on a whale watching tour the week before we came and really enjoyed it. And they were able to get us discount tickets for a lunch buffet cruise. So we did it.

I took my Dramamine, grabbed some sunblock and we drove down to Pier 8 at the Aloha Tower Marketplace. We didn’t have to wait long before we got on board the Star of Honolulu.

We got a briefing on emergency procedures and met the captain and ship naturalist before leaving port. Then we were free to wander around ship before lunch was served…

Sand Island Beach (where we found sea glass)

  

Diamond Head

 

Waikiki

It didn’t take long for someone to spot some whales…

There were also a ton of parasails everywhere!

  We enjoyed a very good buffet lunch of Hawaiian Black Sea Salt Roast Beef, Teriyaki Chicken, Citrus Miso Glazed White Fish, Lomilomi Salmon, Tofu Poke, Hawaiian Salad with Kula Romaine, Croutons and Chef’s Special Dressing, Three-Bean Salad, Island-Style Macaroni Salad, Namasu, Fried Noodles, Sweet Potato, Steamed White Rice with Rainbow Furikake, Assorted Breads with Sweet Butter, Macadamia Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies, Homemade Chocolate Brownies, and Fresh Tropical Fruits. It was so hard to have self-control when you aren’t feeling seasick! 

After lunch Chris was the first one to spot a whale very near the ship. It followed right along side us for a long while, coming up for air quite frequently before we realized it was actually 2 or 3 whales! Eventually the captain backed off the engines and we let the whales swim on by us…

Soon some rather ominous looking clouds started to drift over the mountains into Waikiki…

  But the ship stayed in the sunshine and soon it was time for our cultural Hawaiian activities back inside. We chose to make flower leis for my head rather than the hula or ukulele lessons (we had already tried the ukulele and I don’t dance… LOL).

Chris and I went back out on deck to watch us going back into port…

campground at Sand Island Beach

the Aloha Tower

         

it even started to sprinkle a tiny bit

The captain did a great job getting us back up to the dock!