I had a really good sleep last night and therefore by 7:15am, I was out on the lanai enjoying my breakfast. Usually I am sitting at my desk but this view is so much better.
We have an activity planned for today .. the first of our three whale watching tours. The reason why we have booked three of them is that we fully expect that at least one of them will be cancelled due to weather. More tours also means our odds of seeing whales is better. Whale season officially starts on December 15 but the first whale was spotted in early October.
We were out the door by 8:10am and headed to Ultimate Whale Watch for our 9:00am tour ($88 USD / person including taxes and fees). Because there is no harbour due to the devastating fires of last year, many of the boat operators have set up shop in an area close to the Mala Boat Ramp. It is a less than a five minute walk from Cannery Mall where you can leave your car. After checking-in and signing a waiver, we were given number six for boarding.
We waited for the rest of the passengers and just before 9:00am, we headed over to the boat ramp. Ultimate Whale Watch has a new boat for this year, the Wahine Kai. The boat has actual seats and more shade. What I love about Ultimate Whale Watch is that they are locally owned and operated. And because their boats are on the smaller side, they have the ability to quick change course depending on where the whales are. After everyone was onboard, we were introduced to Captain John and Naturalist Lexi.
It did not take long before we spotted our first whale of the trip. As we were watching him, Lexi dropped a hydrophone into the water so that we could listen to the whale singing. Only the males sing and they all sing the same song. What a treat that was.
Both Captain John and Lexi were seeing a lot of spouting near the island of Lanai, so we headed in that direction. When we got there, we came upon a competition pod. That is when a group of male whales compete for the attention of a female whale. In total, there were seven whales. This was the most exciting part of the trip.
We were late in getting back and as we were walking back to the car, we decided to go to Aloha Mixed Plate for lunch. This is one of our favourite restaurants. It closed in March 2020 and at that time they were not sure when they would reopen. In October 2020, the space was taken over by Star Noodle. But in March of this year, it was announced that Aloha Mixed Plate would be back in their original location. We were curious to see if it would be as we remembered it and lucky for us it was. I had the Teriyaki Beef Plate and it was just as delicious as it was in the past. Oh what a happy day. I am sure we will be back here again during this trip.
We decided to head over to Wailuku to the Maui Harbor Shops. Besides the Maui Ocean Center, one of our favourite stores is there as well. CocoNene is a company that sells locally made home decor and gifts, featuring talented local artists. A bit of time was spent here along with some money.
When we got back to the condo, it was time to head down to relax by the pool. I made a joke with Karen that since we were spending so much money on our accommodations, we should spend as much time as possible there to get our monies worth. We made sure to enjoy the sunset tonight from our beach.
For dinner tonight, we went to the Honoapiilani Food Truck Park which is across the street from the Times Supermarket. Because there are so many choices, you can satisfy whatever craving you are having. I decided to go with Tacos Al Pastor while Paula had fish and chips and Karen had teriyaki beef plate. It was then off to Whalers Village for some open air night time shopping. When we returned back to the condo, we finished up our evening watching the second to last episode of Yellowstone.
Be First to Comment