Whale Watching

I saw an add in the paper and suggested to Roger that, for our anniversary, we should go on a whale watching cruise.

From November thru the end of April is Whale season in Hawaii. The whales migrate to our warm waters to mate and to have their babies. The water around the island is not to deep, comfortable temperature and no real predators.


The Star of Honolulu leaves from Aloha Tower Market Place. It is the harbor where all the cruise ships pull in.

In the boat briefing we were told that if they sight a whale they will let us know where it is based on the clock.. If there it a whale off the bow it's 12 o'clock, starboard 3, stern 6 and aft 9. So if they see a whale on the front starboard side it might be 1 or 2 O'clock and so on. 

boat diagram from this website.

 We head out and make our way past downtown Honolulu and Waikiki.

Honolulu and Waikiki

Diamond Head with Diamond Head Light House to the right from the Hawaii Kai side.

  We hung around Diamond Head and waited. We saw the first whale before the bridge did, they didn't even announce the one we saw.

There is a law that protects the whales and prohibits boats/ships from getting closer than 100 yards. If that was the case the engine would be put in idle and we would just float and watch. Should the whales get closer to us, while we were there floating, that would be ok.

When you are out on the ocean on a sunny day you will see little to nothing on the screen of your digital camera. So my tip for you - if you should ever be in this or in a similar situation, set your focus to infinity (∞) and set your shooting mode to continuous and hold that shutter release button down! You are bound to get a picture of something!

Nanatorium

Diamond Head  from the Ewa side

 All to soon it was over and we headed back to the harbor.

After a quick lunch at Gorden Biersch, where Roger enjoyed their home brewed Root Beer - Since I was a bit sluggish because of the motion sickness pills, Roger was our designated driver.

As we headed back home over the Pali we were once again caught in the rain and the entire mountainside was covered in waterfalls...

Today was a wonderful day, something I will always remember and I know it is also something I'm going to miss....

Aloha a Hui Hou!