Kauai Whale Watching Season

As we get into February, the Humpback whales become very active on Kauai. The photo below is of a whale breaching near our raft.

No winds or at least light and variable condition today. With those winds brought VOG from the Big Island. So, the haze was used in a creative context in photographing the Na Pali today. We saw both spinner and bottlenose dolphins and where the spinners were the water clarity proved to be spectacular for viewing and photography. Whales were stand-offish today but we were still able to catch a few glimpes and photos. Probable getting close to the end of north swells, but today there was a good 6 ft. swell with glassy conditions bringing great waves to all the north facing beaches.

Another wild adventure on the Na Pali!
It was sunny day as we headed out of Kikiaola Harbor. We ran across a large pod of Spinner dolphins and were able to observe a lot of babies with moms. They were really showing off today.
The sun was creatinig some spectacular views of the beautiful cliffs and caves all over the Na ali. On our way back we came across a pod of whales. They swam all around us and even went right under the boat.

It was one of the best whale days of the season!
We had a three whales circle right next to our boat numerous times. They even swam under and surfaced right next to us. It was AWESOME!
The sun was out in full force and we’re enjoying the spring weather as it begins to turn to our favorite weather….. SUMMER!

Had a wet and wild day on Na Pali today. We were able to get all the way to Honopu Valley. This is where the Hawaiians trained for battle. The winds kicked up a bit and we headed off shore in search of whales. We spotted a young calf breaching outside of Makaha Ridge. We got close and he breached a couple more times for us times.

We ran into the ever-entertaining spinner dolphins. One of them came up right next to the boat and started jumping (show off!).

Wow, is summer here?

Beautiful day on the Na Pali. We got all the way to Kalalau Valley when we ran into a huge pod of spinner dolphins. There was at least 200+ in the pod. We headed off shore to look for a trio of whales that have been hanging out together. This whale pod is not shy and always swim over to say hi and do a little people watching.
We ran into them at Mana Crack about 1 mile offshore. They were moving swiftly towards a large female. We tracked them for about 20 minutes. And soon our time was up and we headed back to the harbor.

Scored a fantastic whale show as three males battled over a female. We followed them and got treated to numerous spy hops and males battling over the females. We had some INSANE breaches right in front of the boat.

On the way back we ran into a pod of Dolphins and they were leaping all around us!

We were able to get all the way to Hanakoa Valley. The winter swells continue to reduce in size and the winds are changing. I feel summer right around the corner!

Another outstanding day of whales. We witnessed a female thrashing her pectoral fins on the water as a huge……I mean HUGE, male breached out of the water as he tried to entice the female with his strength. Lots of mothers and newborn calves gave us a great show as they swam all around us.
We had an added bonus as we witnessed the longest waterfall on Na Pali,, from Mt. Waialeale. Dropping down 4,000 feet with full force as it makes it’s way into the ocean right in front of us.

The winds have died down and the surf has begun to soften allowing us to venture further north. We were able to get all the way to Kalalau Valley. A pod of 3 whales circled the boat several times. They swam right under the boat and stopped to check us out!! It was CRAZY!

A small male spy-hopped (stuck his head out of the water to look at us), right next to the boat. This was a rare encounter that we live for.

Overall a truly magical day as the whales surrounded us with their gentle grace and beauty.