Travel Blog #162 – Visiting Maui’s Whale Sanctuary with the Scotch Mist

As we got down to the harbor to board the Scotch Mist I could tell that we were in for an amazing time. The weather was ideal, the day before a winter storm front had come through from the west. In its wake was a bit of low clouds that made for a some haze in the air. There was only a light breeze in the air, not really enough to create white caps on the ocean but just enough to fill the sails….. And even from just looking out of the car window on the way over I could see whales out on the horizon jumping and splashing around in the waters of the channel between the islands of Lanai and Maui.

As soon as we got out of the harbor we began to spot whales. First the whale spouts were only visible far off in the distance, then after only 10 of 15 minutes of sailing they began getting much closer. Soon enough the spouts were right next to our boat and the captain had to bring the boat to a stop because we were literally surrounded by whales.

We all stood in awe, watching the whales gracefully swim on the surface of the water, relaxing. It seemed almost like they were in Hawaii for a similar reason as most of the visitors who were on our boat……. To just simply relax and enjoy being in a comfortable place, far far away from the daily grind.

For the remainder of the trip we sailed through the channel, occasionally stopping to watch the whales when they got very close to the boat. The crew did a great job at entertaining everyone with colorful stories as well as educating everyone about various facts regarding the whales. They kept everyones drinks full throughout the trip. Once we got back to port we interviewed some of the other passengers. From what they said it was clearly apparent that everyone thoroughly enjoyed their time aboard the Scotch Mist.