Maui - Day 2

Maui Day 2

Today we rented a car with Thrifty again and it was again pretty painless.  We drove to Lahiana to go whale watching, everyone says that this trip takes about 45 minutes but it didn’t seem to take nearly that long.  Parking is a bear here...we arrived about 9:30 if I remember correctly and the free lot was already full.  We did find close parking to the Banyan Park but had to pay $16 for 4-6 hours.

We chose the Pacific Whale Company because not only do they do great tours but also some of the money goes to the conservation of whales which is important to us.  We arrived quite early for the tour so we had some time to check out the Banyan Tree and they were having a art show under it - so wish that we would of had a way to get some of the photos back...just awesome photography.  We boarded the boat and no sooner did we get out of the harbor that we were seeing whales.  They were everywhere.  I understand that a couple breached but I wasn't at the front of the boat to see this happen.  We must of seen at least 40 whales...doing everything but the breaching part for the rest of the trip.  The guide actually at one point counted over 10 whales all swimming together.  We saw them fighting, fin slapping, diving and blowing.  It was amazing watching all the activity.  There were babies all around as well.  This made the entire trip at this point.  I had unfortunately forgotten to pack my larger lens so the whale photos aren’t as close as I would of wanted them to be.  We finished up the tour and headed down Front Street - we were going to eat at Bubba Gump's but ended up going to the Aloha Mixed Plate - very good food and with it sitting almost right on the beach it was a perfect setting.  We then headed back towards the ship and on the way back there was a big traffic back-up and realized as we got closer that there was a seal laying on the beach.  All in all it was a very successful day.