This is a view of the Maalaea Bay where we will board our whale watching boat. The Bay is just a few minutes drive from the condo and is certainly in walking distance as well. All sorts of excursions can be booked on boats from this bay so the condo is nicely situated for all kinds of activities.
We selected the Pacific Whale Foundation for our whale watching adventure. We assumed that they would be well informed on whales and would provide loads of information on the trip. The boat captain had 20 years of experience and it showed as he maneuvered the boat for good viewing without endangering the whales. The commentary by our young guide was a little on the thin side informationally speaking.
Seating on the boat was good and it wasn't over crowded.
On our way to the whales, we passed a wind generator farm. Our guide said that 10% of Maui's electricity came from wind power. This is great and I suspect it is true given how windy Maui is most of the time. This may be one of the few, if not the only place in the U.S. that makes good sense for wind power. Sigrid and I have driven past more wind farms then I can count as we travel around the country and few of them are generating. I managed the output from a wind farm while I was working and I can tell you that the wind rarely blows when you really need it for electricity. Virtually all of the existing wind farms are economically feasible only because of government subsidies. I know. I helped build one. Enough on wind.
The whales are everywhere. We were surrounded by them. The only way not to see a whale is to close your eyes. My only disappointment was not being able to catch one in a photo while jumping out of the water (breaching). I saw them do it, but wasn't ready with the camera.
The blow from a whale (exhaling) comes out at 300 mph and makes a loud hissing noise was well as throwing mist up as much as 15-20 feet in the air.
The condos on Maalaea Bay
You can work up a good appetite watching whales so a late lunch came next. I have always wanted to eat at Mama's but never got around to it on previous trips.
The grounds were beautiful around the restaurant.
The surf was really up and raging when we were there.
Mama's is casual, but fine dining. The food was first rate and we had a wonderful time sampling each others dishes. Don't go if you are looking for cheap food. It isn't hard to spend over $60 per person at Mama's.
As I mentioned before, Maui's low lying central area is mostly sugar cane fields.
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