Hawaii Whale Watching with Four Seasons Resorts Lanai

Each year Maui County waters are visited by somewhere between 10 to 15,000 humpback whales from December through March, with the largest density between Maui and Lanai. Humpback whales are the fifth largest of their group – they are huge gentle giants and one of the most surface-active creatures in the ocean, a benefit for those going whale watching!

Four Seasons Resort Lanai offers seasonal whale watch tours through Lanai Ocean Experiences, exploring remote and unspoiled sites. The island’s waters are also home to one of Hawaii's largest schools of spinner dolphins - guests can spot these fascinating mammals during a sailing adventure from a luxury catamaran.

Kristin Belew, a captain and naturalist, has been conducting whale watching tours for more than 15 years. Outlining a typical outing she shares, “Generally, we first spot the whales by their exhalations, or blows, then we are always hoping for an active group, a mom and calf, or a close encounter. In Hawaii, regulations stipulate that boats are not allowed to approach the animals within 100 yards, but they can come to us.”

Guests will also have the chance to observe various communication behaviours exhibited by the whales, including breaching, where the whale propels its body out of the water, pectoral fin slapping or tail slapping. Vocalizing is another method, where the mammals talk to each other. Every outing during whale season, the captain will drop a hydrophone in the water and visitors can “eavesdrop” on the conversations. While not always loud, the “songs” are definitely audible.

The animals exhibit all types of personality traits. Belew says, “The whales are often as curious about us as we are of them, and so they occasionally approach our boats to check us out. We love to share our knowledge about these amazing creatures, anything from whale sizes to migration patterns and some theories on their behaviours. We also provide information on mating and birthing, a key reason why they're coming to Hawaii. As we watch the whales, we are always trying to interpret what they might be doing.”

The males will often form a competition group, where they jockey for a place closest to a female, and become a bit more aggressive with tail throws, kind of the forceful exhalations, slapping their heads down on the water. The crew will also touch upon threats the mammals face, from vessel strikes and entanglements to vagaries of climate change such as declining food availability and stainable ocean temperatures.

New in 2025 is integration with happywhale, a citizen science website that is the largest photographic dataset assembled for any cetacean species. The Ocean Experiences team uploads photos taken during whale watches, AI tools help scan and match unique colour patterns of whales and finally a scientist individually reviews and confirms every match. The patterns, similar to fingerprints on humans, are what researchers use to identify individual whales. When identified and matched, viewers can then potentially see their travel routes – typically from Alaska and then around the Hawaiian Islands.