To help celebrate the arrival of our Islands’ 40-ton visitors, the Pacific Whale Foundation will kick off its month-long Great Maui Whale Festival this Saturday (2/7).

The festival includes a fun run, an all-day celebration featuring a free concert with performances by Hawaii’s musicians and a parade along Maui’s South Kihei Road, just to name a few.

The festival also includes special two-hour VIP whale-watching tours, which will be led by Greg Kaufman, co-author of three books about humpback whales. Kaufman is also the president and founder of the Pacific Whale Foundation, a nonprofit Maui-based organization that has been protecting whales throughout the Pacific region since 1980.

Here is the schedule for the Great Maui Whale Festival:

Saturday, Feb. 7:
• Run for the Whales (Scenic coast from Wailea to Makena)

Saturday, Feb. 21:
• Maui’s Parade of Whales (S. Kihei Road)
• Maui’s Whale Day Celebration (Kalama Park)
• Keiki Eco-Fair (Kalama Park)
• The Wild & Wonderful Whale Regatta (Kalama Park)

Sunday, Feb. 22:
• Two-hour VIP Whale watch tour with Pacific Whale Foundation President Greg Kaufman (Maalaea Harbor)

Thursday, Feb. 26:
• “A Year with the Whales” Free Talk and Slideshow (Pacific Whale Foundation’s Discovery Center)

Saturday, Feb. 28:
• The Great Whale Count (Maui’s shorelines)

Sunday, March 1:
• Two-hour VIP Whale watch tour with Pacific Whale Foundation President Greg Kaufman (Lahaina Harbor)

Get here, and you’re likely to see a breaching humpback whale in Maui’s waters.

 


Check out these related HawaiiMagazine.com posts:
Humpback whales honeymoon in Hawaii
The humpbacks are back! Our guide for Hawaii whale watching season
Maui’s humpback whales