The powerful winter waves that roll into Oahu’s Leeward Coast (west side) areas, such as Makaha Beach, are legendary in big-wave surfing circles. Also legendary are the season’s whale-watching opportunities in the Makaha area. Scientists estimate that 20,000 humpbacks reside in the North Pacific. Each year, some 12,000 of those whales swim from waters near Alaska to Hawaii’s warm waters to mate and nurse their young, between September and March. (The 2012-13 season started very early, with the first sighting of a whale reported in late August.) 





Check out these related HawaiiMagazine.com posts:
The humpbacks are back! Our guide for Hawaii whale watching season
Great Maui Whale Festival starts month of events this weekend
Maui’s humpback whales
Humpback whales honeymoon in Hawaii