We have gone out with Aloha Kayaks every year for about five years. All of the guides are great, and we have always had a memorable experience. Sometimes we see a hundred spinner dolphins, sometimes turtles, and other times it’s all about the whales. However, Makena is becoming quite popular as a launching area, so the water can get crowded in high season. Also, the snorkeling wasn’t great during this trip due to low viz, so we decided to change things up by booking a private tour with Griff for our party of three, and it was definitely worth paying a little more.
First of all, we launched a little later, which meant that other groups were already well out to sea and returned to shore long before us. For about 90 minutes, we had the water almost to ourselves, so no bunching up around the whales. Second, since we were all experienced paddlers, we were able to cover a lot of distance to find some active whales. The private tour is also custom–as long as your own group can agree (!), you can make the trip be whatever you want it to be. We had the excellent luck to encounter a lone male who sang so loudly that we could easily hear his song from atop the kayaks. He would sing for about 15 minutes, surface three times, and then dive to sing some more. We decided to skip the snorkeling and hang out for an hour listening and watching this one male in silence. Griff was both knowledgeable and accommodating–he seemed as excited as we were about our soloist and totally OK with paddling when we wanted to move, answering questions, or hanging out quietly in one place if we found something amazing.
So if you’ve got a group or family with similar interests and comparable appetites for paddling/exercise, consider taking it to the next level on a private tour with Aloha.