Hawaiian waters are full of whales all year long. The humpback whales only migrate here from December through May but pilot whales, sperm whales, false killer whales, pygmy killer whales, beaked whales, and melon headed whales are always around. You can oftentimes see whales right from shore anywhere in the islands. They normally are at least 500 feet off-shore but you can still see them well enough to be amazed (bring binoculars to really see them well). Last winter my husband and I used to walk down to the end of our road and watch a mother and her baby swim south down the coast in the mornings and back up the coast in the evenings every day. They would breach and jump and roll over each other, playing the entire time. We also frequently saw whales on our fishing trips from shore - one time we were at a secluded bay in Kau and two whales scared us half to death by coming all the way in the bay and then breaching. My husband was fishing on a point and only standing about 40 feet away from where they came up.

To see the whales from shore, whenever you are near the water, keep an eye out for spouts of water - the whales come to just below the surface and blow out of the blowhole on the top of their head, spraying water up into the air. This is normally easily spotted from shore and if you watch that spot you should see tails or fins or maybe some breaching if you are lucky.

There are also whale-watching tours on every island where boats go out and look for the whales. A good snorkel or fishing tour will keep an eye out for whales and go out of their way for good viewing if one is spotted. I have seen whales twice on the Fair Winds snorkel tour and once on the Why Knot sport fishing boat at Honokohau Harbor in Kona (no web site, sorry). If you'd like to take a whale-watching boat tour I reccomend Capt Dan McSweeneys Tours on the Big Island. - the web page is well worth visiting for the pictures.