Whale season from the sixth floor

Every winter, several thousand humpback whales swim from Alaska to the shallow water between Maui, Lānaʻi, and Kahoʻolawe. They come to calve. The channel is warm, protected, and — for a whale — crowded.

Skysuite 619 faces that channel from the sixth floor. In season you don't need a boat or a tour. Make coffee, sit on the lanai, and wait. Mornings with flat water are best; look for the blow first, a white puff against the blue, then keep your eyes on that patch.

What you'll see

Breaches, tail slaps, pec slaps, and — with binoculars, which are in the closet by the TV — mothers pushing calves to the surface. Some days the activity is constant. Some days it's two blows an hour. That's whales.

If you do take a tour

Boats are required to keep 100 yards from whales, and the good operators treat that as a floor, not a ceiling. Trips out of Māʻalaea Harbor are ten minutes from the suite. Go early; the wind comes up after lunch.

The season peaks January through March. By late April the channel goes quiet again, and the water off the lanai goes back to being just — impossibly — blue.