Humpback Whale Watch in Hawaii: Majestic Marine Life Adventure with Hilo Ocean Adventures

Humpback whales migrate from Alaska to Hawaii for a short period during the winter, offering a perfect opportunity to witness these magnificent creatures. Hilo Ocean Adventures is the sole provider of this tour on the island’s east side. Enjoy a ride on our new 35’ Wellcraft Scarab, which offers ample space for everyone to enjoy the view.

Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Hilo Bay - Join the adventure to witness Hawaii’s gentle giants and winter guests, the Humpback Whales! After an uninterrupted 6-8 week journey covering 6,000 miles from Alaska, about 12,000 North Pacific Humpbacks reach the Hawaiian Islands each year around mid-December for a season of mating, birthing, and caring for their newborn calves. This…
What's Included
  • Snacks
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Hotel Pickup & Dropoff
  • Transportation from the check-in location to the boat harbor
Additional Information
  • This tour is suitable for ages 8 and up. Minors under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
  • While we do see an abundance of marine life quite often, they are wild animals and we can not guarantee they will be spotted on every tour .
Location
Hilo Ocean Adventures
Kamehameha Avenue
8:30 AM Tour: Check in at Slip #4 at the Wailoa Boat Harbor (181 Manono Street Hilo, HI 96720) 15 minutes prior to the start of your tour. 10:30 AM & 12:30 PM Tour: Check in at the Hilo Ocean Adventures storefront (1717 Kamehameha Ave. Hilo, HI 96720) 1 hour prior to the start of your tour.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.5
(13 Ratings)
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R3917chdennisl
Mar 24, 2026
Whales and Waterfalls - My wife and I took the whale watching tour. We saw a bunch of whales and got some great pictures. Then they took us to see some amazing waterfalls and told us about the beautiful beach areas. The old sugar plantation, fallen arch, surf areas and the water break. Very entertaining guild and boat captain.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Billkq8206jk
Mar 21, 2026
Glorious whale sightings - The captain and crew were obviously very experienced at finding and following the humpbacks. Also, whitecaps appeared suddenly, and I was impressed with the way he followed the whales and yet sliced through the waves at an optimum angle to minimize rocking.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
43beckya
Feb 26, 2026
Best whale adventure ever! - This was the best whale adventure ever! Morgan and Kaliko were terrific! We saw a mother and baby humpback, and the baby breached at least 5 times and then did 10 tales slaps and waved hello! Worth every penny!! I would highly recommend! Go Seahawks!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
M6281porobins
Feb 5, 2026
Humpback Whales galore ! - We went on the whale watching early tour. The whales put on quite a show for us. Our guides, Kevin and Morgen were very knowledgeable and accommodating. With this being a small group of 5 makes it well worth the money.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
772tracye
Mar 9, 2025
What an amazing experience! - Devin was amazing in trying to get us to see some whales! He was very knowledgeable, knew where to go to see them, and how to maneuver around them. We could see spouts but they were so far away that he extended our ride looking for them, and luckily we saw a baby humpback and the momma! It was an amazing experience! One that we will never forget and I highly recommend Devin and his crew!
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O2829qpjoycep
Feb 24, 2025
Lovely - Very nice experience. The captain and his one man crew couldn’t have been kinder or more informative . We saw a whale tail. They just were not out and about that day. However, the captain took the boat to another area and we saw at least 20 dolphins all swimming around the boat. Fun!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Piperbslinger
Feb 3, 2025
Awesome Whale Watching - We had a fabulous outing with Trevor and Chris. They did a great job of making sure that we saw a bunch of whales, and were able to get in the water to hear them. We highly recommend this adventure.
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Ellenkw4464zy
Feb 7, 2026
Worthwhile and fit right into the lane titled ‘relaxing’ - Competent and enthusiastic crew. Perfect weather and tour which expanded to view waterfalls did not short it the time. Whales were somewhat cooperative and we saw plenty of spouting and several descending tails. Pleasant way to start the day.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
R5427qvrobertl
Jan 24, 2026
Nice boat ride - It turned out to be a nice boat ride. The crew was good and worked hard looking for whales, but none were found.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jimtt8828ka
Mar 29, 2026
Whale Tour Unsafe. Should never have left the dock. - Based on my experience, I urge you to consider to not to do business with this company. They appear to value revenue over the safety and comfort of their customers. Due to hazardous weather conditions, the tour we were on should never have left the harbor. Not only were the ocean wave conditions reported by the coast card to be clearly dangerous, the driving hard rain made the conditions completely unacceptable not only for safety reasons but for customer comfort. Despite my several attempts to point this out to the staff answering the phone one day prior to the tour as well as the captain of the boat prior to departure, they blocked my attempts to reschedule or refund the trip in spite of coast guard and national weather service small craft warnings, beach closures and other tour operators canceling their tours under the same conditions. After waves broke over the bow of this small craft, the captain aborted the tour and turned around. After an unusually leisurely return to the dock, I called and asked for a refund. Later we were told based on our return time, we had received the full tour and a refund would not be issued. After escalating our concern, a senior member of the company emailed us and said we would be issued a full refund. Over five weeks later they have still not issued us a refund. We had to file a dispute with our credit card company.
Review provided by Tripadvisor