A Memorable Sunset Cruise

In late April my hubby and I made a trip to the Hawaiian island of Maui.  Besides visiting Haleakala National Park, (if you missed that post you can find it here) another memorable activity was taking a sunset cruise on our last evening in paradise.

All aboard!

My skiing buddy Glen, who visits Maui all the time, had recommended a charter company named Trilogy.  So I booked a sunset cruise for hubby and I.  Our chosen evening arrived with lovely blue-sky weather.  At the dock, I was excited to see we'd be riding in a sleek catamaran named Trilogy I.  

Trilogy I - our evening's ride

Lucky for us, tonight's cruise was only about a third full.  So everyone who'd signed up had plenty of room to spread out around the boat.

Great view of West Maui

We started out from Ma'alaea Harbor and soon were enjoying nice views of West Maui Mountain, with a string of wind turbines dotting its slopes.  The boat unfurled its sails and began to glide across the water.  Our crew introduced themselves and then began serving tropical drinks.  Hubby and I each had a delicious mai tai.  Life doesn't get any better!

Colorful ship flags

The boat had a photographer on board and she came around asking if we'd like to have our pictures taken.  When the woman saw my camera she exclaimed it was the exact same model she wanted to purchase.  The photographer then asked if she could borrow my camera to take some photos of the passengers, promising that in exchange she'd give me free images.

Time for some adult beverages!

It was kind of an odd request, but I always like to help out fellow photographers, so I said yes.  The woman then put her flash unit on my camera and lined hubby and I up along the ship's rail for a mini photo session.  She then went around to the other passengers, snapping many of the same poses.  

Sun rays filter through the clouds

After the photographer was done, she quickly downloaded all the images off my memory card, and said she was going to edit our photographs so we would have professional looking final images.  Then I got my camera back.  Which was good, because not only was the sun beginning to drop....

Whale sighting!

Our captain spotted whales!  A humpback whale breached the water a short distance away.  

Mother and calf spout

The boat motored quickly over the where the whale had been spotted.  Careful not to get too close, everyone gaped in wonder as a mother humpback whale and her calf came swimming by, spouting water out of their blowholes.

Peeping his nose out of the water

Lucky for us, the show was only beginning.  We discovered besides the mother and calf, a third humpback whale was also traveling with this duo.  One of the whales decided to do a very close swim-by of the boat, lifting one of their fins out of the water as if saying "hello."

Humpback whales spend the winter months around the Hawaiian islands, mating and raising their young, but not eating.  Around April, they begin their long migration to Alaska, where the humpbacks feast on the plentiful herring and other fish found in Glacier Bay National Park (which I had the good fortune to visit in August of 2022.....see that post here.)  Our captain said that by late April, most of the humpbacks have already left Hawaii, so we were very lucky to spot these stragglers.

Just swimming by to say "hi"

As the setting sun began coloring the sky, all three whales continued swimming near our boat.  But I'd completely forgotten about the sunset.  How often do you get to see whales at such close range? 

The whale showing off it's hump

Not expecting to see sea life so close, I hadn't bothered bringing my zoom lens, and had to make do with my 24-105 mm landscape lens.  But the whales were close enough that I was able to get some nice photographs anyway.

One last goodbye pass

After a good 20 minutes of whale activity, our large blubbered friends decided to swim off into the sunset.....which was good since, the sun was fast dropping towards the horizon.

Time for the sunset show

Time for what I'd came for - the sunset!  But about that time, the photographer woman came by asking if she could borrow my camera again.  I was a bit miffed as I wanted to capture the setting sun.  But she quickly snapped a few images of hubby and me with the orange sky as a backdrop, so all was forgiven.

The sun is sinking lower....

This photo below was the best of the images the boat photographer got of hubby and I.  However, I didn't like any of her post-processing (too overexposed for my taste), so I edited this image myself.

Sunset pic to prove we were there

Then I was left in peace to watch the sky begin to turn shades of orange. Wispy clouds added a bit of drama to the scene.

A beautiful moment

Soon after the sun left the horizon, the sky over West Maui Mountain erupted in lovely shades of pink.  What a great end to such a wonderful cruise!

Vibrant sky colors behind West Maui 

I would highly recommend the Trilogy sunset cruise.  The staff were great, the drinks tasty, and we got a bonus whale sighting!  A great way to end our Maui vacation.