One gloomy January day, as Portland's famous rain beat against my window, a very dangerous and expensive link landed in my e-mail inbox from a fellow whale nut and sunshine lover, Julie Mills. It was a live audio feed of the humpback whales singing their heart out off of the Kohala Coast of the Big Island in Hawaii. They were going bonkers out there, whooeeeee clack clack burble blurble wheeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

A visit to the humpbacks during their mating season in Hawaii is one of the 10 great whale watches to experience before you die. But it’s expensive to fly to Hawaii in the wintertime and not cheap once you’re there, either. Unfortunately, whales tend to have epicurean tastes when it comes to their preferred mating spots. I’d never been to Hawaii for humpback season and that audio feed sent me over the edge. I bought my very expensive plane ticket an hour later and hoped I’d hustle up enough work to pay for it when I returned.

A few weeks later, my plane touched down in the land of the tall palm trees. I picked up my rental car and drove north, to the Kohala Coast, the sunniest spot on the island, and also where the hydrophone was located. I checked in to my hotel, walked down to the water, put on fins, swam past the surf and dove down.

I heard the soft shush of the waves and the crackling of millions of tiny shrimp, and over that, there it was - WHEEEEOOOOOAAAAA whooooooooop whooooop clack clack bllllurrrrpp blllrrrrrrrpppp.... Humpbacks!

Once I was good and pruney, I returned to my hotel for a sunset on the balcony with a mai tai in hand. For every sip I took a humpback blew. By the time I finished my first drink I had seen at least three different whales breach and crash into the sea.

I woke up early the next day (an easy thing to do in Hawaii due to the time difference) and made it to the beach I was assigned to at 8:00 AM to participate in NOAA’s annual volunteer whale count. February and March are the peak whale times in Hawaii, but even on that January morning, we counted a couple of breaches and dozens of blows a minute. It is great fun to participate in whale counts with other whale lovers, as there are local experts on hand who will give you the inside scoop on the island. You’ll learn a lot, make a difference and probably walk away with a cool new t-shirt, a handful of stickers, and directions to a restaurant or beach that is not in the guidebook.

I met the owners of Kohala Diving Company during my morning whale count and went diving with them the next day. We dove around beautiful coral formations and lava tubes, but my eyes were distracted because once again, that haunting sound of the whales singing held me captive. I looked over at my dive master, who made the scuba hand signs for 'listen', 'whale', and then gave me the Hawaiian shaka sign, instead of the usual ‘a-okay.’

I didn't go whale watching on a boat on this trip. But if I had, this would have been my strategy...

The whole trip set me back a few thousand bucks, but I made it back and now know what it feels like to have whale song thrumming through my body. I wish everyone could have themselves a whale filled weekend on the Big Island in Hawaii. Thanks for the link, Julie.

Aloha!

Places to Stay on the Kohala Coast:
Cheap and Cheerful:
Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area
Rent an A-frame on one of the nicest beaches on the island for only $20/night. Bring your own sheets.

Splurge:
The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel
Be fancy and stay at the newly renovated Mauna Kea, which features art and artifacts from Rockefeller's collection. Rooms start at $450/night. This is the kind of place where you have to pay to get lei'd.  If you can't afford this, at least go for a walk on the grounds, have an overpriced fruity cocktail, and pretend you live there for a while.

Places to Eat on the Kohala Coast:
Splurge:
Merriman's
Waimea (808) 885.6822
Merriman’s was memorable and worth every penny. The menu was super fresh and local and every bite was scrumtious. There were pictures of the farmers who grew your food on the walls. Also, I suspect the server was part Menehune, a definite value add.

Affordable:
Cafe Pesto
Kawaihae Shopping Center, Kawaihae, Hawaii 96743 - (808) 882-1071
I kept going back. What can I say? I just dug the place. Good burgers, pizza and so on. It was perfect after a day of diving. And it was reasonable priced for Hawaii.

Go Snorkeling or Scuba Diving on the Kohala Coast:
Kohala Divers Ltd.
Kawaihae Shopping Center, 61-3665 Akoni Pule Hwy., Kawaihae, HI 96743
Phone: (808) 882-7774
Email: godiving@kohaladivers.com
Kohala Divers is a nice, tight operation run by good people.