hawaii boat tours

North Shore Whale Watching Cruise Highlights

Well, we sit about halfway through our whale season and it’s been nothing short of phenomenal! Highlights of our North Shore whale watching cruises so far have been a heater ( breading) session of Humpbacks surrounded by sharks that extended for an hour. It just so happened to take place when the boat was stopped observing some sharks in the water and the whales came up right next to us as they started, so the view was amazingly close! The second highlight, which is a very special story happened as our guests who were celebrating their 70th birthday got to witness a Humpback whale give birth to a fresh baby! The Mom was laying there on the surface motionless for about 15 minutes while we watched. Wondering what she was doing as we kept our attention towards her our question was answered as the baby calf, very white in complexion came up for its first breath of air! Once that happened mom and baby circled for another 15 minutes or so enjoying their first moments together on Earth as they slowly swam in a circle, breathing and taking it all in.

In addition to the two highlights, our Oahu whale watching tour groups have been seeing a ton of breaching whales every morning and throughout the day. Locating them has not been an issue. Usually, we see the whales pretty good all the way through the end of April before they head home to Alaska. Our aspiring whale specialist, Captain Hunter Farr is a wealth of knowledge and we’ve been really fortunate to have him on board! A new addition to our whale watch tours is the underwater microphone that’s been really, really fun! Putting it in the water with the engines off hearing the male whales sing. It adds so much to the experience! Weather-wise we’ve had an exceptional winter as well! The entire month of January has been nothing but stellar and continues into the month of February. Hopefully, this trend continues for the rest of the season, it’s been delightful. With the calmer weather, we’ve also been seeing a lot of dolphins mixed into our adventure tours which have been nice too. Galapagos and Sandbar sharks have been present as always as well. Life is good onboard Banzai Adventures! So please go online or give us a call to book your unforgettable adventure tour, whale watch tour, big wave adventure, or sunset tour with us soon!

Our Big Wave Tour

When a person hears about big waves, they think about the North Shore of the Oahu. Home of the seven-mile miracle. The world’s most famous seven-mile stretch of coastline, home to over thirty world-class waves that have graced the covers of magazines and made their way into movies for decades. Sunset Beach, Pipeline, and Waimea Bay are a few names that come to mind. Thousands fly here to the North Shore’s big waves every winter to test their skills against the massive swells that pound the north shore every winter season. Our winter season starts in November and extends through the end of April. Some of the waves break close to the shore, where viewing them from the beach can be awesome! But, most break further out where it makes it hard to spectate to really see what’s going on, much less feel the immense energy generated hundreds of miles away off in the Bering Sea that the Pacific Ocean delivers here. As these storms off Japan’s northern coast, east coast of Russia, and Bearing sea intensifies, the swells that are produced increase to the size of small mountains that pound the outer reefs of the North Shore. These outer reefs reached by extremely brave, highly-skilled, men and women by boat and jet ski, once only seen and experienced by photography and video for us mere mortals can now be experienced up and close on our super safe, twin-engine, RIB (rigid inflatable bottom) boat, Banzai!

Let Banzai Adventure’s experienced Captain and water person take you on a 1 hour plus big wave adventure to Oahu’s North Shore outer reefs for an unforgettable experience and feel the energy and see these jaw-dropping waves from the safety of Banzai. As you go up the swells that can reach 50 feet in height and down the backside of these sea monsters feeling that immense energy you will soon discover that these men and women that ride waves aren’t only brave and skilled but completely insane! What a sight to behold! The spray of the waves as they detonate on the reef, the sound, the feeling of your heart sinking as Banzai safely slides down the swells really has no words to explain! You have to go to know. Or for those in the surfing world, the saying goes,” only a surfer knows the feeling”! That feeling is what we want to share with you. It’s an experience that we can share with you, your friends, and your family. This private tour allows up to six people in your group and will be one of the highlights of your vacation. The North Shore big waves are dependent on winter storms so if you’re here during that time, don’t miss your opportunity! Our experienced private North Shore Tour Captain will take you to the best spots to see the biggest waves possible of the swell for the time you’re with us. You won’t have to guess and wonder from the shore what you’re seeing as you start to try to get a glimpse past the breaking waves through the walls of white water. We will take you right to them, from the channel, up close and tell you about the different names of these breaks, Swell direction, and sizes. You won’t have to deal with traffic or frustrating parking situation. We leave right from Oahu’s North Shore, Haleiwa Harbor where there is plenty of free parking. Our United States Coast Guard licensed Oahu boat tour Captain will go over all the safety features of our RIB, Banzai before departure. There’s a safe shaded seat for everyone on board. So come and enjoy this exhilarating experience today!

The Sharks of Oahu’s North Shore

Sharks, also known as mono in Hawaiian, are abundant here because they are protected by state and some international law. More importantly, Hawaiians believe sharks are their ‘aumakua, family, and ancestors that passed on to be sharks to protect and provide. Therefore It is severely frowned upon to harass, fish, or hunt them, which is great for us and even better for the sharks! Shark Tours on the North Shore of Oahu incidentally started off 15 years ago by a crab fisherman. When pulling their traps, Sharks would follow to get the throwbacks that weren’t wanted, like dogs waiting for handouts. A friend of one of the crabbers went along to help and thought this is really cool, I’ll bet people would really enjoy seeing these magnificent creatures in their natural environment on a shark cage tour.

Today there are a few companies doing this too from the safety of a cage that floats on the surface and a few other companies that take people free diving with these magnificent creatures. What we offer at about half the price is a really close-up view from the safety and dry comfort of our rigid inflatable bottom boat (RIB). Now that We have these mooring sites that the shark dive companies have established. As a result, our private north shore boat tours are able to quickly access these shark habitats so that we can guarantee you an unforgettable experience to have this interaction with these apex predators of the ocean. We love sharing this with you, friends, and family of all ages from our safe, dry and comfortable RIB, Banzai, a 24′ zodiac speed boat. From here you’re able to get some great views and pictures without impeding on their environment! Also, instead of going out on a boat for 3 hours with 20 other people, you can see the same sharks, in the same ocean on our 1 hour plus shark adventure tour!

North Shore shark viewing from inside the boat

The main species that we see are Galapagos sharks, Sandbar sharks, and Tiger sharks. Galapagos sharks being the most abundant in our area get up to about 9 feet and 400 pounds and often come right up to our boat with dorsal fin out of the water. They are very curious and amazing to see in their environment, especially with the contrast of the Pacific Ocean’s cobalt blue, clear, pristine waters. They hear the sound of our north shore tour boat as we get close to these 2 miles offshore sites and come right on up to us! When we do share space with them, often they are in packs of up to twelve. That’s right, at times we are surrounded by them! Sandbar sharks are a little more skittish at times and get up to about 6 feet and about 140 pounds. They are a little lighter in color and have really long pectoral fins that match the size of their dorsal fan. They also tend to move about quicker than the Galapagos sharks. Then there are the kings of Oahu’s north shore, the Tiger shark! When these bruisers are present they get all the space they deserve from the others and dominate their habitat. With their tiger’s striping and massive size of 12 feet plus in length weighing in at 1000 pounds plus, they are definitely a treat to see in nature! The popularity of seeing these sharks in various ways that suit you now drives thousands of people every month to Oahu’s North Shore. The experience of shark viewing on Oahu has really made it a hot spot destination all on its own. Don’t Miss out on this opportunity while you’re here to experience this on our one-hour-plus adventure tour that we guarantee you to see and experience sharks up close!

North Shore Whale Watching Tours

Humpback whale watching on Oahu is truly amazing and the experience of seeing them up close never gets old. Our season that Humpback whales migrate through the Hawaiian starts in December and goes through April. The Humpback whales spend the fall months coming down the west coast of the US mainland from Alaska into Mexico and cross over to Hawaii to give birth to calves and nurse their young here on the North Shore of Oahu until the time comes to complete the 6,000-mile round trip journey and head back to Alaska. While they’re here away from the predation of killer whales, great white sharks, and other irritants to give birth, they really seem to enjoy the Hawaiian, Pacific Ocean waters. Often seen slapping their giant pectoral fins, tails, poking their big heads out to get a closer look at us, and breaching clear out of the water is nothing short of breathtaking.

We have a ton of fun sharing this Oahu whale watching experience with you from the safety, shaded, dry and comfortable confines of our rigid inflatable bottom (RIB)boat. Banzai is such a perfect North shore tour boat to experience this from! Often times we can get into an area where we’re seeing a lot of whale activity and then shut the motor off and drift with them. This gives you the added experience of hearing them breathe and gives the whales a comfortable feeling of knowing we aren’t there to chase after them or harass them. We are there to see their beauty and grace. When doing this we have some mind-blowing experiences that will leave you absolutely 100% grateful that you decided to go on our guaranteed-to-see whale adventure on Banzai!

Humpback whales can reach up to 55 feet in length and weigh in at 30 tons! The calves are born in the 10-15 foot range and weigh in at 2,000 pounds. About 11,000 humpback whales migrate through the Hawaiian islands each year and the north shore of Oahu is by far the best place to view them as they really tend to concentrate close to the island in a predictable area that offers us the ability to guarantee that you’ll see them during the season on our adventure boat tour. All ages are welcome to join our private boat tour on this unforgettable experience. We can take up to 6 persons on this 1 hour plus North Shore whale watching experience!