He travels the world constantly in search of one-of-a-kind experiences, mind blowing food, and intriguing culture - and he describes his experience on Maui as “the most amazing in his 14 years of travel”.

CNN’s travel show, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown came out to Maui as part of their episode, “The Hawaiian Side of Paradise”, and managed to fit in many iconic Maui experiences on their visit, including whale watching, tasting kālua pig from an imu, and devouring loco moco. Though he’s traveled around the world as his job and experienced many things that the rest of us can only dream about, Anthony described his chance to snorkel with Humpback whales as “the single most amazing experience that has ever happened to [him]… what else is there to do?!”.

Trilogy Excursions was honored to be chosen as a part of Anthony Bourdain’s travels while on Maui, during whale season.

The show coordinated with scientists from University of Hawaii at Manoa, who hold a federal research permit from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that authorizes research activities within a closer proximity to endangered Humpback whales than is normally allowed. Trilogy always follows the law while operating around Humpback whales and other marine mammals- never approaching closer than 100 yards from a whale, and never navigating in such a manner as to separate a mother and calf, or to alter or change a whale’s behavior. This normally prohibits entering the water with whales nearby- Trilogy does not condone swimming with marine mammals without a permit and this will not be a part of your whale watch on a Trilogy Excursion. Dr. Joe Mobley from UH Manoa was onboard during the shoot, conducting fluke ID and behavioral analysis research. All underwater photos and video were shot under his research permit #14451.

Check out this clip from the episode- and if you’ve been lucky enough to visit Maui during winter whale season, you can probably relate to the experience that Anthony narrates- of “looking down into the deep waters and seeing something white moving, seeing it get bigger, and bigger and bigger, until it looks big as a house…[until you see] a giant momma and baby whale”. He said he’s “still not sure it happened, it was so awesome… it looked like CGI” cnn.com/2015/06/12/travel/hawaii-bourdain-parts-unknown/

We sure are lucky to live Hawai’i, and we hope that if you’ve visited our island paradise, you’ve also been awed by being in the presence of these magnificent, gentle giants of the sea.

For more humpback whale action to tide you over until next whale season, check out this video from Trilogy’s Captain Caleb. Planning your next visit to Maui? Humpback whales visit Maui Nui in the winter months, migrating all the way from their feeding grounds in Alaska for our warm, shallow, protected waters to mate and give birth in. Come experience a whale watch with Trilogy Excursions, running from Dec. 15 to April 15th.

Tell us about your epic whale encounters while in Hawai’i, we’d love to reminisce with you!