As you saw, last week was my birthday, which meant it was time to renew our membership with the Pacific Whale Foundation. No, it’s not tied to your birthday just like renewing your drivers license (which I’m not looking forward to next year, by the way). Our first membership with PWF was given to us as a gift for my birthday many years ago, and we’ve been happily renewing it ever since.
A Great Cause
You’ve likely seen me reference the Pacific Whale Foundation in numerous places here on the site and most often in past blog posts. They are a organization doing wonderful things not only for the whales, but all ocean wildlife and for helping local groups on the islands as well. The three pillars of their mission are research, education, and conservation.
Their research spans waters and causes all throughout the Pacific Ocean, from up north to Alaska and Japan all the way down to Australia. Their education programs have reached thousands of schoolchildren in Hawaii as well as educating countless visitors (like us) through their tours, exhibits, and events. And their conservation efforts have been addressing threats to Hawaii’s, and the world’s, ecosystem way before “going green” was front page news.
Great Benefits
Perhaps the two most mentioned benefits of being a PWF member are the 20% discounts on their eco-tours (including whale watches) and priority boarding for those tours. That alone has saved us more than the cost of our annual family membership ($55/year), but there are even more benefits that you might not have known about. You also get:
- a 15% discount in their Ocean Discovery stores. Sure, they give you a coupon for a free whale poster on their tours just to get you into their stores, but they have some pretty neat stuff in there.
- a 10% discount at the Maui Ocean Center, which is also a great place to stop at when you’re visiting Maui
- 15% off events, camps and other programs they offer at their Ocean Discovery Center.
You can get the full list of benefits as well as pricing for the different membership levels (i.e. individual, family, etc.) at their Become a Member page. Remember I said we received ours as a gift initially? You can do the same for that Maui fan in your life that loves to frequent the islands on a regular basis.
Still More Ways to Help
Not long after we had our membership, we started learning about more ways to help out with the Pacific Whale Foundation. We’ve since adopted a whale, sponsored cute little whales in the Whale Regatta Race, purchased an autographed copy of their latest book, Humpbacks of Hawaii, and snatched up one of their reusable Chico Bags for trips to the grocery store. We actually received the book and chico bag as gifts for special donations last year, which means those, as well as the adoption and Regatta Race, were all tax deductible!
The Whales
And of course, you can’t forget about the whales themselves. If you want to get the most out of your whale watch, then you have to go with the Pacific Whale Foundation. They’re not going to lure you in with extraordinary promises of exclusive up-close and personal whale encounters on every tour (although they do have a whale sighting guarantee). They will promise an educational and eco-friendly tour that you’ll absolutely enjoy, and they have vessels that range from small to large to fit your sea-going preferences.
We been on three whale watches with the PWF in the last two years, as well as on their dinner and cocktail cruises in the past. The crew on board has always been so knowledgeable and friendly each and every time, and they are forever our first and only choice when doing anything out on the water, any time of the year. Obviously, you can only see the whales from October to April, but that doesn’t mean you can support them all year ‘round.
Talk Story
We’ve shared our experiences with the Pacific Whale Foundation via our Trip Journal entries in the past. Now it’s your turn!
Do you have your own experiences (good or bad) with the Pacific Whale Foundation? Any particular crew member or captain that made your trip extra special, or maybe you were mugged like we were? Do tell…
Mahalo,
- Kris
Tags: whales
