My brother and his family went out with Griff in 2021 and highly recommended we book with Griff when I was taking my family to Maui this year. The expectations were high and the morning adventure exceeded our expectations in spades. Despite some potentially challenging weather, Griff called us the night before to modify our launch location to give us a better shot at a great day. And within 15 minutes of paddling we happened upon a baby whale and it's mother. We had an epic morning with many close encounters with whales - at one point we didn't even know where to look as we were surrounded by whales. We were fortunate to be in the right spot, at the right time, to be able to see sooooo many whales - babies, mothers, guardian males, singing males, breaching, fin slappers and so much more.
While we were thankful for the bounty of the whales, what really made the trip was Griff himself. He was an amazing guide - humble, incredibly knowledgable, funny and genuinely a really nice person. He also shared knowledge about the Hawaiian culture and the respect for nature.
If you are looking for an intimate experience in the Hawaiian outdoors, I can't recommend Aloha Kayaks enough. While we were out on the water, we saw another kayak group out there and the guide had music blaring from a speaker on his kayak and he was shouting loudly to his customer. It was a totally different vibe and I was glad we didn't book with them. Griff really wants his customers to have an intimate, respectful experience with the whales. We really appreciated this and throughly enjoyed it. It was the highlight of our trip and one of the best outings our family has experienced.