Three Saturday mornings each winter, hundreds of people stand on Hawaiʻi's shorelines with clipboards and binoculars and count whales for science. Maui's Great Whale Count is confirmed for January 30, February 27, and March 27, 2027. The Sanctuary Ocean Count on Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, and Hawaiʻi Island is expected to follow those same last-Saturday dates, but the sanctuary had not published its 2027 details when we wrote this.

Most travelers plan a whale-watching boat tour and call it done. This is the other way in: four hours on a scenic overlook, tallying blows and breaches alongside trained site leaders, feeding a dataset that stretches back to 1996. If your trip lands on a count Saturday, it gives your whale-season trip a purpose beyond the usual harbor departure.

Hawaiʻi runs two volunteer counts on the same winter Saturdays, split by island.

The Sanctuary Ocean Count, run by the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, covers shore sites on Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, and Hawaiʻi Island. Volunteers monitor the water from 8:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and document surface behavior: blows, breaches, tail slaps, and pectoral-fin slaps.

The Great Whale Count, run by the Pacific Whale Foundation, covers Maui. The 2027 count has 11 shoreline sites, including DT Fleming Beach Park near The Ritz-Carlton, McGregor Point Lookout, and Polo Beach in Wailea. Together, the programs put observers around the state on the water's edge at the same time.

Maui's confirmed 2027 Great Whale Count dates are January 30, February 27, and March 27. Each count runs from 8 a.m. to noon.

Registration opens at 10 a.m. HST on December 14, 2026. Use the Great Whale Count page for event details and the registration page to choose a Maui site. Every participant registers individually; one family sign-up does not cover the whole group.

For the Sanctuary Ocean Count on Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, and Hawaiʻi Island, registration runs through the sanctuary's Ocean Count site, where the site list is published with registration. The sanctuary had not posted its 2027 details when we wrote this. It has used the last-Saturday pattern for years, so January 30, February 27, and March 27 are reasonable planning placeholders, not official Sanctuary dates. Check the sanctuary's Ocean Count page as winter approaches.

Register early. Site capacity and availability can change.

Plan to arrive by 8 a.m. and keep the morning open through the end of the count: noon on Maui and 12:15 p.m. at Sanctuary sites. A trained site leader runs the station, walks new volunteers through the protocol, and keeps the official tally. Your job is to scan your assigned stretch of ocean and call out what you see.

Bring water, snacks, sun protection, and a chair if you want one. Binoculars help, though whales close to shore can be visible without them. Kids are welcome with an adult, which makes this a solid family science activity that costs nothing.

Dress for four hours of trade winds on an exposed point. This is a full-morning commitment, not a drop-in. If your trip schedule cannot hold 8-to-noon, take a whale-watching boat tour instead and leave the count slot for someone who can stay.

Maui is practical for many visitors. Great Whale Count locations run along the South and West Maui shoreline where many travelers stay, and several sit near resort areas. If you are staying in Kīhei or Wailea, a nearby site may be available when registration opens.

Oʻahu counts from sites around the island, and the southeast corner offers prime terrain. The elevated coastline around Makapuʻu Point gives you one of the island's strongest shore-based whale-watching views in winter.

Kauaʻi pairs well with a stop at Kīlauea Point, where whales, seabirds, and the occasional monk seal share the view. Hawaiʻi Island sites face the Kohala and Kona coasts, where deep water runs close to shore.

Exact site lists shift from year to year. Treat the registration page as the source of truth and choose a site near where you are staying. A 6:30 a.m. cross-island drive is a rough start to a four-hour volunteer shift.

The Sanctuary Ocean Count started in February 1996 on Oʻahu with about 150 volunteers. Thirty years later, the two programs cover four islands. Current published lists identify 11 Maui sites and 26 Sanctuary sites: 37 listed locations if every site is used. Those lists are a current-season working map, not an all-time inventory.

On the final count day of the 2026 season, 310 volunteers logged 435 humpback sightings across 37 sites statewide. That number is a one-day sightings snapshot, not a census of individual whales.

Your clipboard morning adds an observation to a community-science record built from the shoreline, one count day at a time.

If you are already planning a January-to-March trip, build around a confirmed Maui count Saturday. For Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, or Hawaiʻi Island, wait for the Sanctuary's official 2027 announcement before locking in dates. Count from shore in the morning, then get on the water later in the trip to see the same animals at eye level. You can compare Maui whale-watching cruises on Viator or browse Oʻahu whale-watching tours for the boat half of that pairing.

Between now and then, our live whale season tracker follows the migration as it builds each fall, and our 2026–2027 season preview covers the boat-tour side: harbors, months, and what changed this year. Humpbacks begin arriving in Hawaiian waters in October and November, well before the first late-January count. By late January, Hawaiʻi is inside the January-through-March peak season.

Mark Maui's dates, set a reminder for the December 14 registration opening, and bring a chair. If you want to count on another island, watch for the Sanctuary's official update.