Travel through the Hawaiian islands has long been a favorite assignment. This time, instead of hopping from resort to resort, we opted to experience the archipelago aboard Un-Cruise’s 36-passenger Safari Explorer. Our seven-night journey from the Big Island to Molokai, with stops at Maui and Lanai in between, proved memorable in every way.

Un-Cruise

Un-Cruise, formerly American Safari Cruises, runs small-ship expedition itineraries in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, the Pacific Northwest and, most famously, Alaska’s Inside Passage. Like the Alaska cruise we enjoyed a few years ago, the Hawaii trip includes ports of call inaccessible to larger vessels — notably Molokai, which is forbidden to all other cruise ships — and affords wildlife sightings difficult to experience on your own.

Whale Watching

The whale-watching was superb. Over breakfast one morning, a humpback whale and her calf breached three times, not 50 yards from my plate of eggs Benedict. We spent an afternoon cruising the Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. After a hydrophone had been lowered into the water, we listened to live whale song as we observed spouts, pectoral fin-splashing and breaching. Another morning, a dozen of us dutifully boarded one of the Explorer’s two skiffs for a sunrise whale-watching excursion. As I sipped my coffee in the twilight, longing to return to our cabin’s comfortable bed, a crew member spotted a whale “logging,” or resting on the surface. We approached and discovered a humpback nursing her newborn calf. The mother sometimes helped the calf onto her back, raising it above the waterline in order to catch an easy breath. We watched for 45 minutes, as mother and calf bonded — an extraordinary and unforgettable sight.