Whale Watching

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went on a whale watching tour in Kensington fjords, Alaska. Saw nothing, spent big. Just here to say it might be better to do a multi day trip or have other focus in addition. Whales don’t perform on command.

KENAI not Kensington

[Anonymous]

Has anyone done it in San Francisco?

[Anonymous]

Alaska, Glacier Bay, amazing

[Anonymous]

Maui in March. It is the tail end of humpback mating season so the whales are really active. Since the water is fairly calm it is safe to go out on a rib boat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends on the time of year and what whales you want to see.

Some people on here did some very fancy glamping in Mexico (Baja California) to vacation around gray whale baby season.

I was happy with a summer boat ride near Gloucester, MA where we saw a couple of humpback. Took the same kind of cruise out of Bar Harbor, ME and saw some farther away.

From Seattle you can go to Victoria Island, Canada. There are orca tours there. Those were fun and we got pretty close to the whales. It's regulated but honestly it's a bit of a nuisance for them. I don't think I would repeat that. I don't think it was gray whale season when I was in Seattle. They go back and forth from Alaska to Baja California.

I liked the big cruise boats to see the bigger whales. I think I'd look at the Boston or Maine offerings first.

Any problems with banditos or cartel mafia?

NP. I did this and absolutely no trouble at all.

[Anonymous]

We did it out of Icy Strait Point in Alaska on a cruise. It was amazing. The whales came right up to the boat, so close you could nearly touch them. We also saw so many adorable sea otters, seals, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone done it in San Francisco?

Went whale watching south of San Francisco, in Monterey. Overall it was good, despite the rough water- a few got seasick.

Best whale watching was in Cape Cod- off of Provincetown. More whales than you can imagine. Some were really close to the boat and some did full breaches.

Also did a whale tour in Alaska. Lots of whales with a backdrop of snow capped mountains.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went on a whale watching tour in Kensington fjords, Alaska. Saw nothing, spent big. Just here to say it might be better to do a multi day trip or have other focus in addition. Whales don’t perform on command.

Alaska is so overrun with cruise tourists that a lot of those excursions are basically a money grab scam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went on a whale watching tour in Kensington fjords, Alaska. Saw nothing, spent big. Just here to say it might be better to do a multi day trip or have other focus in addition. Whales don’t perform on command.

Alaska is so overrun with cruise tourists that a lot of those excursions are basically a money grab scam.

I did a whale watching tour in Juneau and it was awesome. I’m sure it was expensive, but it was 5+ years ago and work paid for it.

[Anonymous]

Maine and Cape Cod are both fun and you're almost guaranteed to see whales (most boats give you credit for another trip if no whales are spotted). The best though was along the southern coast of Brazil near Ilhabela. The whales migrate through the channel and you don't even need to go on a boat of you don't want to. Just sit on the beach.

[Anonymous]

We went in the San Juan Islands -- was a terrific excursion, good Orca sightings plus being on a boat, on a sunny afternoon, with good beer on tap, and cruising through the San Juans was delightful.

[Anonymous]

I’ve been whale watching quite a few times. Most recently, Vancouver was absolutely amazing. I’ve also done San Juan islands, which was my running favorite until then.

Cape cod and Maine were more hit or miss in my experience.

All of this is so weather dependent and really just luck of the draw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello, We are considering going whale watching.

How rewarding did you find it? Where is the best place, near Seattle or New England? Thx

We found it extremely boring and it felt like we were harassing the whales.

[Anonymous]

Cabo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went on a whale watching tour in Kensington fjords, Alaska. Saw nothing, spent big. Just here to say it might be better to do a multi day trip or have other focus in addition. Whales don’t perform on command.

KENAI not Kensington

But did you see puffins?