Whale Watching Recommendations Please

[miss_mouse]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

We went with Monterey Bay Whale watch last Easter. A very professional outfit with a very friendly, knowledgable Oceanographer on board.

We saw around a dozen Humpbacks, 2 x Greys, 200 plus Rizzos Dolphins, 2x Albatross , Sea lions and Sea Otters.

I spoke a fair bit with the helmsman/skipper and he informed me that all of the main boats were in radio contact with each other and that they pooled information re sightings. As he reasoned, it was in all of their benefits to ensure that all boats were as successful as possible. Whilst he might have eight sightings on a day and another boat 2, it might be the other way round on the following day. It is to everyone's benefit that both boats would have 10 sightings to choose from on each day.

I would reccomend this boat without hesitation and for a reason. We were on our way back and with 15 minutes left of our 4 hours when he sighted 2 greys. He warned us that there would be a 30 minute overrun if we wanted to see them up close. This we did and as we eventually moved on, he had called the sighting to another, rival boat in order that they also benefited. I believe that he had a one hour turnaround before his next departure.

An excellent day out. I have a few photos on my trip report, California N to South at Easter.

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Thank you. That's great to know.
I will be checking out your trip report

[the_lemms]

We also went with Monterey Bay Whale Watching and the trip was my highlight of our 18 day road trip. All onboard staff were helpful, informative and chatty the boat was not overly big, we also were late back to the wharf due to going far a field after reports of more whale activity after the initial sightings. The Princess boat left just after us (they are next to each other on the Wharf) and there seemed to be a LOT more people crammed on their boat.
Although as Jcloud has said Sanctuary have a very good reputation the only we didnt use them was the 25 min drive from Monterey which is where we were staying. However this may be to your advantage coming down from San Fran.
We all took a boots travel sickness pill with our breakfast and none of us felt any seasickness what so ever.
It really is a breathtaking experience so much so we visited Cape Cod this year to whale on Stellwagen Bank.