Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching
add photosSee the amazing leviathans, our mammalian counterparts in the sea, just off of Dana Wharf. The kids may enjoy the boat ride just as much as seeing Blue Whales, Fin Whales and Minke Whales, Gray Whales, and hundreds of dolphins.
Whale Watching is year round. May - October is Blue Whale season and November - April is the Gray Whale migration.
4 Reviews for Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching
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'10, '11, '12
1 family found this helpful
"We saw dolphins and whales playing while a sea lion watched!"
My kids and I have taken two whale watching trips with Dana Wharf and while the trips were very different from one another, they were both great days.
The first time trip was in early December on a calm and seasonably warm day. There were only about twenty people signed up for the trip so we took a smaller boat and headed south along the Laguna coastline. The views of the coastline were spectacular and it was very cool to see beaches and landmarks that I know so well from a completely different perscpetive. December is pretty early in the gray whale watching season (prime time seems to be between January and March) and we didn't have any luck spotting any whales or dolphins. As a matter of fact, the only wildlife we saw were some sea lions hanging out on a buoy and a pelican who decided to hitch a ride on the stern of the boat (we named him Bruce). Luckily that small glimpse at wildlife and a nice day on the open water were enough to make my kids beg to take another trip. Since we did not see "a good showing" of whales or dolphins, every person on board was given a voucher to take another trip for free. To be honest, I almost felt lucky that we didn't see any whales that day because it meant we got to go again!
The second trip was vastly different than the first. Since it was just after New Years, the winter tourists had booked trips and about 80 of went boarded a much bigger boat complete with table seating up top. My kids and I stuck to standing near the bow of the boat so we could get a full view of what was going on in the water. As soon as we left the harbor, the captain spotted a gray whale! Everyone onboard was pointing and yelling with excitement as the whale came up for a breath before diving back down to feed. Unfortunately, since it was so close to the harbor, there were several private boats in the area that didn't appear to know whale watching etiquette, so our captain decided to head south in search of more whales.
I was a bit worried that it would be our only sighting of the day but after a 20 minute cruise, the captain spotted two whales on their journey south to Baja. The whales seemed to like our company because they hung out in the water with us for a long time. Word must have gotten out under the sea because the next thing we knew, a pod of bottlenose dolphins joined us and appeared to be playing with the whales! They whizzed right past us on the boat and then joined the whales as they breached. Shortly after the dolphins made their appearance, I spotted a sea lion bobbing on the waves, watching all the aquatic fun! The whole scene was incredible. Unfortunately, after some time passed we needed to head back port so that the next boat could go out. Bummer! You could even hear the disappointment in the captain's voice. We all knew we were witnessing something special. Luckily on our trip back to the harbor, a pod of common dolphins decided to say hi and frolic in our wake. One dolphin jumped nearly 20 feet in the air!
We all walked off the boat that day pumped with adrenaline and memorized by what we had just seen. My family are official whale watching addicts. We can't wait to head back in the summer for blue whale season. I can only imagine how amazing it must be to see the largest animals on the planet!
Disclosure: My family received a complimentary whale watching trip in order to write this review and a blog post. All opinions are unbiased and entirely my own.
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0 families found this helpful
"A little disapointed."
So our family just moved to southern CA and we were really really excited to see the whales. We took a whale watching boat ride and we did see the whales but only there tails :( Our tour guide said that we couldn't get very close so it was hard for the little kids to see.
1 family found this helpful
"Yummy Fish"
Papa, Daddy and our 2 oldest boys (7,9) went on a half day fishing trip which was a perfect length of time and a bit cheaper. They loved the experience of being on a boat on the ocean and trying to reel in a fish. The bummer was that the boys didn't catch much and the ones that Papa and Daddy did were not large enough to keep. The most fish they saw were the hundreds of live bait fish that the boat stopped to pick up on their way out of the harbor.
One couple on the boat didn't want to keep their sea bass that they caught so the boys got to bring home fish for dinner, and it was delicious!
Take this fishing trip for the fun adventure of being together on a fun boat with a fun activity. If you get to bring home fish, it's a bonus!
There is a galley on the boat where you can purchase delicious breakfast burritos and burgers.
Fishing tackle for rent. 13 and older are required to have a fishing license.
0 families found this helpful
"Orange County Whale Watching"
We couldn't have picked a better day. The weather was beautiful and we saw all you can see on an outing like this. We actually saw a young blue whale (about 70' long) feeding in an area for about 1/2 hour. We even saw the fluke when he dove. Also saw seal lions, pelicans and various birds. One of the most exciting moments was the pod of dolphins (it looked like over 100) who were swimming and playing along with and around the catamaran. The staff was pleasant and very informative. Take advantage of 1/2 price Tuesdays and the ticket cost is only $14.50!
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