whalewatching in Dana Point

Thomas' K class has been studying whales since this is the time of year that the Grey Whales pass San Diego during their migration south to warmer, calmer waters. Last spring I put whalewatching tour on my list of things to do with him but, of course, that was the wrong time of year. With the kids on their mid-winter break this week (aka "ski week") and a nice break in the rains early this week, I knew today would be a perfect day for us to go.

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There are lots of companies offering whalewatching tours out of San Diego, but I chose one north of us out of Dana Point. They have special pricing on Tuesdays (half price!), the time of day worked well for us, the tour length was just right (2 hours vs. 3 to 3.5 hours or more!) and they offer a guarantee: if you don't seen something that day, you're given a ticket to come back again for free. The people on board all around us had been on previous tours within the last week and were all back using their "free ticket". This had me a little concerned but I figured we'd just chalk it up to a nice 2 hour cruise on the ocean if nothing else.

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But we got so lucky today! The boat left the harbor at noon and headed straight out into the Pacific Ocean. Within the first 10 minutes, I spotted a water spout straight ahead. It was pretty far away but I saw it! I was the first one, then the people around us saw it and about 20 seconds later the captain above us announced that a whale had been spotted. We got as close as we could without disturbing the two Grey Whales (which really isn't very close) and followed them from Dana Point to the San Clemente Pier. It was almost a full hour of watching these beautiful creatures surface, spray water, play with the sealions and dolphins, fluke (when their tail only is above water), wave their fins... It was incredible and, of course, photos and video don't do it justice.

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During the return trip, we came upon 10 common dolphins. We've seen dolphins from the piers and while standing on the beach, but to see them up close was really cool. When the boat slowed, the dolphins played around the boat. Amazing! When we started up again, they followed the boat and played in the wake. Later, a sealion also swam up alongside and then surfed in the boat's wake.

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Thomas and I loved this experience! I wish Mike and Meredith could have joined us, but Mike gets motion sickness and I didn't know what to expect so I thought it best to not bring Meredith. However, next time she'll definitely go with us. What a memorable afternoon!