Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching

We went on this adventure on January 9, 2010, to celebrate my sister's birthday, and it was an absolutely wonderful experience. I suffer from motion sickness on almost all moving vehicles, but decided to go anyway because I wanted to spend the time with my family. I'm so glad I did, because I didn't even have a twinge of motion sickness. Although we didn't see any whales, we saw hundreds of dolphins and lots of sea lions, pelicans and seagulls. The crew was amazing and saw to our every need, including recommending a fabulous local restaurant for fresh seafood. Even if we hadn't seen any dolphins, it would have been worth the money just to be out on the ocean on a luxury yacht for a few hours. It was one of the highlights of our trip.

Had a great time, weather was clear and sunny. We saw a lot of dolpins but no whales yet. I guess it is still early in the season. For half price it was well worth it to be out on the ocean. Highly recommended.

I was a little hesitant to buy tickets online because I'd never used the site before, but we had no problems. The tickets were emailed to us and we had no problems finding the dock or the boat, and no problems with the tickets. We didn't see any whales, but saw tons of dolphins and it was a great time. We would definitely do the trip again on a half price day.

Nice boat ride, but we only saw 4 risso dolphins. Voucher was given for future trip.

While we didn't see any whales on the 2-hour trip it was a very good time spent for the money. We saw sea lions and many dolphins. The Captain worked very hard to make it an enjoyable, informative trip.

I've only gone fishing 3x in my life.. and they were on lakes and i only caught one fish, so i would consider myself a beginner. I figure based on the reviews that i read that this boat trip would be a great experience for me and maybe i would learn something about fishing. I went on the 1/2 day trip... 6:30am-11:30am .. I went with my sister.. being the only females on the boat... and probrably also being the only people under the age of 30..and maybe also the only BEGINNERS on the boat. i had a great time!! i caught 7 fishes... i learn what each fished were called.. and i even caught 2 poisonous fishes!! which the guys on the boat helped me out with. both me and my sister came home with 3 good size Sand Bass. The boat provides the bait for you (squid and sardines), and the guys help u with unhooking the fishes from your pole if u need help. You can bring your own food, but there is food on the boat as well; there is a volunteer jackpot for who catches the biggest fish too. Very cold, make sure you wear lots of LAYERS of clothes.. i had 7 layers on.. still very cold!! Especially make sure your ears, neck, and hands are covered... VERY COLD!! :-) People on the boat were very friendly and helpful. I would definately do it again!

Our trip was postponed 1 day due to bad weather. Gale force winds etc. (thank you for not taking a chance on the ocean with our life's :) ). The next morning we went out but it was still a rough ocean and we saw only sea lions around a bouy but enjoyed a beautiful view of the coast. We received a voucher to return any time for another 2 hour whale watch excursion. I asked when it expired and the reply was NEVER. That is rare and we appreciate it especially because DanaWharf has no control over the weather! Great customer service and damage control in the face of bad weather. We are from NIagara Falls NY and may never make it back to beautiful California but if we can, we'll be back to Dana Wharf! Thank you K & T Riexinger

We are from New England and I've never seen a whale on the MANY trips I've been on...I was pumped to finally HOPEFULLY see one but we didn't, oh well! Maybe next time!

The boat trip alone is great, but it would have helped if the whales had cooperated and been present. We did see some California sea lions and the discussion about them and how they are different from seals was informative. We didn't see any other marine life except for sea birds until the very end when the boat ran thru some bait fish being chased by some dolphins. There was a potential sighting of a whale, but it was already too far behind us as we entered the harbor and we couldn't take the time to verify what it was. The captain made sure that we had the opportunity to go out again free of charge, which he really didn't have to do.

Working with the people of Zerve was a pleasant experience. They patiently answered all my questions. When rain threatened our day to go out whale watching, they patiently helped out by moving our date from a Saturday to a Monday. When our party increased from two to four persons, there was no problem getting the extra tickets. I appreciated the attached map and instructions to get to the Dana Point wharf. Thank you all. We had a great time. I recommend this activity for everyone, all ages, all backgrounds.

Love being on a boat, it's a relaxing time! We saw a school of tens of dolphins and a Blue Wale, the Captain was nice enough to spend more time to wait for the whale to come up again! We were late 5 min but nobody complained, we saw the Blue Whale!

Staff was well informed and interesting. We knew it was early in the season for the grey whales and we did get to see 4 varieties of dolphins. Very nice experience.

Our boat ride was great. We didn't see whales, but we spent time with two large, playful pods of dolphins. They put on an amazing show, even purposely swimming right under our boat. My one frustration happened when I tried to order tickets. When I first tried to order in mid-November, Zerve gave me a choice between the next two Tuesdays -- Nov 17 or Nov 24. I wanted Tuesday, Nov 24 because it was my daughter's birthday. Up until Nov 17th, every time I tried to order tickets for the following Tue the 24th, I would get an error message. I only wanted 2 tickets, but the computer wouldn't accept an order for less than 6. However, on Wed Nov 18th, I was able to order two tickets for the 24th without a problem. So if that happens to you, wait to order your tickets until there is no other trip scheduled before the one you want to take. Other than that quirk, the trip was fine.

We had a great time and will come again! My Dad is already planning another trip out here for next summer. fishing is definitely on the list!

white sided, bottle nosed, and common dolphins