Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching

We did this as a playdate with my four year old girls and their friends/moms and we had a really nice time. We got very lucky and saw multiple schools of dolphins and at least eight blue whales. The staff were friendly and accommodating and the boat was comfortable.

We were in the midst of a wonderful dolphin mega pod of 5000 to 6000! You never know what you will see in nature: we hoped to see a blue whale but instead were entertained by this amazing group!

I LOVED my whale watch adventure! The captain and staff were very knowledgeable and friendly! I HIGHLY recommend to anyone who wants to explore our Southern California coast wildlife, that they sign up for a cruise at Dana Wharf!

Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching has an excellent boat, captain, and crew for the best whale watching I have ever attended. I have gone out several times from Newport Harbor but Dana Wharf is definitely the BEST!

It was out of your control if there are no whales, you did try to find some for us and we will be back to look for some again soon... Loved seeing the other wildlife and the overall trip and experience. Just can not give you the 5 STARS without seeing the whales. Thank you !! We DO RECOMMEND this trip to everyone !!!!!!

It's getting late in the season, so I didn't have my hopes up on spotting whales. It seemed the crew had that attitude as well. The weather was great, the catamaran handled the chop well and it was a good day on the ocean, even if we didn't spot anything. We'll be back to try again, thanks to the guarantee and free return offer.

The Blue Whale watching cruise far exceeded our expectations. The staff was friendly and knowledgable and imparted just the right info at just the right time. The boat was clean and comfortable, the weather was fantastic, the wildlife cooperated as if trained to do so. The Common Dolphins were there to see in incredible #'s and swam with the boat, performing for us as if trained to do so. Then the HIGHLIGHT of our cruise appeared, A couple of Blue Whales , which we sighted numerous times as they surfaced , swam and dove and reappeared several times to our surprise and enjoyment. THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE WAS PHENOMINAL !! THANK YOU DANA WHARF FOR AN EXPERIENCE MY WIFE AND I WILL NEVER FORGET !! Scott & Danielle Steinberg.

Each member in my party thoroughly enjoyed themselves on our trip, even though the weather was very cold outside. We were able to see a grey whale, a pod of dolphins, and some sea lions - it was great! We would definitely take this trip again in the future!

I thought I was getting a great deal by paying $14 (half-price on Tuesdays) to see something that very few people in the entire world ever get a chance to see.

The weather was perfect, the ocean was clear, the captain knowledgeable the only thing missing was a whale! Still, we did see some fantastic dolphins. Fun and relaxing.

We saw lots of dolphins, but no whales. however, at half price, and 78 degrees and sunny, what's not to like? We enjoyed it even if we didn't see whales!

We were disappointed as we did not see anything. It was cool and rainy and the crew did their best to find signs of life. Turned into a two hour boat ride only. The company offered everyone another free ride within a year as long as we kept our ticket and called prior to coming to the dock to make sure they were not full. This was a very nice gesture as we did not expect it. We knew going in that this type of venture is a risk. The crew was friendly and everything ran on time. Although disappointed that we did not see anything, I feel the company did a great job trying to rectify that. It was a nice surprise. It was our last day so it did us no good. I would have been more upset had I paid full price.

There could be a number of reason why it was like this, (it was just the time of year, last week of March, or that a strom had made the waters cold, we had only half a day, ect.) but the deepest we ever fished in was 66 ft of water. Nothing substantialy large was caught eithe and I think it would be safe to say that most of the people didn't catch anything. The last spot we fished was in 18 ft of water. We road a half an hour down the coast (never more than 900 yds from shore) to our fishing spots. I remember a time when my dad went out deep sea fishing south of Portland where they were fishing in 900 ft of water and bringing in monster fish every cast . Maybe it was ingnorance on my part, but that was what I was hopeing for, not 18 ft of water with little rockfish. Perhaps it would have been better fishing on a longer trip. I don't konw.

Although we live in So. California, we had not gone whale-watching in 10 years. My son was only 5 months old the last time we went! He was so amazed and excited that we actually saw a whale and it was fairly close! We heard the group before saw dolphins but we were happy with the whale.

The trip was very nice, we saw a couple of dolphins, many sea lions and had a wonderful view of the immediate coast. I usually get seasick but found the boat to be reasonably stable even when we left the harbor. I also liked that with the online ticket receipt, the company provided useful tips for people not used to boats (what to bring, what not to bring etc.). The only less than positive aspect of the experience had to do with the exchange of the online receipt for tickets. The company's offices at the harbor are not clearly marked and we had no idea we had to exchange the print out of our online receipt for tickets. Fortunately, the people at the boat accepted our print out and did not make us go back to find the office.