Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching

We had such a fun time on this fishing trip. 5 hours is plenty when you have a child under 5! Only drawback was that it was a little crowded. We had this group with lots of kids all around us, almost getting us with their hooks because they weren't paying attention. Granted this isn't the fishing boat's problem, but never heard anyone warning them to be careful. Only reason for 4 stars. But other than that, the staff was great. Just wish we caught more fish! =)

let me get this out of the way: when my fiance exited the boat, the plate connecting the boat to the ramp kept lifting. One of the tour operators would step on the plate as each passenger exited instead of steadily standing on the thing. But his timing was less than perfect and my fiance's big toe got under the business end of this plate. Not broken it seems, but quite painful for a couple of days. If it had been a child's toe, the result would have been worse. Please fix this before someone truly gets hurt! As for the tour itself: wonderful! I'd like to say that it was a little kid who had the thrill of a lifetime seeing the blue whale surface 5 times.... but it was my fiance who had always wanted to see a blue whale and talked of little else every weekend after the recent local articles. Every year when the blue whales came to dana point, he'd want to see one. For years. This year... finally! The tour guide said it was one of the best sightings ever. I'd have been happy just with the dolphins! This weekend, our 7 year old niece wants to go. Thanks for a great tour!

This was a very pleasant experience and having tried to book a trip at Newport Beach with all the hassles of parking and crowds - the experience at Dana Point was SO MUCH BETTER. Will not hesitate to recommend this experience to others!!

We saw several whales n lots of dolphins n it was awesome weather. The guides were chill, couldn't really ask for more.

I didn't know what to expect but I was very surprised by the trip. Even though there is no guarantee that you'll find a blue whale, the boat captains did a wonderful job scouring every part of the sea to find one. We ended up finding a lot of common dolphins, a sunfish and a blue whale. It was an informative, fun cruise that I would highly recommend. You come away with a greater sense of sea life and how close they are to Orange County. I'm glad I went on the trip because I came away with some awesome photos and video footage that I will always treasure.

The trip was very fun. The crew was frendly te captain knew all the good pots and the fishing was great until they moved the boat from the kelt beds. everyone was pulling up nice fish in the kelt beds but the captain moved the boat and everyone got angry and didnt catch a fish. but other than that the trip was very fun and was the perfect lenght.

It took the captain forever to find a spot (lost a lot of time). Too many prople on a small boat. Hard to move around.

At least 8 times previously we have gone on whale watching cruises for Gray Whales. But the Blue Whales were so much more exciting, so much bigger, so much more active in hunting. A lot of what makes a whale cruise successful is luck. We were lucky, but also our captain scouted out the whales beforehand and the result was a whale experience we will always remember. Awesome wildlife, mere miles off Dana Point.

We were given rental poles in the office that were a problem for the boys to use. Open spinners...they tangled constantly...The captain came down and saw them tangled once and said to the boys "Why the hell did you rent these polls if you don't know how to use them." We used live bait that was say too big to catch anything. The only ones catching fish were using their own tackle. I would have purchased lures in the shop if someone had advised me to do it. On the boat we were given instruction by the other fisherman not the crew. After a snag once my son's line snapped and the crew member helping him walked away....so my son then had to run him down to replace his tackle. At first we were yelled instructions to fish on the top above the kelp...and then later we were told to fish down deeper...without any instruction or help changing tackle. Crew was friendly just unhelpful. Galley was fine...good food pretty good service. Three of us caught nothing.

Easy, short trip for my girls (2 and 4 years old), pretty safe for a boat and short enough that I didn't feel sick until the very end. We saw dolphins, a blue whale and a sun fish. It was pretty expensive for a two hour trip, but I heard Tuesday is half price day. Guide was funny, very knowledgeable and approachable with questions. You get the feeling these people like what they do.

The captain and crew did a great job finding the right spots and making the time enjoyable for everyone. When the fishing got hot, the crew was as attentive as when the fishing slowed down. I recommend Dana Wharf Fishing!

We sighted 5 Blue Whales on this trip. We even saw a tail flip twice. Would recommend this to anyone. The 1/2 price Tuesday made it even more spectacular

We were very pleased with the Dana Wharf Whale Watch. Crew was very friendly and informative. We saw many dolphins and blue whales.

The scenario: we were on the afternoon cruise. During the morning cruise, several whales had been spotted and stressed out by the hordes of boats that descended upon them. The captain made a conscious choice to cruise in the opposite direction to avoid further stress to those magnificent creatures. He was fairly certain he'd find other whales; but, then again ... maybe not. He explained it all at the start of the cruise. I totally applauded his decision. And yes!! we did find whales. We and only two other boats. Made for a marvelous trip. Will definitely choose Catamaran Adventures again.

Good captains on the boat put us right on the whales only problem on Rhenish was that the front was overfilled