Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching

Everything was great. Crew was very courteous, boat was very clean. Captain had a great sense of humor. Just disappointed to not see any whales - just dolphins.

We had a good time, we missed the whales. We will try next year early in the season. Very informative.

Dana wharf is one of the best places to fish in my opinion. They put you on the fish and help you out with gear, rigging, info and great food. There burgers are second to none. The crew is always polite and friendly and always willing to help. I will be coming back again and again.

Who new the big whales got so close to shore! What a fun trip. The captain was full of interesting info and facts regarding the 7 mile area off Dana Point. We saw about 6 whales and lots of dolphin. Would recommend to anyone.

A most enjoyable two, plus hours cruising and searching rewarded all aboard to witness two pods and Gray going North and a single Gray heading south. I saw in the papers that a Blue Whale was spotted several days before and was in hohpes to get a rare sight. Regardless, It was a most enjoyable day. There was a long wait before the boat returned from an earlier trip and it wold have been kind if someone would keep the passengers informed as to the arrival time expected. We assumed boadring at 11:30, but the ship did not arrive in port until noon.

Visiting my daughter college, we went on this whale watching tour hoping to see some blue whales, gray whales and dolphins. We are used to seeing the humpbacks in Maui in the winter. We were rewarded with some fantastic gray whales frolicking close to the boat. The captains narrative was informational and very thoughtful. You could tell he loved his job and the whales. We saw lots of dolphins too. This boat was nice and clean and the crew was very polite. Loved it and would go again.

refreshing, informative,spirit lifting and lots of fun!

Person giving commentary throughout the two hours was very knowledgeable about all aspects of the dolphins and whales. Liked seating arrangement at tables. Sat across from a delightful family from CT. Took Captain Dave safari last year - liked this much better - really liked friendly seating arrangements and just overall character of boat and captain. I live in Dana Point and take friends/relatives on these safaris. From now on I would only use this particular boat/service.

The crew was really informative about the animals we were seeing. The boat was clean and very comfortable. We saw 1 grey whale, quite a few common dolphins as well as sea lions.

We were fortunate to see two groups of Whales, and three different kinds of whales, hundreds of dolphins too. The captain of the boat was stressing about time constraints, but made sure we got to see the last group of whales that we saw. The narrative was very informative as well as the cordiality of the crew with props, etc. teaching us about ocean life.

We had such a great time whale watching with the crew from Dana Wharf Sportfishing! The captain made sure he did his part in making our whale watching experience great. We were able to see a couple fin whales. The captain had spent as much time as he possibly could have with the whales before we had to turn around and head back to the Harbor. Time was very limited, however on the way back to the harbor a couple more whales were spotted and the captain proceeded to change course from the harbor to see the new whales. Time had to be made up to get back to the harbor in time for the next group to get on the boat. The capt could have not stopped for the second pod of whales and kept heading to the harbor, but instead he stopped for us then made up the time by going full speed back to the harbor. This cost the boat and crew more money in gas which is a big factor in a boat that size. We were all very happy that he made the business decision to show us more whales! Thanks guys!!!!!

We were disappointed that we did not see any whales, but we saw sea lions and bottlenose dolphins. The dolphins put on a real show for us, leaping out of the water and swimming close to the boat.

We enjoyed our experience with this tour group even though we saw no whales. We had a great experience with the dolphins and the feeding birds. The crew was helpful, without intruding.

the 4 of us had so much fun, we are going to go back and do it again soon. We stood at the front of the boat for over half the trip because we enjoyed the wind in our hair, and when the boat was going so fast and riding the waves it was more fun then Disneyland. The view was breath taking as we looked along the horizon, even though we didn't see any whales it was still a great day to be on the boat. At the last 15 minutes of the ride back some our party went inside the boat to sit down from the sheer tiredness of so much fun. Thank you for an absolute great time!

The day was wet because it was drizzling and somewhat cold but everyone layered so we were comfortable. During our cruise the drizzle stopped but there was a downpour as were getting off the "Dana Pride". The tour was very educational and informative so we learned a lot. We encountered a mega-pod of dolphins numbering 1,800 to 2,000. That was the highlight of the day! The captain of the "Dana Pride" went out further than his usual route trying to locate whales for us but we didn't see any. The guarantee is to see whales so we were each given half-off coupons good for a family of four with no black-out dates and no expiration date to encourage us to come back to try again to see whales on another day. The coupons could also be used by others if we wanted to share them. All in all it was a worthwhile experience and the thirteen seniors said they would come again!