Princess Monterey Whale Watching Cruises

Two whales approached the boat and played with us for at least half an hour! I was recording the whole time. When we watched the videos after, you heard everyone saying "Oh my gosh!" over and over. It was an awesome experience.

Comfortable, safe boat, patient captain allowed time and opportunities to view all the sea creatures available, which were plentiful. Personable, well-informed naturalist mingled with passengers, providing interesting information. Even the whales cooperated fully, providing lengthy interations with boat. Two whales devoted a full hour entertaining show for passengers by remaining in extremely close proximity to boat and passing back and forth under the boat to emerge right beside it spraying everyone frequently. Very worthwhile trip, certainly worth the money.

We have a group of 7 and 4 of them are under 14 of age. We had so much fun watching all the sea animals. We were so lucky that the whales were swimming around our boat for about 30 min. We can almost touch them-it was that close. I will strongly recommanded this boat trip. I'll go again and again!

We enjoyed our trip out of Monterey Bay to see the whales. We had not expected to see them so close it is a memory which will stay with us forever. The crew and guide were extremely friendly and helpful and all questions were answered very fully. It was chilly as we sailed even on the last day of June, but a good outing.

THIS WAS OUR FIRST TIME WHALE WATCHING AND IT WAS WONDERFUL. THE STAFF WAS VERY FUN, FRIENDLY AND KNOWLEDGABLE. WE LEFT AND ABOUT 20-30 MINUTES LATER WE HAD TWO BEAUTIFUL HUMPBACKS PLAYING IN THE WATER ALL AROUND OUR BOAT. ABOUT AN HOUR AFTER THAT WE FOUND A COUPLE DIFFERENT TYPES OF DOLPHINS AND SWAM WITH THEM FOR A LITTLE WHILE. OVERALL, THIS WAS 3 HOURS VERY WELL SPENT.

It was SPECTACULAR!!! The humpbacks were LITERALLY up against our boat the entire time! They were playful, looking at us and just hanging out! Truly an experience of a lifetime. It was surreal and the captain said in his 40 years it was one of the top 5 best outings they have seen. We were incredibly lucky!

Within twenty minutes of leaving the dock, two humpback whales approached our boat and stayed and interacted with us off and on for several hours. We also saw Risso's dolphins, Pacific white sided dolphins and common dolphins, a small great white shark and from a distance two blue whales. Our captain and crew were just as thrilled as the passengers. The boat was clean and well maintained. The naturalist who accompanied us was friendly and knowledgable. We all agree the whale watching cruise was the highlight of our California vacation.

We saw 15 whales and a large number of dolphins and sea birds. The commentary by the marine biologist was enthusiastic and very informative. The boat was large enough to be comfortable without being crowded, everybody had a good view.

This trip was much more then I expected. We saw several Humpback Whales, Risso Dolphins, White sided Dolphins and several birds. This was our first trip and are planning another in December. Crew was wonderful and very pleasant.

We saw a few dozen Humpback Whales, as well as hundreds, if not thousands of Dolphins, including 4 different species of Dolphin. We also saw a few Black-footed Albatross birds, and the occasional Blue Jelly-fish.

OK, firstly, I must say the guides know what they're doing. They know where to look to find sea life. We did see humback whales, although we did not get as close as I would have hoped to. Secondly, the white sided dolphins and the rizzo dolphins where absolutely amazing! The white sided and northern right whale dolphins swam right at the bough of the boat and put on an absolutely amazing show! The next time we go to Monterey, I want to bring my children and I would do this again. One bit of advice, bring a jacket and pack a small ice chest if you go on the 5 hour trip. The snacks are all $2, including for a 75 cent bag of chips. The also offer binocular rental for $5.00, not a bad deal. All in all, a terrific experience!

we saw humpback whales and two of them swam under the boat and came up to the other side. then the came up for air one right after another like 50ft. from the boat.....way cool.

Loved the naturalist! Informative, funny. Crew was most helpful.

I expected to watch more whales/dolphins but couldn't. It was all luck. May be I was on a bad day. I would recommend Whale Watching at Monterey. I enjoyed the whole trip. It was really exciting. The crew was very friendly. The snacks, on board were also not expensive. I liked it. I will definitely consider a longer trip next time.

Got there with 10 minutes before launch and got confused to where the place was. Called the number on the sheet a couple of times and the second time, got through to a real person and was given directions to the launch off point. Right away we saw some dolphins. . .and then we were able to follow groups of dolphins throughout the day. Saw a rare type of dolphin - many of them and they even met up with another pod which was neat. Saw many birds. Saw jelly fish, sun fish, and parts of whales. Saw the sea lions close up, from the water, great change in perspective, since we usually see them through the fence. And also got to see three sea otters pretty close up. Also two dolphins were having some fun coming out of the water and splating on their sides. But I felt that the dolphins weren't as special because the kayakers saw them too. It was a smoky day, so visibility wasn't that good, due to forest fires at the time. Since the weather forcast was great. . check out the weather forcast before you pay! Felt like I wanted to see much more, especially whales, for the money, but maybe it was just a so-so day. It was slow enough paced that you could take various naps and warm enough that we only wore about 4 layers - 2 shirts and 2 jackets. The best thing we could see of the whales was when they came up for air, and fluked. Also, we weren't very close to the whales. The boat has to keep its distance unless the animal comes up. Don't expect to see something fancy. No dolphins did any jumps either. But it was neat to see them in their natural environment. We went to the aquarium afterwards, and I felt really fulfilled. In the boat we saw what was at the surface level, and then in the aquarium was saw what was underneath.