Princess Monterey Whale Watching Cruises

Fun trip with multiple whale sightings, several within jumping distance of the boat. Clean, well kept boat with friendly and knowledgeable staff. Best price we found after looking around.

My husband and I went on a late afternoon trip with Princess Monterey Whale Watching in mid-July. We were thrilled to see humpbacks, which we were hoping we might, and blue whales, which was unexpected for us and awesome! We even got to see the blue whale flukes when it dove, which is uncommon. Spotting spouts in the distance was fun. The captain maneuvered the boat so we could see but still keep the right distance as to not disturb the whales. The naturalist was excellent. Our tour was on the Greatland, the larger of their two boats. Tips: When we arrived a half hour before the tour time, the top deck option was already sold out. The crowd on the regular deck was a bit larger than the outside deck could accommodate. I wished I had come by earlier to upgrade. Also, I don't usually have a problem with motion sickness, but the swells were bigger than I anticipated and I did need to get outside and move as far back as I could. I recovered and it did not diminish my enjoyment of the trip. I recommend bringing some dramamine, just in case, even if you don't usually need it. Overall it was a great experience, and I would love to go again. I highly recommend Princess Monterey!

Always wanted to whale watch and got to see 3 different kinds including a Blue Whale. How fantastic is that? Great staff, great experience! Bring a coat even in the summer.

100ft blue whale!

The experience overall was quite enjoyable. While we missed some of the sightings that trips later in the day were able to see, everything we saw was wonderful. Thanks

We went out on the larger of the two boats. The lower deck was pretty crowded and other whale watchers were a little pushy, standing in front of us and letting small children run around the boat. Most of the whale action was on the other side of the boat, and we were unable to get there due to the large volume of people intermixed with inaccessible railing space where people had gotten sea sick. It would have been nice if they had someone on board who was cleaning this up. The inner cabin was a little dirty and understandably did not smell amazing. The upper deck was restricted to people who paid an extra $20. The whales got very, very close to the boat. I wasn't paying too much attention to the way that the boat approached the whales so I can't remember if we stopped and the whales got closer to us, or if we got close to the whales, but it was a little too close for comfort. Not that I thought we were in any danger, just that it would be nice to give these animals more distance so as not to disrupt their feeding. We saw lots of whales, which was nice, and the tour operator seemed knowledgeable. Still, with such a large boat, it appeared that no one was available to answer questions until the tour was almost over. Overall I enjoyed this trip, but I think I would have preferred a much smaller boat next time.

So much more than we could ever have imagined! Blue whales, humpbacks and orcas! Amazing!

We saw Blue Whales, Humpback Whales, and for the first time Killer Whales and one Ugly Sun fish, the crew did a fantastic job of walking the boat and seeing to it the passengers were comfortable, the narration was informative and most of all you could here it from anywhere on the boat . The boat was full but not overcrowded as some tours pack you in. Very professional great job, looking forward to the next trip! Leroy Griffin Clovis, Ca.

My girlfriend has, for as long as I've known her, always pined to see a whale. When circumstance brought us 'round to Monterey, sometimes we'd talk about it, but we never acted, and I always half suspected that the boat ride would amount to little more than a couple hours of watching sea birds and driftwood, a shrug of the shoulders from the captain, and a sorry, maybe more whales next time. But when the recent and unusual influx of krill started drawing blue whales into Monterey Bay by the dozens, and when the newspapers started calling this a "once in a lifetime" whale-watching opportunity, I figured it was time to go. We drove down from Oakland bright and early Sunday morning, and made the 10am boat. What we got was spectacular. Many, many humpbacks, spouting through their blowholes and flapping their tails. We got Rizzo's dolphins. And yes, we got to see blue whales, an almost mythical experience. And, for our trouble, we also got a couple of Orcas, killer whales, looping in and out of the water, which our captain informed us was about a once-a-month sighting. We even got a sunfish, quietly swimming by. My girlfriend didn't want it to end, she became emotional when it did, her longtime desire to witness this magnificent and elusive piece of nature so emphatically fulfilled. It was way more than I expected, even thrilling, really. If you're thinking about going, just go. Even if all you see is one humpback flapping its tail, just that experience of being so close to animals you never get a chance to see, just that alone, would more than make the whole thing worth it. Can't recommend it enough.

Beautiful day, the 12:30 tour started out very overcast but halfway through, the sun came out and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day! We spent the first half hour following two blue whales, which apparently are rare to see. After that the captain spotted numerous spouts from humpbacks, and we spent the next hour and a half following groups of them! It was amazing, and two actually swam right under our boat and came up the other side. We were thrilled with our tour and can't wait to do it again! The boat was full (140 people) and we are so glad we upgraded our tickets to the top deck ($20 more). They only let 35 people up there, so it is much less crowded, and you have room to go from side to side easily, because you never know where the whales will be. Warning: if I wouldn't have had a scopolamine patch on, I know I would've been VERY seasick. They do provide barf bags, but at least take dramamine if you are prone to seasickness. The patch must be prescribed by your doctor, but WELL WORTH IT. Doesn't make you drowsy like dramamine, just dry mouth. Another warning: if the sun is out, WEAR SUNSCREEN! We were bundled up in layers because it was chilly, but my whole face got sunburned, and I didn't even realize it until we got home. And I even had a baseball cap on most of the time!

Great trip. We saw a couple of Blues and a bunch of Humpbacks. The narration was good but hard to hear. Boat is surprisingly poorly designed for whalewatching. It would be natural to have grandstand style decking with multiple rows of handrails so customers would all get to see and hold on safely. Not the way it is. Outside rail sees and everyone else tries. Board early. Boarding process a little confused. Everyone has to check in even if you have a boarding document printed at home. Line forms a bit early, be early.

This was a nice tour, and the guide seemed knowledgeable.

Great trip! Saw a lot of whales, both blue and humpbacks. Captain did a good job keeping the boat at an angle where everyone could see the whales. Although it probably helped that the whales were all around us. One of the best whale watching trips I've been on, and I've been on many :)

the terrific whale watching was due to an abundance of whales near the boat. The only negative was that at the beginning of the cruise with no forewarning suddenly the guide asked for $20 more to go to the upper deck. A bit of an unexpected surprise!

Thoroughly enjoyed this tour. We saw many humpbacks and blue whales and I would plan to do this again with my family.