Princess Monterey Whale Watching Cruises

I took my Mom (visiting from WI) down to Monterey for whale watching on the Princess Monterey. We went on a Friday, so the packed "Weekend Crowds" were not en force. Our trip was originally scheduled for 4:30, but was changed to the 1:30 trip when low attendance and choppy water cancelled the 4:30 trip. I received a phone call from the staff at about 10 am the day of the cruise, to tell me we'd been put on the 1:30 trip. We rushed down to Monterey (from SF) and made it in time for the cruise. Plenty of parking, although it is a bit confusing. You can either use quarters in the meters or purchase a ticket from a little shack on the east side of the parking lot. The cruise leaves from the pier closer to the ocean (there are two piers at Old Fishermans' Wharf). They usually have 1 of 4 naturalists on each boat, but there was not one present for our trip. Our captain told us a lot about the whales, however, in sort of a random fashion throughout the trip. We went out about 8 miles into the ocean, total, and it WAS pretty choppy, with big swells -- my Mom actually found out she loved that and was one of only 4 people who stayed out front the whole time :) Those prone to queasy stomachs headed to the back of the boat. We saw whales :) Mostly backs & a few tails -- they were definitely there, but not playing around too much. The whales are in the area to feed, and they were down to business that day. It was really cool to see the whales up close -- just a few hundred feet away -- and the boat ride itself was very neat. We had thick fog roll in, which made it a little chilly -- especially after being splashed by the swells over the boat!

The other operator runs a trip that is an hour longer. However, the boat was modern and clean. The crew was professional. Overall, an 8 out of 10.

We had a great trip. We saw a lot of whales and the weather was good!!! I recommend this to everybody who is in Monterey!!

Since the activity was canceled we cannot make a good statement here. However, the refund was appropriate in time. Regards, Marco Pavone

the trip was great will recommend it to all my family and friends had a great time and the the crew was just as good can't say enough about it was the best.

Humpback whales put on a show of leaping out of the water. Great sight. Weather was less than great, but whale activity made up for the slightly unfavorable weather.

Experience worth taking

The crew is very friendly. We saw 5 to 6 whales serveral times during the trip. The graduate student who accompanies the trip told us a lot about whales. It's a fun trip for both adults and children.

Our family of four saw two humpback whales breach and frolick on the surface water. It is amazing how close they got. The only caution I would give is to dress warm, real warm for the trip. The wind chill factor out on the ocean cannot be underlined enough.

This was the best experience !