Princess Monterey Whale Watching Cruises

We love the Pacific beach and waters around the Monterey Bay area and often make the trip from the Atlantic coast to see and feel something different. We almost always see whales, otters, dolphins, sea lions and other ocean creatures; the whale breaches are breathtaking! You won't see them any given day, nor can you be promised to see whales any given day. But our Operator posted a 98% success record, and indeed we saw whales playing and even breaching in the distance. I would recommend a whale watch to anyone. It is always on my top 5 things to do in the Monterey Bay / San Francisco Bay area.

Great concept and of course I understand that there can never be any guarantee of whale sightings, but I was left feeling a bit flat from the lack of commentary on the trip. 10 minutes into the trip there was a sighting of dolphins, but after that we just headed out and then back again (3hrs in total) with no further commentary after the dolphins, no explanation of why we were looking in that particular area, no information on the whales we were looking for and no comments on the likelihood of finding any whales. With a marine biologist on board I was expecting a more informative trip. I'd do it again, but I wouldn't get my hopes up too high beforehand.

The Whale Watch was a fun activity and is appropriate for any age group. I had a senior citizen with me and she was enjoyed it as much as I did. Other groups on the boat were there with small children and they seemed to enjoy their afternoon as well. The departure location was easy to find on the pier. The staff was friendly. Bring a jacket or two as the wind made our trip (in June) chilly.

Went Whale watching a year earlier on a much smaller vessel. We were able to get up close and see the Whales just feet off the side of the boat. This vessel was far to big to get close to the animals without scaring them off.

I had a wonderful trip on the 4th June, was lucky enough to see Humpback and Killer Whales the crew were very knowledgeable and did their utmost to find the whales. This was a very highly recommended trip. Thanks Geoff Lipscombe

I went on a cruise with my two children. Despite the fact that it was very foggy, we saw some dolphins. Our captain coordinated with other boats out there so we managed to see a blue whale, which was the biggest adventure for my children.

So far I have seen whales on all 3 whale watching excursions I have been on out of Monterey. I know it is not guaranteed, so I guess I am lucky to have experienced a whale sighting every time. It's such an interesting and fun experience, I highly recommend everyone try it at least once.

I booked the Whale Watching tour last minute, never thought about it but my husband and I were planning a trip to San Francisco and were looking for stuff to do so at the last minute, I booked the tickets. I absolutely loved it and honestly it fell in our "favorite thing" on our trip. The tour guide was awesome and funny. They knew exactly where to go and were very educated and everything was just awesome. Thanks so much!!!

The only thing that I would change is that I would have shown up earlier for the 10AM trip. We showed up for a later trip and there is less going on in the water.

It was a little early in the morning for the uber enthusiasm of the tour guide but they made it easy to check in, board the boat, and get going. The ride out of the bay to the open ocean had nice scenery and we saw lots of sea lions and otters along the way. The skipper must have radioed ahead (another boat was already out) because he knew exactly where to go to see several humpbacks gracefully moving along while feeding. Often we heard the whales blow before we actually saw them arch over and submerge again. Suddenly the boat's engines revved, we turned around, and beelined for a spot nearby. There we found a large pod of Risso's Dolphins milling around. There may have been as many as 100 of the large dolphins and occasionally they would jump or slap their fins and tails on the water. They were all around the boat in subgroups of 3-6 animals. We then motored down the coast a couple miles and after a few minutes of watching, we were treated to the huge tail fluke of a great Blue Whale arcing completely out of the water as he dove for the depths. After a 15 minute wait we saw him again several times as he spouted and cruised along the surface. We definitely got our money's worth.

This was well worth it.

The crew were friendly and informative. It was a great trip. My husband and I went on another whale watching tour the next day with a different company and the other boat got much closer to the whales.

A lot more fun than I expected! The woman who narrated the trip was very fun and knowledgeable. Make sure you take some motion sickness pills beforehand since the trip out there can be bouncy. But was a great experience and would love to go again!

First and foremost this is a whale watching trip. It is very basic, the elements are cold, the water choppy and unsettling to many stomachs, but mission accomplished. The captain found 2 Humpback whales and we got to watch them for about 45 minutes during which time, the calf put on a great show breaching out of the water and rolling something like 30 times!! Very exciting. If I were going again, and I would, I would dress warmer. Gloves and hat are recommended; A warm, windproof coat is a must. Warm shoes and long pants are also a must. Also, if you have a quesy stomach, ask yourself if seeing whales is worth losing your lunch. 1/3 of our trip did lose their lunch. All in all, this trip was a thrill. I had never seen a whale up close, and live like that this, so mission accomplished! THANKS!!!!!!!!!!

We went on a whale watching cruise on the Princess. We were only expecting to see dolphins at the most. We were not dissappointed at all. Dulphins were jumping right on the side of our boat. Then to our surprise, we saw a humpback and her calf. Then we saw 2 other humpbacks besides the momma and baby. The biologist on the boat was really great too. If you go to Monterey, take the whale watching trip. You wont be dissappointed.