| Rating |
Date Attended [v] |
Reviewer |
Gender |
Age |
Where From? |
Group Type? |
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Good cruise, good crew, bad directions to boat.
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| Sun, Nov 1, 09 10:00 AM |
Walt11 |
Male |
60-69 |
Local |
Group of Friends |
| Web says Santa Cruz Wharf, doesn't matter if the printed ticket says otherwise, change the web page! At harbor, need better directions. Two piers wide apart, both with what watching sign (and hard to see at that) is not acceptable. We nearly missed the boat for both reasons.
The actual cruise was nicely done, which was the saving grace. |
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we saw whales
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| Sat, Oct 17, 09 9:00 AM |
rkletterman |
Female |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| we saw several humpbacks, "the tail" a few times. we got wet and had some fun. it was great. |
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Boating as if in a National Geographic Movie!
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| Fri, Oct 9, 09 10:00 AM |
Sharontenney |
Female |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| This was a fantastic tour! My sister, visiting from New York State, and I bought tickets for this tour. It was WELL worth the price -- which was VERY reasonable! We never expected such a wonderful tour.
The boat, Velocity, was perfect. It had an indoor area with cloth seats, and a food bar where hamburgers, bacon, eggs, burritos were made from scratch! No pre-made, packaged foods -- that was a huge surprise -- and the food was also extremely reasonably priced! We expected tourist high prices. The smell of bacon lured us in to order Bacon/Lettuce/Tomato sandwiches!
The tour was absolutely fantastic-although an overcast day- and the tour director was terrific. We learned more about sea creatures in this tour than we had at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. As we traveled through the Bay, we first passed otters wrapped in kelp, their little cute faces seemingly smiling at us. Then we moved onto numerous sea lions playing in the ocean. We also saw porpoises and dolphins. We were told by the tour director that it's unpredictable for whales and there was no guarantee to see anything.
Suddenly, a couple of miles out, rising high out of the water were FOUR Killer Whales! It was almost surreal. They swam in unison, two adults and two youngsters. It was hypnotic watching them. The boat would move into position very, very close (about 100 feet) to get photos. As the whales went under, the boat then moved in anticipation of where they would next appear. It was amazing.
The next adventure was great! The boat captain announced that the sonar indicated krill, whale food, just beneath the surface. Suddenly, again so surreal, we saw the LARGEST creatures on EARTH -- TWO of them: BLUE WHALES! Out of the 2-3,000 left in the world, we saw two of them! They were about 90 feet long (some are larger), and they were massive! It truly was like being in a movie. These monstrous-sized creatures rose to the surface and their blowhole spouts appeared high into the sky. Suddenly, they "sounded" (went under to feed) and five minutes later reappeared -- they would stay on the surface for about 4 breaths, each time blowing into their spouts, and then, on the last breath, they would dive down and their massive tails would rise high into the air and then so gracefully for such massive creatures, go beneath the waves. Unbelievable!
We stayed out for nearly 4 hours! To put into words what it was like in person is impossible. It truly was amazing, surreal, fantastic, and well beyond our expectations.
The crew was great, helpful, kind, and informative. Quite honestly, I never expected such a superb whale watching trip! This was the first time I actually saw a whale in the wild. There are no words to explain the thrill.
I HIGHLY recommend this particular company (we saw other boats that seemed old, crowded and did not go out as far). Stagnaro's far surpassed my expectations. It was a dream come true. Super highly recommended! |
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We saw Whales. Yay!!
|
| Sat, Sep 19, 09 10:00 AM |
jayneconfino |
Female |
50-59 |
International Tourist(s) |
Other |
| It was a foggy morning and choppy at sea but we soldiered on valiantly.
We eventually saw a Blue Whale and then 2 Hump Backs.....It was pretty amazing but we were all willing the tails to raise up high, we didnt see much of the mammals as they were feeding.
This is not a complaint, these creatures dont play to order.
The high light for me was the dolphin, plenty of them and they bounced about as dolphin do!
The Sea Otters were lovely although we didnt get an up close view.
My son took lots of photos (Thank goodness for digital cameras) Ive not seen them yet. He was impressed but very sea sick on the way back to shore. (quite a few people were) It was choppy out there and we did race back as we'd spent qquite a lot of tiime looking for whales.
When we disembarked there werre a feew people wondering how good the trip was. Sam showed them some of his best shots of the Whales and I think they went ahead and booked
The staff were helpful, curtious and knowledgeable. Thankyou Jayne & Sam Confino |
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Great nature experience that could be even better
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| Sat, Sep 19, 09 10:00 AM |
JoggerD |
Male |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| As a bonus we got to observe a colony of sea lions which occupied the departure dock at the wharf before the boat arrived from the harbor (the sea lions' cue to scatter in all directions). We took the 10 am trip and were lucky to have a mild overcast start to the trip with the sun breaking through for most of the voyage (sunscreen recommended-- I got mild sunburn on my face without it). Although the sea creatures aren't on the company payroll, so you get what's there, in addition to whales the crew located, we were delighted with being able to view the sea lions, 5 or 6 sea otters and a pod of Risso's Dolphins.
The experienced crew was able to locate one blue whale and a pair of humpback whales for us. We were only able to sight the blue whale for a couple of surfacings. Then it apparently stayed under for an extra long period of time and surfaced out of our line of sight (camera shy, I guess). However, soon afterward we caught up with the pair of Humpbacks and the boat crew stayed with them for about 1/2 hr (even though that put us at the end of the 3 1/2 hour usual trip maximum and we were 1/2 away from the wharf). I regret that I didn't have a telephoto lens for my camera, but I got some decent photos.
What would improve the trip?: As mentioned, we had to go pretty far out to find the whales. Although the crew did a pretty good job of describing the wildlife that we saw along the way, there was a lot of "dead time" when we were just cruising to get some place. Although I think there should be some quiet time for us to contemplate (constant chatter like on Monday Night Football would be obnoxious), the crew really should prepare some insightful commentary about the sea life (maybe including animals that are commonly seen but not today) and the Monterey Bay Area-- especially to relieve the tedium of the long ride back. This stuff could be periodically output to the passengers. |
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Not To Be Missed Experience
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| Sat, Sep 12, 09 10:00 AM |
Speterson615 |
Male |
50-59 |
Local |
Unspecified |
| This was my fifth trip whale watching with Stagnaros and I loved it.
Even though the sun refused to show itself, we were treated to a brief sighting of some orcas, followed by dolphins and finally, a pair of humpback whales.
Even though these whales didn't grant me a fluke shot, I still enjoyed watching them feed and swim close to the boat.
I'm looking forward to next Saturday and yet another adventure aboard the Velosity. My sincere thanks to the skipper and crew of Velocity and all the people associated withe these tours. You couldn't ask for a better crew! |
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amazing!!
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| Sat, Sep 12, 09 10:00 AM |
NickiGwizdak |
Female |
30-39 |
Local |
Family With Children |
| My family of 5 went whale watching for the first time. My kids ages range from 8 to 15. We had a blast (minus my husband who doesn't like boats so he basically took a $40 nap). We saw sea lions, sea otters, jelly fish, dolphins and whales along with many different kids of birds. We followed 2 Humpbacks for about an hour while they stayed at the surface and fed. It was overcast the whole time and a bit chilly but not intolerable. I enjoyed the rocking of the boat but if this is not your thing, don't bother. 3 of us took different kinds of antinausea pills/bracelets, no one got even a bit sick. I can't wait to take my mom out next time. |
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Easy booking, had a fabulous time!!
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| Sat, Sep 5, 09 10:30 AM |
justk1966 |
Female |
40-49 |
Local |
Family With Children |
| It was a breeze to order and print the tix from home. Then we just showed up at the scheduled time, and yeah! Whale Watching!! LOVE IT!! |
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A Great Performance
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| Wed, Sep 2, 09 10:00 AM |
texasgal |
Female |
60-69 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Individual |
| My whale watching experience with Stagnaro's was absolutely fabulous. "Velocity", the boat we went on, was well appointed and clean. The crew was professional and well informed. The captain explained in detail how and why the whales migrate through Monterey Bay, etc. When the whales were in sight, we got as close as we could, and they "performed" wonderfully for us! The captain (didn't get his name!)was happy to remain in the area for a long time, so that we could enjoy this awesome sight to the fullest! |
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From the sea otter to the whales
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| Sat, Aug 29, 09 9:00 AM |
Vanlo001 |
Female |
30-39 |
Local |
Family With Children |
| This trip was a gift to my mom who had never been on a whale watching trip. The ships crew greeted us and made us feel welcome and the announcer gave an informative update of all we saw. We live locally and I was somewhat dubious that we would see anything. However from the pelicans to the view offshore, sea otters, porpoises and humpback whales we were pleasantly surprised. All of usenjoyed the trip. The snackbar was sparse but it's a short trip and they didn't have the sweatshirt that I wanted which was posted in the cabin but we didn't go fit the fine cuisine or clothing. All in all two thumbs up. |
