Whale Watching Trip on Monterey Bay

All I can say is what an incredible awesome experience!!!!

We had a wonderful time, plus weather that could not have been better. I would recommend the trip to anyone.

The weather is warm and sunny in Santa Cruz for the whole trip. We could not have asked for a better day in mid January. The boat "Velocity" is very clean and safe, sufficient sitting and standing room for 60+ passengers. We bought lunch and coffee on board the boat and they are reasonably priced although the hamburger is just a bun and a piece of hamburger meat and not much else. So bring your own if your prefer something more than just the basic. As we cruised along we have seen some sea lions, sea otters and a pod of dolphins. Some of the dolphins actually swam along side the boat, allowing us to take some very close-up photo. As the boat moved further out to the ocean, we finally saw three grey whales. The boat followed the whales for a good half an hour while we took some excellent pictures of their tail displays. The crew is knowledgeable and friendly. Overall, this has been an excellent trip for us.

The boarding steps if you call it that are criminal. Have you folks ever heard of ADA Its virtually impossible for the disabled or the aged to get on or off the boat with out fear of falling. You said the elderly are welocome but your boarding equipment sure doesn't convience me.

My 20-year-old nephew and I took this trip. He was visiting from Ohio and had never been on the sea before, so we were both excited! The "Velocity" is a clean, gorgeous vessel. There was plenty of room for all of the passengers to be comfortable and, most importantly, see the whales as we spotted them. -And the Stagnero crew did not disappoint. They were professional, yet very friendly, available for questions, and gave us good information about the whales, their habitat and habits. Fascinating! Yes, we *did* see whales. We followed a couple of pods of gray whales: majestic, beautiful! Even my nephew was in awe at seeing them rise and blow. :-) I will *definitely* do a Stagnero tour again. Top notch. I had been on other whale watching and charter fishing vessels before, and this trip far surpassed all of them. Thank you Stagnero family and crew. :-)

A great trip with knowledgeable staff. Well worth it.

This was our fist time whale watching. We have been planning this trip for a long time but some reason or other we always had to calcelled. And we loved and enjoyed the whales and other marine life. We will be making this trip at least once a year now. We made plans for the summer. We both recommend this tour and everyone was so knowledgeable and nice. We will recommend to all of our friends. Thank you for an unforgettable experience. The Maciel family

We enjoyed the trip. We saw some Risso's dolphins (I think that is what I heard), 2 gray whales and lots of large jelly fish just below the surface of the blue waters. The captain and the on-board naturalist both made the trip worthwhile for me. I enjoyed hearing their explanations. They eluded with the love of the Monterey Bay area and the habitat. I would definitely go again, this time I like to see more whales and ones that are breeching - apparently breeching happens more in spring when the Grays migrate north with their baby calves.

Excellent value for the money. We will be back. Crew was very knowledgable and professional, naturalist was fascinating and Captain worked hard so we could see whales as well as dolphins, sea lions, otters, lots of birds and more jelly fish than I ever thought existed. Trip went a half hour long so that we could see more. Clean, big boat. Amazing!

Had a great time! Saw 3 grey whales, one that we stayed with for a long time and got to see multiple tail displays. We also saw a pod of dolphins, sea lions, and an otter. Very fun!