Whale Watching Trip on Monterey Bay

Our scheduled 3 hour trip was extended to 5 hours because even the crew could not believe the sightings; a 4 to 5 hundred member pod of three different types of dolphins that swam with our boat, another eschelon of a fourth type of dolphin, dozens of whales--about 75% humpback whales and 25% blue whales--unbelievable--at times we had panoramic views of these whales with their blow holes spouting all around us--not a bad seat on the boat--one humpback whale was very friendly entertaining us by spouting water on us and displaying himself right next to the boat by rolling in the water, raising his head out of the water to look at us and waving his fins--you had to be there to believe it.

This is a must-do adventure for locals, visitors, kids, everyone! Otters, sea lions and birds along the shore, then countless dolphins and whales just a short trip out. There are humpbacks AND blue whales out there. The blue whales are huge and beautiful, but the humpbacks are curious, friendly and acrobatic. Friends are amazed by the photos I took of whales swimming to the boat, hundreds of dolphins escorting us through the water and blue whale flukes. The boat is clean, comfortable and nicely provisioned, and the crew are friendly and knowledgable. Best value of any activity I've enjoyed in 30 years as a Santa Cruz local.

This was the best of the three whale watching tours I've taken. The whales were far off, but the crew extended the trip to make for good watching! Everyone was very friendly, and the trip was quite the success. Great place!

The crew was well organized. We saw a large number of humpbacks and other marine life. Make sure you time your trip for the season. The crew can not control the habits or the sightings....with that said the crew was most informative and worked hard to make sure we had good vantage points when we did see the whales. The outing is advertised as 3-4 hours. I suspect 3 hours when no whales are in sight and 4 hours when they are. We spent 4.75 hours on the boat...tells me the crew is looking after our experience and not worried about being paid by the hour.

I liked the trip. I saw lots of very active humpback whales. I took more than 300 great pictures. I wish we would have spent more time with the whales rather than chasing a blue whale. I did see more whales do more interesting things on this trip than any other I've taken, It was easy to book and a good value.

The Velocity is wonderful, a great way to view marine life. We saw humpback whales jumping around, flopping their tails and fins on the top of the water. We even saw a blue whale for a little bit which was rare and special. The skipper was very concerned that he held the boat at just the correct spot for the lighting to be great in the photos we were taking. He was also careful and respectful of the animals. The boat was clean and comfortable and we felt well taken care of. We got back a little late due to the blue whales in the Monterey Bay, but the skipper radio'd ahead to let parking enforcement know that we'd been delayed so we wouldn't all be greeted by parking tickets when we returned. Nice!

Excellent whale watching trip! We left a few minutes late, because of slow check-in line, but made up for it at the end. Stopped at the sea otters, then one mile buoy for the sea lions, then headed out for the whales. It didn't take long before the humpback whales were breaching and slapping their fins in the water right in front of us. Then we headed out to see the blue whales...didn't get much of a view since they stayed under water so long. The crew was very informative and just as excited by the prospect of seeing blue whales as we were. The on-board refreshments were good and reasonably priced. One warning: they tell you to bring $4 in quarters for the parking meter - bring at least $5. I put in enough for 5 hours and had ten minutes left by the time we got back.

Ship is great. Onboard staff is great. But....the whalewatching is awesome. We saw two humpback whales breech right in front of us. That is total bodies out of the water, twirling and slamming back into the water!!! Observed many humpbacks and many tails!!! Saw two blue whales which are indescribable. Would recommend this company and their staff any time. This trip was the highlight of our trip to California!!!

I wouldnt recommend eating a lot for breakfast, just in case you get a little seasick. And I wouldnt recommend this for kids that young, they wont understand the imapct of seeing a breaching whale. But other than that, I WOULD TOTALLY RECOMMEND THIS!

We're from Colorado and brought our 2 girls, 10 and 2, to California for vacation. Neither one had ever seen the ocean before, or been on a boat. Although everyone got a little sea sick, we had an amazing time on the whale watching trip. The guides were incredibly friendly and knowledgable, and we got to see some incredible humpback whales really close up. I recommend this trip to any out of towner!