| Rating |
Date Attended [v] |
Reviewer |
Gender |
Age |
Where From? |
Group Type? |
|
Horrible experience
|
| Sat, Jan 3 1:00 PM |
raybeam76 |
Female |
20-29 |
Local |
Couple on a Date |
| I wanted to write to comment on my most recent trip on your boat. On Saturday, January 3, 2008 my boyfriend and I went aboard (pre-paid) at 1pm for the 3 hour whale watching tour. I can honestly say that this boat trip was one of the top ten worst experiences of my life – AND I paid for it! Not only did we not see any whales (only sea lions and otters which I could have easily seen myself here in San Francisco), but the winds were so strong that the waves out on the ocean must have been at least 20 feet high. I have experience with boats, my stepfather owns a J-47 here in the bay area. I’ve been through rough waters (the SF bay is choppy as you know) but I had never experienced anything like this. 20 minutes into going out at sea I was so sick that all I could do was sit with my head in my hands. I was seasick for 2 and a half hours straight. I slowly watched as one person after another came inside to lay down because they were so seasick. My boyfriend, who has NEVER gotten seasick before was sick for 2 hours straight. He threw up at least 5 times. I witnessed at least two other people throwing up on the boat. I didn’t see one person on the boat that was having a good time. Instead, the inside area with chairs was filled with 8 people at once with their heads in down or their eyes closed, extremely nauseous.
While I understand that none of these things were of your control, I do question why you guys chose to go out on such a windy day (one of the guys had mentioned that that morning the fishing trip consisted of strong winds and people getting seasick) why you would not either a) warn the patrons and allow them to go another day or b) cancel the trip altogether.
I don’t know one person that had a good time on that boat. It was one of the worst experiences of my life and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. |
|
upsetting
|
| Wed, Dec 31, 08 11:00 AM |
Roberta_S |
Male |
60-69 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Other |
| I was very disappointed in the information beforehand. When we arrived at the parking area we found that we could park on the next block without having to bring $5 in quarters and feed the meters. I don't understand why the whale watch company couldn't have told us that.
A number of passengers myself included became quite seasick. Why couldn't we have been informed that dramamine or a patch would be suggested before we came on board?
On the positive side (my wife appreciated the effort although it almost got her seasick) the captain made a very strong effort to find sealife to view. My wife really enjoyed the various animals she saw. The captain stayed out an extra-long time and went out of his way to do this. (Those of us with our eyes closed didn't get to see much.
I guess I would recommend the tour to people with the warning about the water. |
|
My thoughts...
|
| Wed, Dec 31, 08 11:00 AM |
cheolee |
Unspecified |
20-29 |
Unspecified |
Unspecified |
| It is a unique experience that is worth doing at least once. |
|
Excellent job!
|
| Sun, Dec 28, 08 10:00 AM |
jvevea |
Male |
50-59 |
Local |
Other |
| I took relatives from the midwest on this trip. We were between the end of the humpback migration and the beginning of the gray migration, so things were sparse. The crew took the boat all the way down to Big Sur on the strength of a report by radio from another boat out of the Monterey harbor. They found us two California gray whales and got quite close on a day when there was really NOTHING out there. With the cost of diesel fuel, I'd guess they would be lucky to have broken even financially on this particular outing. |
|
|
Fun filled day
|
| Sat, Dec 27, 08 1:00 PM |
cjhiatt |
Female |
60-69 |
Local |
Family With Children |
| We were a party of 13, had high hopes of which all were met.
We saw otters, sea lions, and orcas. This was a fun filled day with
the captian and DJ marking all the high lites. They went out of there way
to show us as much as they could and this was great. |
|
|
great family fun!!!!
|
| Sat, Nov 29, 08 10:00 AM |
bellasmoma |
Female |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family With Children |
| We had a great time on the Velocity. Saw all kinds of marine life, from the tiny to whale size. The crew was very helpful and smart when it came to questions, and let me tell you there were alot. Had an on board bar and snacks. We had a great time! |
|
|
Very good trip
|
| Sat, Nov 29, 08 10:00 AM |
powayyp |
Female |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family With Children |
| very good trip |
|
|
Good trip, but good idea?
|
| Sat, Nov 29, 08 10:00 AM |
zervedeb |
Female |
60-69 |
Local |
Individual |
| I thought Stagnaro's guys did a good job with this trip (except for waiting 20+ minutes for a couple late-comers). And we did stay out a bit longer than advertised. Their comments about marine life were informative, and they didn't push their refreshments too much. We saw some whales - they seemed apologetic there weren't more, but that wasn't in their control anyway.
I believe they followed applicable guidelines about maintaining proper distance from the animals, but by the time the trip was done, I felt as if we were hunting the whales and that made me rather uncomfortable. I wonder what impact whale-watching has on the whales?
Overall, I enjoyed the time on the water, even though it was a bit choppy, and the boat was comfortable. |
|
|
Up close and personal
|
| Wed, Nov 26, 08 10:00 AM |
halstem |
Male |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| We not only found whales in their feeding ground--they found us. Humpbacks did complete roll-overs directly under the boat's hull while we all watched from the deck. The whale was so close, I could almost reach the fin that rested against the side of the hull. We were all sprayed by the whales' soundings, they were so close. We also watched a group of killer whales feeding together with the humpbacks, which we were told was quite rare. We spent almost an hour in the company of at least 8 humbacks and 4 or 5 killer whales.
It was a bit uncomfortable because it rained constantly for the 3.5 hours, and there were 14 seats in the cabin, while there were around 28 passengers, so many of us had little alternative to standing in the rain for extended periods. The whale visits made it all worth while. |
|
|
much better than I expected
|
| Sun, Nov 23, 08 10:00 AM |
luenmiller |
Male |
50-59 |
Local |
Family With Children |
| I have been a Santa Cruz local for 35 years and I always had the impression whale watching wasn;t as good from Santa Cruz as from Moss Landing, which is much closer to the very deep water preferred by the more "exotic" whales like blues, humpbacks, fins, seis, killer whales, exotic porpoises and dolphins, etc.
So I resisted going on the local boat until my 12 year old son talked me into it, for lack of anything better to do this past Sunday. Besides the obligatory (and for us, extremely common) sea lion and otters up close, we saw harbor porpoises (very shy!), and a huge herd (hundreds, literally) of sea lions porpoising along feeding on some kind of bait fish. We also saw uncountable interesting seabirds, otters and sea lions miles farther out than where I would expect to see them, and vast schools of big white Moon and orange Lion's Mane jellies below the water.
We saw a couple of Humpbacks that didn't want to stick around, and then found two more that we spent about an hour with as they played around and under the boat, spyhopping, feeding, diving, showing their massive white, barnacle-encrusted flippers and chins, blowing near us, etc. If the boat hadn't been so big and elevated from the water I could have touched them with my hand. It was quite an experience!
It was easily the best whale watching trip I have had of the five or so I have been on. The boat went about halfway across to Monterey, along the north slope of the canyon, to a water depth of about 2000'. Out this far you can see many of the cool creatures in the giant Outer Bay Waters tank at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The food on the boat was simple and good but CHEAP. The Stagnaros clearly haven't learned you can overcharge for lackluster food sold to a captive audience. I think chips were .75 and a ham and cheese sandwich was 3.50. The captain and boat hand were nice, friendly, relaxed, informative without being obtrusive, and didn't shill continuously for tips (I hate that!).
Your experience will vary with the time of year and types of whales targeted and of course with sea conditions. But if you keep your eyes open and pay attention there is lots to see in the extremely deep, outer waters of the Monterey Bay even if you don't see whales. I would say the Stagnaros offer a whale watching experience and fun day on the bay as good or better than any of the others I have tried in this area. We will almost certainly be doing it again soon. |
