Stagnaro Charter Boats

We loved the whales and appreciated the way the Capitan manuvered his ship quietly around them, overall the trip was very wonderful.around them

Thought it was a wonderful experience from picking up the phone to book the tickets,right through to getting of the boat. Everything was covered from where and when to meet ,where to park, how to pay, checking in the lady weas polite but was direct with what she wanted without been rude.Guys on the boat kept us informed on what was happening when we saw things what they were.when we were moing and why ! food was fresh lots of smiles You guys run a great whale watching tour Keep it up Kindest Regards Robyn

I didn't expect to see as many humpback whales as we did see. We saw about 12 feeding on krill out on Monterey Bay out of Santa Cruz. Maureen our Naturalist was informative and delightful. This truly is a life changing experience. There is nothing like it, once you actually see the whales you realize that it is a completely different experience than seeing it on filmed.To hear the sounds they make and see the dorsal fins coming out of the water is just amazing. They look pre-historic because they are 40 feet big and you just can't imagine how incredible it is too feel it's presence. I highly recommend Stagnaros because they are organized and experienced.

The humpback whales were phenomenal on our trip, right up at the surface near the boat. The boat itself has very little seating, about room for 15 inside, which fills up immediately when there are 60 on board, so be prepared to stand for four hours on choppy seas. The 60 people on board also means you can't walk about much or see over people, and so do miss things - with the number of whales around us this was mostly not a problem but I can see it being disappointing if there were less whales to view. Less people on the tour would have made a big difference to our enjoyment but when it comes down to it seeing the whales like they were made up for it.

Clean boat, super friendly staff w/ naturalist "on deck" for you to interact with. Capt knows these waters and what to expect. You will see mammals and more. Although a "full" boat it didn't feel that way. This company is the only way to whale watch. You won't be disappointed. Our trip observed humpback whales feeding on the surface, too many whales to count with a fearless sea lion "porpoising" among the feeding whales. Incredible!!! Will probably never see this again. Truly a "once in a lifetime" event! Will go back again to see the California gray whales and again in the late summer. Too much fun not to make it an annual event!

This was much more that I had hoped for!! Unbeleiveable experience. Captain and crew very friendly, boat nice and clean. I have already recommened it to a ton a family and friends. I want to go again!!! The whales were so close you could smell their breath, (not pleasant) but it was amazing!!

We lucked out and went on a beautiful sunny day when the whales (humpbacks) were feeding on top of the water, rising up out of the water with their mouths open catching krill. We must have seen 50 whales. The crew was great; they were as excited as anybody about the fantastic show we were seeing and were very good about providing information about what was happening. Both the guy running the boat up top and the individuals below were just great, very knowledgeable, very accessible. Don't forget to tip!

We had a wonderful day filled with sightings of otters, jellyfish, seals, and forty Humpback whales. Some so close that we could see their eyes and their entire bodies as they swam underneath the boat. Marvelous!!

My mother was visiting in California and had mentioned that she would like to go whale watching, so we googled it and came up with the website that led us to book through Zerve. The Stagnaro Family captain and crew were very eager to please the group on the boat and seemed to know just where to find the whales and why, and were very informative and pleasant with us. Our group became more and more enthusiastic about the entire trip and were very pleased to have been the happy group that got to see 2 types of dolphins and 2 types of whales on this trip, in addition to sea lions, sting rays, a variety of birds, and the landing and take-off of an albatross. It was a truly exceptional experience that I would certainly consider doing again.

Good experience.

This was the 2nd whale watching trip I went to with Stagnaros, and it was again pretty awesome. I wasn't expecting much, but it was breathtaking. We ended up seeing a group of bottlenose dolphins, some porpoises, lots of humpbacks (some jumping out of the water in the distance and three circling the boat at close range for maybe 30-60 min), two blue whales and a few Risso's dolphins. And of course the sea lions and otters in the kelp forest. This time there was a naturalist onboard who went around and explained the whales' behaviour. Really neat, I recommend this highly! But of course you should beware that there is also a possibility to see nothing - these are wild animals.

We did the trip twice and got treated on a variety of species, even 3 bleu whales travelling ashore. Amazing and spectacular behaviour of 3 humpbacks around and under the boat for more then half an hour.We whalewatch around the world and this was really spectacular. Marlou and John The Netherlands ps will soon put some footage on Youtube

We saw many, many humpbacks... "friendlies" all around the boat. Saw a few blue whales; not as friendly but awesome. 3 ro 4 kinds of porpoises finished a great day!

The boat had equipment to help track whales. I guess it worked. We had three humpbacks circling our boat and rubbing up next to it. I was completely shocked. I had brought binoculars thinking we would only see a few tails and humps off in the distance. These whales came to the boat after we had stopped moving. Bring food, water, hats, warm clothes and a camera. Buy a parking pass for the day or put at least 4 1/2 hours on the parking meter. We were out for more than 4 hours.

True, there's no guarantee you'll see whales up close like we did, but just before we finally sighted some I was thinking that this was worth it even if we never saw a one. Then we got to see humpbacks herding krill and feeding on them practically next to the boat. Sometimes when they zoomed by it would rock the boat some. Do keep a firm hold on your cameras!