We went out Saturday, August 20, 2016 on the Blackfish III with Captain Steve and Naturalist Maria. I'd only been on one whale-watching excursion before, and there was NO comparison. Captain Steve had us with the whales in just 20 minutes - a beautiful group of 12-15 Orcas from resident J-Pod! Maria was quick to identify the members of the pod, their ages, and their place in the matriline (family). We cruised along with the Orcas for two-and-a-half hours...watching them break, spy-hop, cruise, and interact.
In addition to Orcas, we saw harbor porpoise, a river otter, seals, sea lions, and bald eagles! Steve and Maria let us know that our trip was atypical in the amount of wildlife we saw, and the time we got to just turn the motor off and drift alone with the Orcas. We had clear skies, 80 degrees, and very little wind. It was just the perfect day.
I can't recommend Outer Island, Captain Steve and Maria highly enough! If you are looking for an excursion to see whales - this is THE PLACE!
One word of caution - there is NO FOOD in the vicinity of the launch. Plan to bring your lunch, or give yourself extra time to go into Eastsound - a mile away - to get food. If you don't bring your car on the ferry, the best taxi service is Orcas Island Taxi run by Eric. But, he works on reservations, you'll NEED a reservation. It's expensive enough that it's worth bringing your car on the ferry for the convenience. If you don't have a car, let Eric know that you'll need to stop in Eastsound to grab some food, then go to the resort for the excursion. We didn't know about this, and went without food (except for the snacks on the boat) for the four hour trip. Thank goodness the whales were active and constantly with us...or hunger would've been an issue!