Whale Watching from Friday Harbor

Overview

The best orca whale watching is from Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, just an easy day trip adventure from downtown Seattle. The San Juan Islands are considered the "jewel" of the Pacific Northwest, located in the Puget Sound.

City: San Juan Islands

Sat 26 Oct

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $135.00

Make a reservation

Sat 26 Oct

Starting at $135.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Whale Watching Cruise

Local taxes

Additional Info

Service animals allowed
Specialized infant seats are available
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
For maximum safety children under 2 should be in a harness carrier strapped to a parent and remain in the cabin
"Special Limited" tour not recommended for child aged 13 and under
Restrooms are available on board the boat
Face masks required for travellers in public areas
Face masks required for guides in public areas
Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff
Social distancing enforced throughout experience
Regularly sanitised high-traffic areas
Gear/equipment sanitised between use
Guides required to regularly wash hands
Paid stay-at-home policy for staff with symptoms
50% capacity on vessels

What To Expect

San Juan Island

San Juan Island is considered the best place to view orca whales because the salmon, which are their prime source of food (about 95% of what they eat), travel up and down the west coast of San Juan Island and outlying areas. Take this Whale watching tour and see orca whales which has been viewed on over 90% of the tours with the possibility of spotting minke, humpback and gray whales to be higher. What is the best time to see orca whales? Anytime. They are out and about all day. You will be guaranteed see marine mammals and come back with memories to last a lifetime! Enjoy the beauty of San Juan Island on an exclusive Whale Watch Cruise from Friday Harbor. Sail aboard the fast, new 55 foot MV Sea Lion (with windowed, heated cabin, which seats up to 24 guests). 40 or fewer guest aboard this comfortable boat with walk around deck.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (660)

Mmmmmmmmmmike

Apr 2016

I was up from Seattle and wanted to get out on the water and decided to try my luck on a whale watch! The reservations staff were awesome to work with and i got to explore Friday harbor a bit before our departure. Luckily they told me to bring extra layers and some food, because even though it was a sunny warm day, it got chilly as the boat was underway! The crew on the boat was great! Captain Mike obviously knows what he is doing behind the wheel, and the naturalist Sarah was full of great information and was making sure each passenger was comfortable and informed. While we didnt see any wild orcas on our sunday excursion, we did see maybe 30 stellars sea lions relaxing in the water by Spieden island, and there was a california sea lion with them too! Many of them were holding their flippers in the air to "thermoregulate", as Sarah explained. We saw lots of deer and sheep on this island as well as lots and LOTS of bald eagles theoughout the tour. We learned that the san juan islands have one of the largest populations in the US! The rest of the tour was full of more eagles, sea lions, sunshine and beautiful scenery. We got to go around the entire island on our journey! The only thing that could have made the tour better was the presence of whales, but as they are wild animals we can't expect them to be around on our schedule. Thanks for an awesome experience!

Wokameter

Apr 2016

The people at San Juan safaris were absolutely great from the booking of the trip to the actual trip itself. Sarah, Emily, and Brittany were absolutely fantastic to deal with while booking the trip. Eric and Kevin along with Capt. Mike were great on the tour. While late March is not the ideal time to see killer whales, we saw a transitory pod of 4 killer whales on our sunset excursion. Not only did we get to see the killer whales within the first hour, we also got treated to them feeding on seals and even a spyhop from one of the whales where they came up out of the water nose fist for a look around. It was really fun and the crew were about as excited as we all were. We also saw 2 types of seals on the excursion and a variety of birds too. Quite the day. I would recommend staying on San Juan Island for a least a day as well to take in the local food and culture. It can also be less stress getting to and from the excursion in a single day.

Greyling2015

Mar 2016

Even though we knew we were a bit early in the season (March) for the whales, we took the chance as we didn't know if we will ever be in this part of the USA again. As South Africans this was our chance of a life time to see Orca whales. We were so fortunate to see whales ten minutes into our trip and followed them for the greater part of our tour. We have the greatest memories of our trip that will stay with us for ever. The staff is very friendly and shared a lot of facts on the whales and the surroundings.