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

Sun 27 Oct

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $135.00

Make a reservation

Sun 27 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)

Paul_K

Aug 2018

The staff was excellent, the craft was as well. The naturalists were quite knowledgeable and gave great insights into Orca behavior and research . The experience exceeded our expectations in every way. You need to take this excursion at least once in your life, probably more than once actually!

Bobbi S

Aug 2018

Beautiful day, great ride, nice people. Don’t miss the starfish coming back after being wiped out a few years ago. Hear they grow in great abundance. (Need to go back to see).

FourBeavers

Jul 2018

Our whale watching cruise out of Friday Harbor was an expierence of a lifetime- our only regret was not booking two days in a row so we could double the fun. The staff on the boat were so knowledgeable and enthusiastic, they made the expierence for us. We had never done anything like this before, and had never been to the part of the country so were going in totally blind, but San Juan Safaris were super helpful. They called at the time of booking to answer any questions, then called again the day before our sailing to make sure we were set to go. Getting to Friday Harbor was easier than we were prepared for- we did this as a day trip as we didn't have time to stay a night in Friday Harbor. We stayed in Anacortes the night before our sailing then took a morning ferry, and had a few hours to walk around, we visited the Whale Museum and ate lunch- both were lovely. We then set sail- we first encountered seals and bald eagles, then about an hour in we found two humpback whales and followed them for about 45 minutes! It was all quite exciting. Our naturalist, Piper (who was awesome) kept a map updated with each sighting, then as we made our way back to Friday Harbor she came around and told us the ID's for each of the humpback whales we saw! That was an unexpected surprise and a really interesting part of the cruise. The whole expierence was carefully curated and easy, which we really appreciated. We were slightly unprepared in that we didn't bring hats, snacks, or anything besides cameras, really, so if we had it to do over again we would pack accordingly. It gets pretty sunny out on the water and we were sailing for about three-ish hours. Once we disembarked, we took the ferry back to Anacortes and drove into Seattle, which made for a long day but definitely do-able. We would love to re-book with San Juan Safaris someday!