My wife wanted to go on a whale watching tour for her birthday, so I checked out the possibilities in Orange County and saw that Capt. Dave's was the highest rated. They operated out of a roof-top floor of a building at Dana Point where there are lots of tables and this is the place to eat your picnic lunch or have your drinks. There is no way you could hold an open drink, or cut a piece of cheese while on the boat. There is way too much movement.
Although, this is billed as a sailboat, it is under motor power the entire way and the open netted area in the bow, will get you wet all the way up to your bum, so beware of the splash zone and do not wear good shoes on this trip. Mine are still drying out.
Although, some interesting whale facts was shared during the 2.5 hour trip, I was not terribly impressed with the monologue from Captain Steve. I thought there was going to be a marine naturalist on board?.
The boat is super cool in that it has two under-water viewing pods used exclusively when there are dolphin sitings, as the dolphins will swim in sync with the bow of the boat allowing you a great view from underwater. There are two pods and only two people at a time can view from the pods, so you get 2-3 minutes and then have to move along.
The whale spotting was a game of hide and seek. We would spot the Blue Whales, race toward them...they would submerge for 10 minutes, we would wait...they would come up again, far away and we would race to them only to have them submerge just before we could reach them. So, yes we did see whales, but we did not get very close.
The family did have a good time. We are not disappointed with the service provided. It may be a bit overpriced, but isn't everything in CA? There are other whale watching boats at Dana Point, but none with under-water viewing pods. That was the thing that set this tour apart from the rest and it is the main reason I would recommend Captain Dave's.