My wife and I recently had the pleasure of taking a whale and dolphin watching tour while on a short vacation in Monterey California.
There are several different companies to choose from and we picked Discovery based on other reviews I checked.
We arrived 30 minutes prior to departure as instructed (reservations were made the day before, and I recommend making them as there seemed to be a lot of interest in the tour). We spent the time watching the seals and sea lions and visiting with fellow tourists.
As a side note we were recommended to take some meclizine ahead of setting off due to rough seas that were expected. This turned out to be good advice for those of us without a lot of experience on the open water as several people got pretty sea sick.
On the way out the staff informed us they were going out a bit further than usual because there were recent sitings of Killer whales.
The first thing we encountered were Rizzo dolphins. They were beautiful and fun to watch, and they had fairly recent newborns amongst them. They look quite a bit different from the dolphins we've seen during our Atlantic and Gulf tours.
After going out about 10 miles we finally saw our first whales. I want to warn that the review gets a bit graphic describing what we witnessed next. Remember, you are out to see nature and it's not always a Disney film!
We came upon 6-8 Killer whales that had just found and were starting to attack a Gray whale and her baby. I will leave out the details, but I'll just say it was the most phenomenal and amazing show I've ever witnessed with animals. It was like watching a National Geographic show live before my eyes!
We were told by the marine scientist on board that he had only ever seen that happen 3 or 4 times in twelve years of his career and for newbies like us it was comparible to winning the lotto!
We turned back after spending quite a while watching the attack carry out. On the way we saw two Humpback whales. They were spectacular! It was so beautiful watching them rise and dive, seeing their huge tails follow them below the surface. We also saw a few more pods of the Rizzo dolphins.
The staff spent time with everyone individually on the return trip taking time to answer any questions we might have about what we saw or about the local wildlife. They were very friendly and knowledgeable. I learned a lot from them.
I highly recommend Discovery Whale Watch. It's a few hours well spent that you will never forget!