I have been fortunate enough to enjoy a number of whale watching tours around the world. This was my first in California.
The biologist on this tour provided useful & informative information regarding the whales & dolphins that can be found in the Monterey Bay area - Humpback Whales, Grey Whales, Blue Whales, & Orcas depending on their migration patterns.
Humpback whales are a personal favourite of mine so I was excited to see a couple of them during this tour. They were lone individuals feeding with some assistance from sea-lions.
Unsurprisingly there was little action above the water - we saw a couple of tail flukes, & the remnants of a fluke slap but no breaching or group feeding - which was a shame, but it's early in the season so to be expected.
Whilst it means the photos aren't great, I was also pleased that, unlike other tours, our boat remained a respectable distance from the whales allowing them to happily go about their business without too much disturbance from us. This is my preference & shows that the captain of our boat clearly respects these amazing animals!
We also got great views of the sea lions, & cormorants as we returned to the harbour.
So why only 4 -stars... the boat was late picking us up due to the need to refuel - which could not be helped. We are advised by the team in the office that we would get the full 3 hours. It's disappointing that we returned & docked just over 2.5 hours after we left the dock. Those extra 15-20 minutes could have enabled us to see some additional activity from the whale(s) we saw.