We went whale watching with San Juan Safaris in June 2014. We booked the air package from Seattle on a seaplane to Friday harbor and then took the boat out from there. It was simply a wonderful experience from the flight out all the way to the flight back. We got to spend a few hours wandering around Friday harbor and then boarded the boat. The naturalists on board were very knowledgable. We were informed that orcas had been sighted and drove straight to them. The trip was about 4 hours and we spent probably 40 min getting to the orcas, 3 hours watching them and 30 min getting back. There were (estimated) 35-50 orcas that we parked in the middle of and watched. it seemed like hundreds the way that they kept popping up around the boats. The captains are all in contact so I suspect that any tour you take would get you to the whales, but I can see no reason to take any other boat--it was smooth and nice with plenty of room for everyone on the boat to watch from whatever viewing platform that they wish (inside, outside, standing, sitting, sitting on the roof, sitting on the back, front--whatever). The naturalists were very nice and answered all questions (sometimes with an, 'I don't know that" for some questions but always an answer.) They were able to identify each whale by name and tell stories about them. Plenty of literature on the boat to learn as you go. Evan a whole section of kids whale literature. If you are thinking about doing this, then do it. I know that finding whales is a hit or miss proposition and if you get a tour and don't see whales, then I suspect that you would have a different experience. If it is possible to see so many whales for so long that you are ready to go back--then this was our experience. At the end when it was time to go back, it was kind of like, "Oh, ok. That was fun. We have seen all the whales"