Everything You Wanted to Know About Whale Watching and What they Don't Tell You!

I'm taking a little bit of a diversion here....just thinking that I have been to the West Coast quite a bit in the past few years and thinking that one of the things that always pops up when you are looking to go on a vacation is what is there to do?  Invariably if you do a search on Google or TripAdvisor for things to do in any West Coast city, one of the top things that people will tell you to do is to go on a Whale Watching Tour!  For example, in getting ready for my upcoming trip to Washington, Oregon and Alaska, one of the areas we were giving serious consideration to visiting were the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington.  Upon checking further into what there is to do there, one of the highlights was to take a Whale Watching Tour! Been there done that....and lived to tell the story so here it is!

Planning Our Adventure

Now let me preface this blog entry by saying that there is definitely a reason that I switched from being a Biology major to a Chemistry major after my first quarter of college back in the day!  As I have established in my previous entry on the San Diego Zoo, my husband is not a lover of Zoos or watching most kind of animals!  He is fine with the five cats that we own but other than that can pretty much take it or leave it.  However, a few years back (June 2009), we were headed to the San Francisco area for a week.  We had been there in February 2009 for a short weekend trip and had driven through Monterey.  When we were planning a longer trip for June, we checked into what there was to do in Monterey since we were interested in spending some time there.  What was one of the top things to do in Monterey......you guessed it Whale Watching!

So after several discussions we decided to look further into what was involved in this whole Whale Watching thing.  I mean...it has to be the best thing ever right?  We looked up lots of reviews before booking our own whale watching trip.  The reviews written by customers that were listed on the various tour websites were pretty skewed but the TripAdvisor reviews were very helpful. Tip:  Always check several sources for reviews of an attraction.  Check the website for the attraction but always check an alternate unbiased source to get an overall feel if this is for you and your family!


All the reviews were either really positive or really negative and the big determining factor for the positive or negative review was whether that person had seen a whale on their tour or not.  If they had seen a whale, it was a 5 star review and was the best thing ever to do or if they hadn't seen a whale then it was a 1 star review and a waste of time.  Usually with any attraction or event, you get mixed reviews and you can kind of read between the lines and figure out a middle ground.  With whale watching reviews, it seemed as though there was no middle ground.  So...we discussed the possibility of including this in our itinerary and decided that we needed to do it....it sounded like if you saw a whale there was just nothing else like it and we were willing to take a chance on being lucky enough to find a whale on our trip.

The only other thing we were concerned about was whether or not people got seasick on these tours.  We had taken a submarine ride in Hawaii the year before on a day that a hurricane was passing close to the Island. In order to get to the submarine you had to take a boat on a very choppy ocean.  Once you got to the submarine and went down about 20 feet you never noticed the chop but before that....it was horrible and the trip back to land was no better.  I spent the rest of the day trying to recover from that boat ride so believe me seasickness reports on whale watching trips was a top priority.  Most of the reviews that we read, didn't mention anything about seasickness.  Again, it was all about seeing the whales.  We checked the website....no mention of seasickness (of course they want to sell tickets!) There was a slight mention somewhere in a review of someone being ever so slightly seasick and maybe it would be a good idea to take some Dramamine before you left or purchase a seasickness bracelet at the shop ahead prior to your tour.  Ok....so didn't seem like a big deal....nobody was really sick and surely they would have written that into their review if they had been.

So with the reviews read and feeling pretty confident that it would be a great adventure, we purchased our tickets for the day and time that we wanted online.  It was scheduled to be a 3-4 hour tour.  We chose that over the longer tour as we didn't know exactly how it would be and had other things that we wanted to see during our stay in Monterey.  We did purchase some Dramamine for our trip, just in case.  We figured that it was better to be safe than sorry.  Now we just had to wait for the day of our trip to arrive and head down to the wharf area to check in and embark on the adventure of our lifetime!

Sea Lions

The Adventure Begins!

The morning of our whale watching trip dawned and we headed to Old Fisherman's Wharf to cheek in for our tour.  Three good decisions that we made were 1. Taking the morning trip.  2. Booking online to get a good time and 3. Choosing a tour on a "larger boat".  Large is relative since none of the boats are really huge but there are some companies that use larger vessels than others. 

We found parking by the Wharf for a reasonable amount and had a few minutes to look around at the various shops before our checkin time.  As the checkin time arrived, the passengers on our cruise gathered around the crew for a pre-boarding talk.  The marine biologist explained what types of whales that we might see on our trip if we were lucky enough to see them.  She also explained other other wildlife that we might see such as seals and birds.  We had a couple who LOVED birds on our trip and made it well known that they wanted to know the species of every bird out there!  At the very end of the pre-boarding lecture, one crew member and the marine biologist said that the water would be a bit choppy as it is the Pacific Ocean so if you like riding a roller coaster, the front of the boat would be the place for you to stand.  If you didn't like so many ups and downs, choose the sides of the boat.  Oh...and....hahaha...if you feel like you are going to be sick just make your way to the back of the boat and throw up over the side so it doesn't blow back on you or the other passengers...hahahahahaha.  Ok...really...sounded like almost a joke the way they were saying it so while my husband and I gave each other a look we shrugged it off and said oh it can't be that bad they were laughing about it.  We were armed with Dramamine so we were feeling pretty confident that the ride would be fine and we were going to see amazing sights so it would all be worth it!  

Time to Board!

After the pre-boarding lecture they quickly took our tickets and checked us off the list of passengers and hustled us onboard the boat.  We had been told that it would be about an hour trip out to where the whales were at so settle in and relax and enjoy the ride.  There was a small galley on the boat with tables and snacks that you could buy. (I don't believe I saw anyone actually eat while on the boat).  There were a couple restrooms that were in the rear of the boat.  We chose a place on the side of the boat about the middle so we didn't have to ride the roller coaster in the front.  You could stand by the rails or sit on benches which rimmed the galley area.  We chose to stand by the rail so we could see better.  We finally get the boat out of the harbor.  See some sea lions relaxing on the rocks.  See some birds flying around the sea lions.  The marine biologist called out the name of the birds for the bird lovers!  And we were off on our adventure.  

The boat no sooner gets out of the harbor area and it takes off!  I mean this boat is flying across the waves to get out to where the whales are.  We are hanging onto the rail and trying to find our sea legs!  As it goes faster the chop of the water comes into play and we are indeed riding a "sea roller coaster"!  Up and down, up and down, you would lose your stomach on every down.  Well about a half hour into the trip most of the brave souls who had been riding in the front of the boat were now running and I mean running toward the back of the ship to throw up, hurl, puke, blow chunks over the rear of the boat!  It wasn't just one person...it was seriously like a fourth of the passengers who were lined up along the rear of the boat just really sick!  They even had crew members assigned to the sick people!  They also had crew members with brooms that they would dip over the side and get wet and wipe the puke off of the rear of the boat or the floor!  As the trip went on, the side passengers started to get sick.  You could see it happen, they would turn green and then start looking at the rear of the boat and then start walking as fast as they could toward the back of the boat.  Then they would pick it up to a jog.  The crew members would tell them not to run. They would continue at a pretty good pace and barely make it to the back before their entire stomach contents were emptied into the ocean!  A couple times I thought the passenger was going to knock me off the rail and into the water trying to get back to the rear of the ship!  

Ok so picture this.....you are on a boat, hanging on for dear life as it goes flying over the waves with a bunch of sick people throwing up over the back rail of the ship and crew members cleaning puke off the ship as you go.  Even the sight of it was enough to make you sick let alone the smell!  At one point, my husband just kept telling me not to look toward the rear of the ship so I looked forward and some poor soul couldn't even make it to the rear of the ship and just spewed right there in the corner of the front.  That took some real cleaning up as it all blew back onto the ship!  

We were still feeling pretty good at this point.  Dramamine had kicked in and other than the sight, smell and sound of the sick passengers, we were holding up pretty well.  About an hour in, we decided that it was getting a bit dangerous to stand against the rail as the passengers were still flying toward the back so we sat down and talked to some other passengers for awhile. We sat there for awhile and I could feel that the ride was starting to get to me but still bearable.   All of a sudden, we slow down and the Marine Biologist tells us that she has spotted some humpback whales.  I'm thinking ok good now we will slow down and stop this roller coaster thing for awhile!  So now the boat goes into whale watching mode which means that it slows down and circles the whales.  This means that the boat bobs up and down on the waves!  Round and round, up and down....people running to the side of the boat to see the whales.  

Ok....first of all the whales are swimming in the water and while impressive, they are not easy to see.  We do however see the spray from their blow holes.  This is cool right?  Well....turns out the spray from the blow hole smells like spoiled broccoli!!!!!  The marine biologist finds this rather amusing that we didn't know this and people are yelling EEEEEWWWWWW!  I mean this smell was horrible!!!  So add this to the puke stench and the rolling of the boat and people are really not feeling well again!  One poor lady spent the entire time over the rail in the back. She must have lost a week's worth of food!  So we snap a few photos.  Not easy to get photos as A. the whales don't really jump out of the water and B. all the passengers are in one spot so it's hard to get between them and get a clear photo!  

A Whale Tail!  

So we continue rolling around the whales smelling their broccoli breath for a while and then all of a sudden one of the whales starts oozing this really ugly red slimy stuff!  Next thing you know it's a huge "slick" of red slimy stuff that's bigger than the whale.  You would have thought this was the best thing since sliced bread.  The marine biologist gets all excited and starts yelling...."Oh...Oh....you guys are sooooooo lucky.  Not everyone gets to see this......IT'S WHALE POOP!"  REALLY?  I have had to endure the puking passengers, the smell of whale broccoli breath and now WHALE POOP!!!  She goes on to explain that whale poop is red because of all the krill that they eat.  Now to top it all off.....some stupid birds come and eat the whale poop!!! They keep swooping down and picking up bits of it!  The marine biologist pleasantly calls out the species names of the birds so that the bird lovers can take note of it.  I look over at the bird lovers who are standing by me now and notice that they are now green and not really giving a "whale poop" about the name of the birds!!

There is a whale out there.  This is the actual view you get!

By this time I have had it.  I want to be anywhere but on that boat.  It is still rolling around back and forth, up and down on the waves.  I have stopped trying to get photos of the whales.  I just want to get back to land.  My husband is feeling the same way but is trying to hang in there.  I go and sit on the side of the boat and close my eyes and pray that I will make it back to shore without having to throw up over the rail of the boat.  We finally leave the whale area and they decide that we've seen enough whales for the day so we start heading back to the dock.  Remember we are about an hour or so away from land so we still have a long roller coaster ride ahead of us to get back.  More bumpy waters, (although seems a bit less choppy heading towards land) and more puking passengers.  

I have never been so happy for the boat to stop!  I did make it without puking which was a real accomplishment as far as I was concerned!   I was nauseated from the all the sights, smells and bumps and had a horrible headache the rest of the day but I had not puked in front of 50 or so other people!!  

At least we saw some whales!

Lessons Learned

1.  If you are going to book a whale watching trip, book online to get the date and time you want.

2.  Be aware that people DO get sick, they just don't necessarily write about it in their reviews.

3.  Take Dramamine or wear a seasickness bracelet or take some type of herbs with you to help with the     seasickness. 

4.  Be prepared to see or not see whales.  

5.  If you do see whales, be prepared that they are kind of gross!  

At the end of the day it was kind of cool to say that I had been whale watching and actually had seen some whales.  However, I don't think this is an adventure that I will be doing again anytime soon!  It's certainly something that if you have an opportunity to do, it's worth a try as long as you know what you are really getting into!