|
|
© Gill
Sinclair 2002
Orca gather at Tysfjord
in Norway to feast on herring from
October to January
|
It may sound
obvious,
but a successful whale-watching holiday depends
on being in the right place at the right
time. Many species, especially the large
baleen whales, are highly migratory. Some toothed
cetaceans also move around to some extent to exploit
food sources.
Established and experienced holiday companies
know the right time and place for each species, so
even if you intend to travel independently,
their websites are a great source of information.
We have also included on this page short reviews of
some specific destinations.
Holiday
companies
|
Naturetrek
This
friendly company offers a huge range of mostly bird-watching and
botanical holidays, but does also operate some
whale-watching tours. As well as short breaks to Norway and
Spain/Gibraltar,
there are longer tours to Mexico's Baja California (live aboard)
and western Australia. Be aware that Naturetrek's origins are in
bird-watching and even those tours that are promoted as mammal-focussed
can have quite a heavy birding emphasis. If you're not a birder
this can be a bit frustrating.
|
© Naturetrek 2003
|
Discover the World
Although
Discover the World no longer specialises in whale-watching
holidays, they can organise tours to New Zealand, Iceland
and Norway which include whale-watching excursions and other
wildlife encounters.
|
©
Discover the World 2003
|
Out
of the Blue
Out of the Blue was originally part of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation
Society (WDCS), but its holidays are now delivered through the commercial tour company
Oceans Worldwide. Part of the profits are still used for the cetacean conservation and welfare
work of WDCS,
but the already quite high prices have increased further now that
Oceans Worldwide needs to make a commercial profit too. All of the
tours are cetacean-focussed, and the short breaks
in Wales and Scotland are a good introduction
to whale-watching for UK-based whale-watchers.
|
© Out
of the Blue 2003
|
Destinations
This section
includes brief reviews of some good whale-watching locations.
|
Laguna Ojo de Liebre, Mexico
Cetaceans: grey
whale, bottlenose dolphin.
Other wildlife
seen: California sea lion,
brown pelican, osprey.
Best time to
go: January to March.
Whale-watching
operator: Baja Jones Adventure
Travel
For more photographs, go to Gentle Giants in Mexico.
|
© Gill
Sinclair 2004
Baby grey whale,
Laguna
Ojo de Liebre
|
Bimini Islands,
The Bahamas
Cetaceans:
Atlantic spotted dolphin, bottlenose dolphin.
Other wildlife
seen: nurse shark.
Best time to
go: May to October.
|
© Gill
Sinclair 2005
Atlantic spotted dolphins,
Bimini Islands
|
Cetaceans: orca,
Pacific white-sided dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, Risso's
dolphin, Northern rightwhale dolphin, Dall's porpoise,
harbour porpoise, humpback whale, blue
whale, fin whale.
Other
wildlife seen: sea
otter, harbour seal, Northern elephant
seal, California sea lion, brown pelican, ocean
sunfish.
Best
time to go: July to September
for blue whales. January to March for grey whales.
Whale-watching operator:
Monterey
Bay Whale Watch
Detailed
review: The Real Cast of Baywatch 
(103KB, 3 pages)
(You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view pdf files. Click
on the Get Adobe Reader icon to download it free.) 
For more photographs, go to Marine Mammals of Monterey Bay.
|
Bay of Fundy, Canada (from New Brunswick)
Cetaceans: Northern
right whale, humpback whale, harbour
porpoise.
Other wildlife seen: North
American beaver, grey squirrel.
Best time to go: July to
September.
Whale-watching
operator: Whales-n-Sails Adventures
|
© Gill
Sinclair 1999
Northern right whale,
Bay of Fundy
|
Bay of Fundy, Canada (from Nova Scotia)
(reviews by Corinna Edgar and Andrew Halcro-Johnston)
Cetaceans: humpback whale, minke whale, harbour
porpoise.
Other wildlife seen: harbour seal.
Best time to go: June to October.
Whale-watching
operators:
Mariner Cruises (Brier Island)
Pirate's Cove (Long Island)
Ocean Explorations (Long Island). |
© Corinna Edgar 2007
Humpback whale,
Bay of Fundy
|
Tysfjord, Norway
Cetaceans:
orca.
Best time to
go: October to December.
Whale-watching
operator: Orca Tysfjord
Gibraltar
Cetaceans: common dolphin,
striped dolphin.
Best time
to go: May to October.
Whale-watching operator:
The Original
Dolphin Safari
Moray Firth,
Scotland
Cetaceans: common dolphin (an unusual
sighting at this location), bottlenose dolphin.
Best time
to go: May to September.
Whale-watching operator:
Ecoventures
|
© Gill Sinclair
2002
Whale-watching boats
at Tysfjord
© Gill
Sinclair 2006
Common dolphin,
Moray Firth
|
Dominica
Cetaceans: sperm
whale, pantropical spotted dolphin, bottlenose
dolphin.
Best
time to go: December to April.
Whale-watching
operators:
Anchorage Hotel
& Dive Centre
|
© Gill Sinclair
2006
Bottlenose dolphin,
Dominica
|
Cetaceans: humpback
whale, fin whale, minke whale,
Atlantic white-sided dolphin, long-finned pilot
whale.
Other wildlife
seen: ocean
sunfish.
Best time
to go: May to September.
Whale-watching
operator: Capt. John
Boats
|
© Gill Sinclair
2004
Long-finned pilot whales,
Cape Cod
|
Snaefellsnes Peninsula,
Iceland
Cetaceans: blue whale, minke whale,
humpback whale, orca, white-beaked dolphin, harbour porpoise.
Best time to go: June to August.
Whale-watching
operator: Seatours
Note: Seatours is not currently offering whale-watching tours.
|
© Gill
Sinclair 2001
Humpback whale,
Snaefellsnes Peninsula
|
Saldanha Bay, South Africa
Cetaceans: Southern
right whale, Heaviside's
dolphin.
Other wildlife
seen: Cape fur
seal, Cape porcupine, Cape rock
hyrax, springbok,
yellow mongoose, jackass penguin.
Best time
to go: July to November.
Note: the
usual tourist 'hot spots' are
Lambert's Bay and Hermanus, to the North and
South of Saldanha respectively.
Cardigan Bay, Wales
Cetaceans: bottlenose dolphin,
harbour porpoise.
Best time
to go: May to
September.
Whale-watching
operator: Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre
|
© Gill
Sinclair 2002
Southern right whale,
Saldanha Bay
|
Isle of Mull, Scotland
Cetaceans: harbour porpoise
(no luck with minke whales).
Other wildlife
seen: harbour seal, European
otter, red deer, Atlantic puffin.
Best time
to go: May to
September.
Whale-watching
operator: Sea Life Surveys
Loch Gairloch and The Minch, Scotland
Cetaceans: harbour porpoise
(still no luck with minke whales).
Other wildlife
seen: grey seal.
Best time
to go: June to September.
Whale-watching
operator: Hebridean Whale Cruises
|
© Gill
Sinclair 2000
Atlantic puffin,
Treshnish Islands, near Isle of Mull
|
Nova Scotia (south shore), Canada
Cetaceans: fin whale.
Other wildlife seen: harbour seal, grey seal.
Best time to go: July to
September.
Whale-watching
operator: Lunenburg Whale Watching Tours |
© Gill
Sinclair 2007
Harbour seals, Nova Scotia south shore |
Faial and
Pico Islands, The Azores (review by
Karen Debler)
Cetaceans:
sperm whale, common dolphin, striped dolphin, bottlenose
dolphin, Risso's dolphin.
Other wildlife
seen: loggerhead turtle.
Best time to
go: April to May for migratory rorqual whales (humpback,
blue, fin, sei, Bryde's, minke).
June to September
for resident sperm whales and dolphins (Atlantic
spotted, common, striped, bottlenose, Risso's).
Whale-watching
operators:
Peter
Cafe Sport (Faial)
Espaco
Talassa (Pico).
|
© Karen Debler 2005
Sperm whale, The
Azores
|
La Gomera, The Canary Islands (review by
Karen Debler) (detailed review)
Cetaceans (October): bottlenose
dolphin, Atlantic spotted dolphin, pilot whale.
Best time
to go: March to May for migratory rorqual
whales as well as the resident dolphins and pilot whales.
Whale-watching operator: Club de Mar
|
© Karen Debler 2006
Bottlenose dolphin,
The Canary Islands
|
Marlborough Sounds, Kaikoura
and Milford Sound,
New Zealand
(review by
Karen Debler) (detailed review)
Cetaceans: sperm whale, dusky dolphin,
Hector's dolphin, bottlenose
dolphin.
Other wildlife
seen: New Zealand fur seal, New Zealand sea lion.
Best time
to go: December to February.
Whale-watching
operators:
Dolphin Watch Ecotours (Marlborough
Sounds)
Whale Watch Kaikoura
Dolphin Encounter (Kaikoura).
|
© Karen Debler 2004
Sperm whale, Kaikoura
|
|
Flinders Bay and Geographe
Bay, Western Australia
(review by
Heidi Palmer) (more information)
Cetaceans: humpback, Southern right
whale, blue whale.
Best time to
go (Flinders Bay): June to September.
Best time to go (Geographe Bay): September to
December.
Whale-watching
operator: Naturaliste Charters
|
© Tangaroa Blue/Naturaliste Charters
2004
Southern right whale,
Flinders Bay
|
Cape
Clear Island, Ireland (review by
Padraig Whooley)
Cetaceans: harbour porpoise, common dolphin,
Risso's dolphin, minke whale, other
species occasionally.
Best time to
go: all year, but October to January best for
larger cetaceans such as humpback, fin
or sei whales.
Other wildlife seen: grey
seal.
Whale-watching operator: Whale Watch with Colin Barnes
|
Travel