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Cheryl, if you decide to do another whale watch in Alaska, I highly recommend a private tour with Harv and Marv in Juneau. As always, there are no guarantees, but they do a fabulous job of searching out the whales and finding what is there.
I do remember looking into going with them last time and I can't for the life of me remember why I didn't. I'm starting to look at excursions for Alaska, so I'll add them to the list.
Whale watching is seasonal. The middle of the season tends to have more whales. All the boats go out to Stellwagen Bank and see the same whales, some just have a longer trip. It's not only distance but the kind of boat-big and slow takes a lot longer than smaller and faster.
My son frequents Granite State Whale Watch out of Rye ( he is a birdwatcher and they use the watches to find birds too.) It is a reputable company that lists the whales seen on it's website. My kids have lots of pictures of whales spyhopping so I suspect the boat operators are not only environmentally conscious but good.
One thing that boats do is they guarantee sightings. But dolphins are whales, too. I would wait until you are in the area and see what has been seen. Most people want to see hump backs, finbacks and right whales not dolphins and minke whales.
I have gone on many watches over the years and never had a problem getting on a boat within a few days of the trip New England can be lovely in September but it can also be pretty cold. Go out on Stellwagen Bank and it is much colder. If you wait you can apprise the weather before going.
OUr first whale watch was with the aquarium probably 35 years ago. I know it was before having children. My ex and I both loved the actual watching but did not enjoy the vomiting by many of the other passengers on the way out. If they offer to refund your money because of rough seas, I urge people to do it. It's not just your stomach but those of fellow passengers you have to worry about.
Whale watching is seasonal. The middle of the season tends to have more whales. All the boats go out to Stellwagen Bank and see the same whales, some just have a longer trip. It's not only distance but the kind of boat-big and slow takes a lot longer than smaller and faster.
My son frequents Granite State Whale Watch out of Rye ( he is a birdwatcher and they use the watches to find birds too.) It is a reputable company that lists the whales seen on it's website. My kids have lots of pictures of whales spyhopping so I suspect the boat operators are not only environmentally conscious but good.
That's one of the ones I looked at, so it's really good to get some first hand feedback.
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One thing that boats do is they guarantee sightings. But dolphins are whales, too. I would wait until you are in the area and see what has been seen. Most people want to see hump backs, finbacks and right whales not dolphins and minke whales.
I have gone on many watches over the years and never had a problem getting on a boat within a few days of the trip New England can be lovely in September but it can also be pretty cold. Go out on Stellwagen Bank and it is much colder. If you wait you can apprise the weather before going.
OUr first whale watch was with the aquarium probably 35 years ago. I know it was before having children. My ex and I both loved the actual watching but did not enjoy the vomiting by many of the other passengers on the way out. If they offer to refund your money because of rough seas, I urge people to do it. It's not just your stomach but those of fellow passengers you have to worry about.
Oh trust me, been there, done that. We weren't offered a refund, we were given no warning there would be rough seas and it was a horrible experience off the coast of California. Never again!
Most of the NE watches will give the option of rescheduling. We did not as neither of us were prone to seasickness but it made for a rather unpleasant journey.
My son has done more Granite State watches that one can reasonable count. They are a good, professional company. They have a naturalist on board and sometimes Ben and his friends, who can point out and identify just about any bird, As well as discuss habitat, etc. And Rye is a cute town with no nice beach areas. My DDin Law teaches university courses ut on Star Island ( one of the Isle of Shoals) and this company also goes to them-beutiful islands with limited people.
My cousin did a whale watch out of Gloucester and they had a great watch. One of the crew members said they never saw so many whales. I think a lot of it is chance with how many you see. I have yet to go on one, hope to this summer though.
We have gone whale watching many, many times - our favorite is out of Provincetown - you're much closer to a popular area for whales, so it takes less time to get there via boat. The other is out of Gloucester. So it really depends on where you will be and where you want to spend your time.
But coming to New England in September???? Would LOVE to meet up with you and Mark if it works out!!! I am in Mystic - any plans to visit this area??
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We have gone whale watching many, many times - our favorite is out of Provincetown - you're much closer to a popular area for whales, so it takes less time to get there via boat. The other is out of Gloucester. So it really depends on where you will be and where you want to spend your time.
But coming to New England in September???? Would LOVE to meet up with you and Mark if it works out!!! I am in Mystic - any plans to visit this area??
Oh gosh yes! We're planning on doing Mystic Seaport and may be spending the night there. I'm just working our plans out and trying not to be too overly ambitious with how much we can do - always my failing! So I'd say a meet is highly unlikely if you're around at the end of September?
All the more southern NE whale watches go to Stellwagen Bank. It is a huge area and can be accessed from several directions. As far as travel time to the area is concerned, how fast the boat is matters as much if not more than where to head out from
The National Marine Sanctuary offers information on their website. I have included a link below. To me, this is one of the wonderful things the government does (this and all the national parks and wildlife sanctuaties.
We didn't see one single whale, we think it was because we did this right at the end of the month and it was too late in the season for them. Our trip was about 3-4 hours long, very smooth seas, and very cold but gloriously sunny.
I still felt seasick, despite having had Stugeron in advance though, so be aware of that.
Their motto is "we guarantee you will see whales!", and when we didn't, they gave us a voucher to rebook free of charge. Unfortunately, we couldn't use it as we didn't have any more time to do this on this trip, so that was a bit of a wasted guarantee to us.
Our tickets included entrance to the aquarium, and we did use those. The aquarium was amazing, well worth a visit in our opinion.
So - as long as you are going on this trip earlier than the end of October, which you obviously are, you will undoubtedly see whales. We did like this company, they were very good and the boat wasn't at all crowded on our trip, (although that could have been due to the lateness in the season of our trip). The views of Boston as we sailed back in were absolutely beautiful!
Enjoy your trip!
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Silvercat
(Enjoy reading trip reports? Why not try my books, "Tiggerific Travels Parts 1, 2, 3 & the new volume 4" - available now as e-books)
Last edited by Silvercat; 02-05-2015 at 11:10 AM..
We didn't see one single whale, we think it was because we did this right at the end of the month and it was too late in the season for them. Our trip was about 3-4 hours long, very smooth seas, and very cold but gloriously sunny.
I still felt seasick, despite having had Stugeron in advance though, so be aware of that.
Looking at it, I'm not surprised, as it's a catamaran and they are usually quite bumpy I think...
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Their motto is "we guarantee you will see whales!", and when we didn't, they gave us a voucher to rebook free of charge. Unfortunately, we couldn't use it as we didn't have any more time to do this on this trip, so that was a bit of a wasted guarantee to us.
Good to know - I hadn't thought about that, I had assumed there'd be a refund. Obviously not...
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Our tickets included entrance to the aquarium, and we did use those. The aquarium was amazing, well worth a visit in our opinion.
So - as long as you are going on this trip earlier than the end of October, which you obviously are, you will undoubtedly see whales. We did like this company, they were very good and the boat wasn't at all crowded on our trip, (although that could have been due to the lateness in the season of our trip). The views of Boston as we sailed back in were absolutely beautiful!
Ok, now I'm leaning back to Boston, as seeing it from the water does sound very cool!
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If you have some flexibility, check who is seeing what and where before you book. The whales move and feed in different places at different times. Also they go south for the winter and when they leave depends in part on water temperatures.
If you are on the Cape the birdwatchers General Store in Brewster will usually have information as to who is seeing what. Bird Watcher's General Store
It is a great store and really a lot of fun to visit.
I commend the above poster for going in October. We have done other boat trips in the fall and it is cold on the ocean. I also would skip a trip if the waters are too rough.
Most Whale Watch companies will guarantee you see whales or they'll give you a voucher for another trip. I have never heard of any company offering a full refund.
Our watch was in April (I think, or it could have been May) and we saw a mother and baby humpback pair up close. And by up close, I mean "swimming along side and under our boat, we could smell the whale breath" close. That was unusual, as our captain kept reminding us of. We were extraordinarily lucky! BTW, whale breath smells a lot worse than you might think it would.
If you have some flexibility, check who is seeing what and where before you book. The whales move and feed in different places at different times. Also they go south for the winter and when they leave depends in part on water temperatures.
Good tip - thanks!
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If you are on the Cape the birdwatchers General Store in Brewster will usually have information as to who is seeing what. Bird Watcher's General Store
It is a great store and really a lot of fun to visit.
I love getting all this useful information.
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I commend the above poster for going in October. We have done other boat trips in the fall and it is cold on the ocean. I also would skip a trip if the waters are too rough.
Yep, after our experience in Monterey, we would always check what the water is like before setting sail....
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We weren't offered a refund, we were given no warning there would be rough seas and it was a horrible experience off the coast of California. Never again! 
Would LOVE to meet up with you and Mark if it works out!!! I am in Mystic - any plans to visit this area??
So I'd say a meet is highly unlikely if you're around at the end of September?
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