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Recent Sightings 11/15 - Large Pods of White Sided, Common
and Bottlenose Dolphin Whale Sightings for the Blue Whale Season (May
- October) 2009: 6 Humpback Whales, 32 Fin Whales, 291 Blue
Whales, 10 Minke Whales, 2 Gray Whales, 1 Hammerhead Shark Whale Sightings for the Gray Whale Season (Nov.
- April) 2008/2009: |
Blue whale
Common dolphin off the bow of the Dana Pride.
Blue whale
Fin whales. ©2007 Mokitom.com
Blue whale
Breaching Risso dolphins.
More information on whale whatching opportunities are outlined in this OC Register article.
WHALE WATCHING CRUISES
We are just finishing up our Blue Whale Season which runs May - October. We are still seeing Blue Whales and are expecting to see the first Gray Whale of the season any day now! The Gray Whale Migration runs from November - April. Each winter, the Pacific Gray Whales pass by Dana Point, many believe that Dana Point is a landmark on their journey. After spending the summer feeding in the food-rich waters of the arctic, the Grays swim south along the coast to the bays of Baja California, where they mate and nurse their young. Along the way they pass Dana Wharf, where you can witness the annual winter journey. We saw 371 Gray Whales last season!
Catamaran
Adventure Whale Watching Cruises
Monday - Sunday 1-3pm
Saturday & Sunday 11am - 1pm
Weekdays-Adults $39/Kids $29
Weekends-Adults $44/Kids $29
Come aboard our new luxurious catamaran for a 2-hour, affordable cruise
and you'll have a totally different, intimate, and unforgettable experience!
The 63-foot OCean Adventure catamaran is a beautiful, NEW, state-of-the-art
vessel with a full-service deli-style galley. In addition to the majestic
Blue Whales (which can grow to over 100 feet long) and Gray Whales, we
get the chance to see Fin Whales, Humpback Whales, Killer Whales, Minke
Whales, sharks, large pods of dolphin, sea lions, birds and other exciting
marine life. Every trip is a new experience, so be sure to come out often!
*Weekend trips include a 20-minute presentation and video on current Blue
Whale research by Marine Biologist Morgan Ritchie!*
Special half price trips available on Tuesdays! See
the half priced catamaran trip schedule now!
Evening Whale
Watching Cruise
Monday - Friday 4-6pm
Adults - $29
Kids (3-12) - $19
Enjoy the beautiful Orange County coastline at sunset on this Evening
Ocean Adventure Cruise. In addition to the majestic Blue Whales (which
can grow to over 100 feet long) and Gray Whales, we get the chance to
see Fin Whales, Humpback Whales, Killer Whales, Minke Whales, sharks,
large pods of dolphin, sea lions, birds and other exciting marine life.
Every trip is a new experience, so be sure to come out often! Most trips
will be aboard the 95' Dana Pride which features indoor and outdoor seating
and a full cash bar.
Tuesdays are 1/2 price all year long on our evening sunset cruise!
See the half priced
evening whale watching schedule now!
Private Charters & Groups
For charters or groups, please call
(949) 496-5794 x. 11 or click
here.
Our entire fleet is available for private charters for any occasion.
HOW TO BOOK
Whale Watching Adventures
Check availability and buy tickets:
Advance purchase recommended. Trips often sell out in advance.
To purchase by phone, please call our ticketing company,
Zerve, at
(800) 979-3370
Recent Whale Watching Reviews
10/26/09 "We couldn't have picked a better day.
The weather was beautiful and we saw all you can see on an outing like
this. We actually saw a young blue whale (about 70' long) feeding in an
area for about 1/2 hour. We even saw the fluke when he dove. Also saw
seal lions, pelicans and various birds. One of the most exciting moments
was the pod of dolphins (it looked like over 100) who were swimming and
playing along with and around the catamaran. The staff was pleasant and
very informative."
9/25/90 - "Our 3-generation group (Father, Mother, 2 Daughters
and 1 granddaughter) had a terrific time on our whale watching trip on
Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009. The weather was perfect, with warm, sunny sky,
very light breeze and light, glassy seas. The boat was nice and roomy,
and certainly didn't feel crowded with around 29 pasengers and crew of
4. All of the crew were very friendly and helpful. The marine biologist
on board, Morgan Ritchie, and her assistant were very knowledgeable and
added a lot to the trip. We even bought one of Morgan's excellent photos
on the way in. We saw three different blue whales, which are awesome creatures.
We also saw a mola mola (ocean sunfish) near the boat and a large marlin
that jumped clear out of the water several times, though it was too far
away to photograph. And, of course, we saw common dolphins - hundreds
of them! Many of the dolphins were accompanied by their young ones, as
they swam right next to the boat and jumped around in large areas near
the boat. Almost everywhere we looked, there were dolphins."
8/31/09 "I would highly recommend this trip
it's was great not alot of people on the boat so you have alot of space
and areas to view the whales..when I went out with my girlfriend we saw
a blue whale and 3 pods of dolphins each pod had bout 50+ dolphins..the
crew was helpful and knowledgeable bout the marine life in the area...had
alot of fun"
Read
more unedited
customer reviews at Zerve!
More Information:
Click here for local hotel informationNEW!
Blue whale videotaped diving off Dana Point
Fullerton College marine scientist Sean Chamberlin videotaped a majestic blue whale shooting water from its blow hole then heading into a dive off Dana Point, where four of the creatures came near a sightsighting boat of Friday. Watch the video.
Daily scheduled trips to
Catalina Island from
Dana Wharf
