Elkhorn Slough Safari Review

Reviewed by CalifTraveller from San Francisco Bay Area on 8/3/09
We were less than thrilled. For the price of $32, the money would have been better spent for a full day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. When making reservations over the phone, we were told that a credit card number was required to "hold" the reservation, but that we could not pay by credit card... it was cash or check only. And when my 78-year-old father asked about a senior price, he was given a discount of $2, or a whopping 7%.

Check-in for the safari was conducted out of the back of a van. A sign reading “There will be a $5 charge for Whining” was prominently displayed. Little did we know that this was a sign of things to come. Once on board the boat, we were given our “assignments”. The Elkhorn Slough Safari folks keep counts of the birds and wildlife they see every day and pass the stats on to some organization that tracks such things. Because of an off-hand remark I had made (and the naturalist had overheard) I was tagged as a “birder” and was given the assignment of keeping count of numbers and species of birds we saw. When I politely but firmly explained that I was not a birder, and would prefer not to do it, I was told “that’s OK, you can do it anyway”. When I said “No, I don’t want to do it”, I was told, “that’s OK, we’ll help you”. Just as I was at the point of needing to get rude, another passenger saw what was happening and volunteered to do it in order to keep the situation from getting ugly. Other passengers were given assignments to count other kinds of wildlife… otters, sea lions, etc. I felt that THEY should have been paying US to gather their statistics for them. At the very least, they should have asked for volunteers rather than giving assignments.

There were games for the kids, and we did see lots of wildlife. The naturalist gave a lively and informative narrative with help from the Captain, but when asked questions that ventured outside of the canned spiel, she frequently seemed a bit lost. As we pulled back into the dock at the end of the safari, we were treated to the pitch for the associated motel as well as for T-shirts, keychains, stuffed animals, etc And of course, tips!

All in all, the attitude of the “Elkhorn Slough Safari” crew ruined what really is a worthwhile place to visit.

Member Rating: 2.0
Ratings details: Experience: 1.0 Ease: 3.0 Value: 3.0 Don't Miss: 2.0