Vancouver Whale Watch
 

I've never been on a whale watching expedition and thought my October 9-12 stay in Vancouver might be a good chance to do this. Does anyone know if this is a good outfit to go with? www.vancouverwhalewatch.com

It is a bit pricey ($100) for 3-5 hours but they guarantee if you don't see whales you can come back free and it looks like a Kodiak style vessel with fewer people than I have seen with other companies.

October is late in the season to see the southern resident orcas. You certainly might, but there's definitely a good chance they will be out of range of the whale watching boats.

Since you don't have a lot of time in Vancouver I'd prioritize other things.

I'm not familiar with that specific company so can't help you there.

I used to work for them back in 2003, and Vancouver Whale Watch were the first company to offer whale watching out of Vancouver. Prior to that, if you wanted to go whale watching, you had to go out of Victoria.

It's pricy because they travel further than a typical Victoria-based company. It's 3-5 hours in length because they'll take you out of the Fraser River, across the Georgia Strait, over to the Gulf Islands, San Juan Islands, or the southern tip of Vancouver Island - wherever the orcas happen to be at that moment. Sometimes they're closer, sometimes they're further away. If they're too far away (if they're out on the open ocean for example), you won't see them, and then you'll be able to come back again for free in the future.

Typically they see orcas 90% of the time. The 10% are for the times when the orcas are simply too far away.

I've been on that zodiac before (the 12 seater) and it's a lot of fun. I would not hesitate to go. As NWWanderer mentioned, however, October is typically the end of the season, and weather can be iffy too. If it's too windy, they'll cancel, however, they'll go out rain or shine.

I should also mention, if you do decide to go whale watching, you're basically devoting a good chunk of your day to it. Vancouver Whale Watch is based out of Steveston, which is a cute, historic fishing village with shops, restaurants, and heritage sights. You could combine Steveston + whale watching as a day trip excursion.

That's really good insider information Carmanah, thank you so much. It sounds really awesome. However, I'll have to decide, as NWWanderer said, if I can devote that much time to it and also I'll wait and see how the weather is. I really appreciate your replies.