capecod73

Yet another of my random question posts in an attempt to nail down our 2018 family vacation.

One thing I'd really like to see are Orca whales...so I'm thinking of using that as a starting point for our vacation next summer. Where's an ideal place to do this on the west coast? I'd want to spend two-three days somewhere we could see them and also enjoy the outdoors...we have active teen boys and this would be part of a two week vacation. TIA!

xcountry

I can’t say it’s the best as we haven’t been everywhere but we just saw several Orcas off the east coast of Vancouver Island. Near Campbell River and up further north at Telegragh Cove. The boys also saw grizzlies and our motel was visited by a cougar.

capecod73

Ooh - where did you stay?

xcountry

We stayed in Campbell River for orcas, humpbacks and grizzlies. Note that the grizzlies are a two hour boat ride away and they only show up for the salmon starting in late August. We stayed in Port McNeil to see orcas and humpbacks at Telegragh Cove.

http://blog.hellobc.com/top-5-placed-spot-whales-bc/

Kathie

I've seen Orcas from the ferries to/from the San Juan Islands many times. You can also take whale-watching trips from Friday Harbor and other nearby ports. That whole area from the US San Juan's though the Canadian San Juan's and along the coast of Vancouver Island are prime whale-watching locales.

janisj

Saw many on a cruise from Vancouver to Alaska

traveler24

San Juan Islands..apparently there are several pods that stay in this area.
Friday Harbor has companies that provide tours.

starrs

Take a look at this kayak company -
https://www.outdoorodysseys.com/envi...uan-islands-2/

This particular company and trip is at the top of my bucket list!

SusieQQ

San Juan Islands! We took a boat trip out of Bellingham.

Gardyloo

If this part of a two-week vacation, then I'd fly to Seattle, get a car and do a loop like this - https://goo.gl/maps/pdKVNtmepTw .

This starts with a visit to the Boeing Everett factory, home of the big jets and the biggest building in the world. You'd then cross to Whidbey Island and visit two state parks, Fort Casey with its cool lighthouse and coastal defense gun batteries, and Deception Pass, the scenic narrow gap between Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands.

You'd then take the Washington State ferry through the San Juan Islands to Victoria BC. There are several whale watching services in Victoria (they see the same whales as the boats from Friday Harbor in the San Juans) including the well-known Prince of Whales operation. In addition, Victoria offers terrific sightseeing - the beautiful Inner Harbour area, the wonderful Royal BC museum, a nice wee Chinatown... a pleasant place for a day or two.

Then ride the ferry across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Port Angeles on the Olympic peninsula, and spend three or four days exploring Olympic National Park. Visit one or more of the fabulous beaches out in vampire country near La Push, as well as the (amazing) Hoh Valley rain forest. See some waterfalls and beautiful Lake Crescent before visiting Hurricane Ridge on the edge of the park's wilderness interior.

Then back to Seattle via the Bainbridge Island ferry.

This is a superb loop, full of beautiful country, terrific variety, lots of activities for teens and their parents, and of course you'll see whales (also probably seals, elk, deer...)

jamie99

I was going to suggest Monterey, CA but per Google they normally migrate December to April.

rncheryl

Boat ride from Juneau during our Inside Passage cruise. Literally dozens of sightings, as well as a group bubble feeding. Amazing

emmajm

I recommend Maya's Legacy whalewatching out of the west side of San Juan Island. We saw two pods of orca, they came very close to our boat. We saw orca from the ferry, but distant. We took another boat tour out of Friday Harbor that was disappointing.

We've seen orca in Monterey Bay, but it is much less likely to find them.

If I were to do it again I would book two trips with Maya's a couple days apart because luck is part of it.

capecod73

Thank you all for the information! I need to balance this trip between nature and amusement parks/relaxing time (my family never makes trip planning easy). Looking at gardyloos suggestion as a jumping off point, what would be a good 5 day plan for the area? We would likely then fly to southern CA for Disneyland and perhaps a few beach days...

MoonFish

I've seen Orca's from San Juan Islands to Moorea, Tahiti..

Whidbey Island is a great place to eat, drink and see whales of all kinds.

Patty

December through April is the gray whale migration season in Monterey Bay. I've seen orcas here in Monterey Bay as well but we don't have resident pods so they tend to be here today, gone tomorrow. The odds of seeing them are greater in spring and fall. In spring orcas are here to hunt gray whale calves on their northbound migration. Other whale species can be reliably seen year round, just not orcas.

Kathie

Orcas usually are migratory. But we do have a resident pod of Orcas in Puget Sound, so they can be seen year around (subject to luck, of course).