should we whale watch in monterey?
 

We are a family of 5, (kids 6,8,10) visiting Monterey in mid-August, wondering if whale watching is worth it since it is off-season. Is one company better than another? Any suggestions? Thanks.

We spent last Fri., Sat., Sun. in Carmel/Monterey and took a whale watch on Saturday morning. We went with Monterey Bay Whale Watch and it was fabulous (www.gowhales.com).

We took the morning trip at 9:00 am and were fortunate to see: Moon Jellyfish; Humpback, Blue and Minke Whales; Pacific White-Sided, Northern Right and Risso's dolphins; a sun fish; and, of course, sea lions and many interesting sea birds. We were out for four hours and had a great marine biologist onboard, making sightings and explaining what we were seeing.

There were a number of children onboard and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. I would highly recommend this trip.

I can agree wholeheartedly with Giovanna, last year in mid/late august we went out with the same company. Not quite so lucky with the sunfish, but hoards of dolphins (not the technical term but very descriptive!), Blue & Humpback whales VERY close.

Make sure you take travel pills if you get at all queasy - the slow rolling of the boat really gets to you when you stop to look at the sights.

By the way - Highly recommend the aquarium, my kids (then 7 & 9) loved the place!

Second the suggestion for the Aquarium (www.montereybayaquarium.org). They have a beautiful temporary exhibit on Jellyfish. We enjoyed it a lot the day before the whale watch. Saw Moon Jellies in the exhibit and then were fortunate to see them on the Whale watch.

You can book tickets in advance to avoid standing in long lines. There is a slight charge, but seems better than wasting time outside in line, when you could be inside enjoying the Aquarium.

I went whale watching in SB last 4th of July. I took a great picture of a blue whale's tail with my one time use camera. :-)
It was a lot of fun. And I agree about the travel pills. I was feeling a bit queasy as we slowly rolled over the waves.

The whales were out in force last weekend, August 1.You could see them
spouting from the back of Spanish Bay resort. It was amazing!

Are there medications that truely stop motion sickness? I get ill during eye exams if the lens are flipped too fast.So many things I'm afraid to do because of motionsickness, I would love to find control.

If you have a chance of seeing these great beasts, GO FOR IT. Your kids will be awe-struck by their size and grace.

Every so often I see pods of dolphins swimming close to shore down here in Santa Monica. Not a lot will make me stop working and just stare out my office window (it's a nice view, but I'm over it), but that's a sight I love to see every time.

We went whale watching the last weekend in July and saw an abundance of whales...We went with www.montereywhalewatching 1/800/200-2203. 10AM departure/3 hours/$25.00 p.p. We took Dramamine and wish we didn't. We were very sleepy. No one seemed to be ill. As far as the kids go, those on our boat were excited the first hour but seemed to become less interested the last hour or so. I was "done" after two hours. I'm glad we didn't do the four hour tour. All in all, we had a thrilling cruise topped off with an afternoon at the Aquarium. By the way, we went right to the Aquarium for lunch. Excellent "made to order pasta". We too, purchased our tickets online and walked right in. Have a great trip.

bodi, a friend of mine swears by a prescription patch for motion sickness; I can't recall its name, but its been discussed here in other threads. She says it doesn't cause drowsiness, and is released continuously.

Hey everyone, thanks for the tips on whale watching and the aquarium. WE are so excited and are definitely going! Now all I have to do is find this patch thing. Anyone know how to get one? We leave on 8/13 so I only have a few days to get it. Thanks again.

The patch you are describing sounds like a TransDermScop or scopolamine patch for motion sickness. I would caution you that the dry mouth and ocular effects may seem worse than a little nausea. The children may be too young for it, but your MD would know. You might want to try 1/2 dose of dramamine ...

IloveaGP: Don't assume you will become seasick (unless you have experienced this before). My husband and I had no effects whatsoever and no one else on the trip seemed ill. It's like taking an aspirin "in case" I get a headache and the side effects could ruin the trip for you.

Incidentally, we didn't take a "four hour tour" per se. The tour was advertised as up to 5 hours, I assume depending on sightings. Contrary to the above poster, we loved every minute and certainly didn't notice any boredom in the youngsters aboard. How could you be bored when you are witnessing nature at its finest and seeing all these gorgeous creatures so close by. :d

Incidentally do you own/show Great Pyrenees? We showed Afghan Hounds for many years, but have been out of the sport for a long time.

Hi Giovanna, LOVE THAT NAME, BTW! No, we don't show, but we do own a Great Pyrenees. It is our 4th and we really love them. Thanks for the info on the ship and the seasickness. I am not going to premedicate my kids or myself just because I am afraid of the side effects. Can't wait for the trip. Thanks.

Hi iloveGP:

You are most welcome for what info I could provide. My enthusiasm was bubbling over since our trip was so recent.

Please do post again when you return. I will be most interested in your impressions of both the whale watch and the aquarium, as well as Monterey/Carmel in general.

Have fun!!!

I'd definitely go - even if you don't see any whales, you will see plenty of other interesting things - the sea otters always seem to be a bit, esspecially with the kids.

As for the possibility of the kids being bored - when I was in 4th grade my class took a whale-watching field trip, and even though we were unlucky and didn't see any whales, it was all anybody could talk about for months. Even the few kids who got seasick had a good time.

What timeframe would be considered prime "whale season" along the California coast? Thanks

Prime whale season is January through about April because that's when the whales are migrating north from Mexico to Canada - this means they are closer to shore and they have the babies with them. I've seen whales from shore many times. They frequently come into Monterey Bay to feed and to hang out a in the calmer and warmer waters. The fall migration south is in the fall and the migration route is further from shore.

We will be in that area in early September,do you think it would be worth going on one of those trips or would it be unlikely that we would see any?

I don't know if you would be likely to see any whales in September, but I'd still go out either way. You will see so much from the boat that you wouldn't see from land - great views of the shore, other sea animals, plus the fun of just being out on the water. The skies are usually really clear and the temperatures nice in September, so it should be glorious out on the bay.