There’s something magical about seeing these huge sea creatures, whether it’s a humpback whale crashing through the waves or a gray whale and her calf slowly breaking the surface of the water. Whale watching has become one of the most popular ways to see wildlife around the world, and there have never been more chances to see these sea giants than there are right now.
Whales can be seen in every ocean, but tours in some places are better than others for seeing whales. Here are some of the best places to get close to a friendly giant and have a great time.
List of Best Whale Watching Tours Around the World:
San Juan Islands / Vancouver
In the spring, pods of orcas moving north along the Pacific Coast swim into Puget Sound in Washington state. The best place to see orcas has always been around Orca Island, which is part of the San Juan Islands. However, orcas also swim in the waters around Vancouver.
About 80 orcas stay in the Sound all summer to eat salmon, and people who know how to watch whales can tell which ones are which just by looking. You might also see grey whales, minke whales, and humpback whales. On tours with open-air zodiac boats, people can see wildlife up close.
Reykjavik / Iceland
With the chance to see humpback, minke, and blue whales, as well as white-beaked dolphins and porpoises, it’s not hard to see why sea animal lovers are flocking to Iceland in droves. In Iceland, you can take a boat tour to see whales in Husavik, Dalvik, and Hauganes, as well as in the city, of Reykjavik.
Some of the tours that go from Reykjavik to Faxafloi Bay on Icelandic wood boats, some of which are schooners, stop at Faxafloi Bay. Whales often come close to the boats, so people on board can expect to have some unique experiences.
Hervey Bay
Hervey Bay in Queensland, Australia, is known as the home of humpback whales. During the summer, the busy and curious whales spend time in the waters between Fraser Island and the mainland. Humpback whales are known for the way they jump into the air and fall back into the water.
Whale-watching tours on a catamaran are a popular thing to do in Hervey Bay. The boats usually have underwater windows, special platforms for watching, and hydrophones that boost the whales’ sounds.
Los Cabos
Each year, hundreds of gray and humpback whales travel thousands of miles to spend the winter in the warm Gulf of California, which is between the Baja California Peninsula and the rest of Mexico. Los Cabos, which is at the southern tip of the peninsula, is a famous place for people from all over the world to go whale watching.
Whales can breed safely in the calm lagoons of the Gulf, and it’s usual to see calves with their mothers while on a whale-watching boat tour, especially between January and April. Blue whales and sperm whales, which are also big, sometimes show up.
Valdes Peninsula
The Valdes Peninsula is in Argentina. It is on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, in the province of Chubut. The peninsula’s curved shoreline is a protected area with a lot of seals and sea lions, which bring orca whales to the area in the spring. Killer whales are what most people call orcas, even though they are dolphins.
Whale watchers can sometimes see orcas beating the waves to the beach to catch sea lion pups. From July to November, there are a lot of southern right whales, and you can often see them raise their tails. They mate and have babies in the calm water between the peninsula and the rest of the country.
Maui
The Hawaiian islands are full of places to see whales, but the southern and western areas of Maui are thought to be some of the best. Each winter, up to 10,000 humpback whales travel from the cold seas of Alaska to the islands. When spring comes, the whales mate, have their babies, and head back north. The beautiful creatures are easy to see from dawn to dusk in Maui’s clear water.
Male humpback whales can sing for up to a half hour at a time. Their songs sound like they come from another planet. Whale-watching tour boats range from luxury boats with hydrophones that let people hear whale songs to 24-foot-long open-air rafts that give people a better chance of seeing whales up close.
Azores
The nine islands that make up the Azores group are some of the best places in the world to see whales. They are about 1,360 kilometers (850 miles) west of Portugal. They’re also a great place to see blue whales, which are the biggest whales on Earth. A blue whale can grow to be 30 meters (100 feet) long and weigh as much as 130 tons. Its heart is the size of a small car.
Visitors can see the gentle giants from watch towers called “vigias” on land, or they can take a tour boat to get a closer look. There are also sperm, pilot, and northern bottlenose whales that can be seen.
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Cape Cod/Boston
Every year, many humpback, minke, and finback whales come to Cape Cod to eat. This is why the World Wildlife Fund says that Massachusetts is one of the best places in the world to watch whales.
Humpback whales are so easy to see spouting and breaching that many tour boat companies in Boston will return your money if you don’t see any during your trip. Their long, white fins and flukes with wavy edges make it easy to spot them. The northern right whale, which is very rare, can sometimes be seen in the spring when its mothers bring their young to the area’s submerged sand banks to eat.
Hermanus
Hermanus is on the southern coast of Africa, near Cape Town. It is known all over the world as a great place to watch whales from the beach. Southern right whales come to the area every year to mate and have babies because the water is calm and shallow. Calves can be up to 6 meters (20 feet) long when they are born, and adults can be up to 17 meters (55 feet) long.
A six-mile-long cliff-side walk with built-in telescopes and benches give tourists plenty of chances to see these social animals as they raise their flukes in the sea breezes. There is even a “whale crier” in the town who tells people when whales are seen. There are also boat tours where you can watch whales in Hermanus.
Kaikoura
Kaikoura is a small town on the South Island of New Zealand, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Christchurch. It is named the best place in the world to see sperm whales. The sperm whale known as “Moby Dick” can get as long as 18 meters (60 feet) and can dive as deep as 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) for more than two hours.
A deep underwater canyon runs along the coast of Kaikoura. This creates a place where all kinds of sea animals like dolphins, seals, humpbacks, pilot whales, and blue whales like to hang out. Kaikoura’s economy is based on whale watching. There are many boat tours and light-aircraft flyovers to choose from.
Frequently Asked Questions:
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Where is the best place to watch whales?
Because it is right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Maui is one of the best places in the world to watch whales. Every year, humpback whales give birth and mate in the seas around Maui. Just off the coast, you can often see these whales breaking and spouting.
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What is the whale-watching capital of the world?Â
Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari has joined forces to let the world know that Dana Point is the Dolphin and Whale Capital of the World®.
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What two countries still hunt whales?Â
Whaling is illegal in most countries; however, Iceland, Norway, and Japan still actively engage in whaling. Over a thousand whales are killed each year for their meat and body parts to be sold for commercial gain. Their oil, blubber, and cartilage are used in pharmaceuticals and health supplements.
