Needs some advice from New Jerseyites......

[Cantw8]

I wanted to take my DD, 13 on a whale watch this weekend in New Jersey (Jersey is only 2 hours away from me). Can anybody give me some good recommendations? I have a brochure for the Cape May Whale Watch Center. It looks pretty fun, would you recommend this or another one. I thought the last time I was down there I saw a speed boat tour that did whale watches.

 

[Cantw8]

bump

 

[Cebhfhionn]

I think that sounds like a great idea! We went on a dolphin watch out of Cape May about 7 years ago and had a blast but didn't see any dolphins.

I'm guessing someplace called a Whale Watch Center should know what they are doing.

Have a great time!

 

[Big Dude]

Haven't personally been on the tour mentioned but have heard they are the primere ones in the state. I usually fish with friends off of the Jersey shore and have seen dolphins, sea turtles and many other forms of marine life. I'm not sure if there are better times to see whales or not during the year. According to their site they have a guarantee where you must see a marine mammal or you get a voucher for a free trip (no refund). The link also includes a $3.00 off coupon for all adults in the group.

Hope you have a great time. This is indeed the cleanest the water at Jersey shore has been in a long time.

Adam aka Big Dude

 

[JerseyJanice]

The speedboat tour you're talking about is called the Silver Bullet. They have a website--try a search using "Silver Bullet, Cape May, NJ" and it should come up. It looks like fun, but also scary and possibly sea-sick-inducing.

There are whale watching tours that leave from both Cape May and Wildwood. We were in WW a few weeks ago, but I didn't save any of the brochures I had on them.

I haven't been on a tour myself in quite a few years. I wanted to do one this past vacation, but I couldn't tear my son away from the beach long enough. He just loves jumping the waves.

 

[minniepumpernickel]

I don't want to burst your bubble, but I've done it and have never seen any whales. Go anyway though, I did see lots of dolphins, and taht made it just as fun! Maybe you'll get lucky and see whales!

 

[Cantw8]

Thanks for the site, Big Dude. It is between this boat and The Silver Bullet. The Bullet sounds like more fun but they are only out spotting dolphin, we really wanted to see whales. I guess it's possible that a few whales might also be spotted. I just assumed that to see whales we would need to far out to sea where as Dolphins can easily be spotted along the coastline.

 

[Cindy B]

Originally posted by Cantw8
I wanted to take my DD, 13 on a whale watch this weekend in New Jersey (Jersey is only 2 hours away from me). Can anybody give me some good recommendations? I have a brochure for the Cape May Whale Watch Center. It looks pretty fun, would you recommend this or another one. I thought the last time I was down there I saw a speed boat tour that did whale watches.

I took my 6th graders on a whale watch dolphin boat tour over the spring. I think it was the Cape May Whale Watch boat.

The students liked it, but the boat went fast and choppy. Also it didn't help that when the boat captian spotted dolphins, 100 students ran from one side of the boat to the others, causing a a queasy factor.

I usually don't get seasick but I did feel queasy there. If its the same one I did, there was a snack bar, and a regular adult beverage bar there as well. They didn't stock the adult bar on the field trip though! It was about a two hour trip, and the guide was fantastic.

 

[buzzlady]

The Speedboat is the Silver Bullet but it is not in Cape May, it is in Wildwood. It is a lot of fun. We have seen dolphins, not whales even though their site says dolphin & whale watch. It's a 90 minute ride. I don't think it's scary. We have been on it 3 or 4 times. Our youngest DS was 3 the 1st time he was on it and loved it, but he loves boats and water anyway. We have only gone in the summer and that being said, it can be a "wet" ride and depending on where you sit, for some it WILL be a VERY "wet" ride. I'm not sure I would want to do it if the temp. was cool. This is a pic of the Silver Bullet and here is their link http://www.silverbullettours.com/

We did see another speedboat this past summer but I don't know where it came out of. There are a few different boats in the Wildwood/Cape May area. If your taking the NJ Parkway, stop at the Travel Information Center and they have many many brochures and some even have discount coupons.

 

[Cantw8]

Thanks for all your help!! Buzzlady, is there a "head" on the Silver Bullet????

 

[Cindy B]

My boat was not the Silver Bullet. It was a large blue/yellow boat that fit over 100 students and about 7 or 8 adults.

 

[buzzlady]

Originally posted by Cantw8
Thanks for all your help!! Buzzlady, is there a "head" on the Silver Bullet????

Yes, if you look at the picture, the yellow with black top behind the seats is the driver's console, its down under there - although I have never been brave enough to use it

The entire trip is not at top speed. Of course you will go quite slow through the marina area until you get out to sea. Then you go at a faster speed until you find the dolphins. You will stop for about 10 mins looking at the dolphins then you will go for a few more minutes back at the nice speed. You will slow down and they go through their lines about do you want to see what this boat can do - WARNING - put all non-water proof things away (cameras!)and then you will do some speed and turns and this will be the only wet part. We bring a towel in a plastic grocery bag for DSs (they love the getting wet part - I always keep pretty dry with the exception of some sea spray).

 

[HugsForEeyore]

We went whale watching in Cape May last month. There are two places that I know of to see dolphins and whales, but funny thing is that they have very similiar names! One is The Cape May Whale Watch Center, and the other is the Cape May Whale Watcher. These are totally seperate companies with two different boats. We made reseravations for the Whale Watch Center, but accidently got on the Whale Watcher, since they looked very similiar and we did not realize that two different companies operated out of the wharf! So if you go there, make sure the boat is the right one!!!!!

We also saw only dolphins, no whales. I never seen a whale on three trips on these boats out of Cape May, but fun nonetheless.