Whale watching out of San Diego area?

[Huff]

Any recommendations for whale watching out of San Diego and vicinity? We've been to Dana Wharf and loved it. I can easily find 50% off discounts making it about $20 a person which is a great value for an excellent experience. But they are 60 miles to the north. Any great deals closer to San Diego?

 

[sonnyjane]

Hey Huff! When were you thinking of going?

I used to volunteer for Birch Aquarium on the San Diego Harbor Excursion trip and highly recommend it: http://www.sdhe.com/

The catch is, the whale season here in San Diego is only from late December to early April. They don't do whale tours outside of that time frame. They do shorter harbor tours (sea lions, dolphins) but no whales outside of the migration season.

 

[Huff]

Hey Huff! When were you thinking of going?

I used to volunteer for Birch Aquarium on the San Diego Harbor Excursion trip and highly recommend it: http://www.sdhe.com/

The catch is, the whale season here in San Diego is only from late December to early April. They don't do whale tours outside of that time frame. They do shorter harbor tours (sea lions, dolphins) but no whales outside of the migration season.

Grey whales are common during the winter and spring. Dana Wharf as well as most L.A. area whale watching runs through the summer into late fall for blue whales. Is it possible the blues are close to shore only a bit to the north of San Diego and thats why they don't run from there for the blues?

 

[sonnyjane]

Grey whales are common during the winter and spring. Dana Wharf as well as most L.A. area whale watching runs through the summer into late fall for blue whales. Is it possible the blues are close to shore only a bit to the north of San Diego and thats why they don't run from there for the blues?

We're just not a good "stop on the road" down here. I did some searching and there are a few 8 hour private excursions that go out looking for Blues in the summer, but they are also $195 per person.... Think it's just too far to be worth it on a large scale, considering when the Gray's are running, we only have to go 20 minutes off shore as opposed to 5 hours!