Whale Watching Tour in San Diego

This boat cruise in San Diego takes you on a 3-hour whale-watching tour. Our friendly crew will not only provide you with sightings of magnificent whales and dolphins on your boat cruise, but you will also have an educational experience where you can learn about these species that visit the sea near San Diego harbor. Whether you’re from Los Angeles or somewhere else in the world, this whale-watching tour is well worth the drive. 

From December to April, you can see a part of the incredible 10,000-mile annual migration of the Pacific gray whale from Alaska to Mexico. These whales, which can grow to be 30 to 50 feet long and weigh up to 40 tons, leave their summer feeding grounds in the Bering Sea and travel south to the remote lagoons of Baja to give birth to their calves. We’re lucky enough to watch both southbound and northbound migration all the way through April. There have even been sightings as close as a half mile from our bay.

The blue whale is the largest mammal that has ever lived on Earth. They can be 90 feet long or over 100 feet long and weigh up to 200 tons. In terms of size and weight, the finback whale is only second to the blue whale. It is one of the fastest of the big whales, and its nickname, “greyhound of the sea,” comes from the fact that it can move up to 23 mph (37 km/hr).  Minke, humpback, and sperm whale sightings are also likely. All of these incredible whales can be spotted 5 to 9 miles off shore feeding on our local banks.

Most cruises include a variety of playful dolphins (Short-beaked and Long-beaked Common, Pacific Bottlenose, Risso’s, and Pacific White-sided), with some pods numbering in the thousands! These dolphins will often swim up to the boat on their own to meet you and show you how amazing they are at doing tricks. Our on-staff marine biologists will, of course, have a variety of interesting marine life facts to share with you throughout your cruise.

California sea lions, Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola), and a broad variety of sea birds welcome you on every cruise. This boat can accommodate up to 128 passengers and has indoor and outdoor seating as well as bathrooms. We’d love to be able to show you real whales on every trip, but these large, gorgeous animals don’t always want to be seen. So here’s our guarantee to you: if you don’t spot a whale or dolphin, you’ll get a free ticket to join us on another whale watching tour.

What are you waiting for? Join us now on this whale watching tour in San Diego!