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Monday 8am - 6pm Tuesday 8am - 6pm Wednesday 9am - 6pm Thursday 8am - 6pm Friday 8am - 6pm Saturday 8am - 6pm Sunday 8am - 6pm

Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises

Name: Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises
Address: 269 Millway, PO Box 254, Barnstable, MA, 02630, US
Telephone: 1-508-362-6088 or 1-800-287-0374
Price range: $$$
Rating: 4.9

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Barnstable, MA
Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises

The Finest Whale Watch Adventures in New England! Whale watches sail daily from mid April till early November.
(1340)

Please visit our web site whales.net for our full schedule and to book online. Alternately you can call us at the office at 508-362-6088 or email [email protected].

06/22/2025

Welcome, summer! ☀️

We’ve been enjoying some warmer temperatures to complement some great whale sightings. Several humpbacks have settled into associations, such as the Venom-Draco duo and a trio consisting of Mend, Woodwind, and Campground. Subterranean has spent most of her time alone, while Spell made a brief appearance before moving on again.

The gray seals have still been hanging out with the whales, too! We’re wondering if they are working in tandem with the whales or if the animals all happen to be forging on the same fish.

We’ve also seen plenty of indications of human impact, including entanglement scars and some healed propeller scars on Spell’s fluke (first photo).

We’re one week away from our extended trip, and after hearing about the programs that our guest experts have put together, we’re super excited! Tickets are still available at whales.net.

06/20/2025

Gray seals have been stealing the whales’ thunder lately, but we’re ok with it! While we often see gray seals and occasionally harbor seals on our whale watches, each trip in the last week or so has brought us sightings of at least 25 seals. Primarily zipping around seeking out fish to eat, some of them cruise by the boat and do a bit of people watching.

🦭 True seals do not have external ear flaps, like sea lions do. (We don’t have sea lions in our waters).
🦭Considered semiaquatic marine mammals, it’s equally likely to see a seal taking a rest on a beach or rocks as it is to see them offshore. Concerned about a potentially stranded seal? Contact your local stranding response team (last slide) and they will ask you questions to determine if the animal needs help!
🦭Speaking of finding a seal on the beach, viewers should stay at least 50 yards/half a football field away. It might not seem like a big deal, but the stress of people and dogs getting too close really does take a toll. Additionally, being scared into the water might disrupt their rest or avoidance of a nearby shark 🦈
🦭Like all marine mammals, seals don’t drink water; instead it comes from removing and recycling water from their food.
🦭Seals have highly developed whiskers, similar to those on a cat. They are likely useful for detecting pray deep in the water.

Even though we are a “whale watch”, we consider our trips wildlife tours and are always thrilled to see our pinniped friends!

📷: Kali Palmer/Laura Lilly

06/16/2025

We continue to have a large number of whales on every trip, but now we’ve been adding fin whales and gray seals to the sightings lists!

Naturalist Kali reported lots of surface activity on a gloomy day, proving the activity is just as spectacular even when dodging rain drops. Breaching and flipper slapping wowed the crowd all afternoon on Saturday.

There have been many gray seals out and about, with many of them choosing to approach the boat and thrill passengers. The fin whales have been a stunning sight, with their massive size and graceful movements.

We’ve also caught glimpses of the fish the whales have been eating- check out the last photo to see a small school of sand lance.

Humpbacks in recent days include:
Venom
Tau
Draco
Woodwind
Ventisca
Firefly
Sprinkles
Campground
Strike
Mend
Yarrow

We’re continually adding to the list of whale names and expect to reach 100 IDs well before we even reach the end of June! Will you be joining us?

06/15/2025

Shout out to all the dads out there! We want to wish a Happy Father’s Day to the dads, stepdads, and father figures everywhere. 💙❤️

And for those who can use a little extra light today, we see you, too. 🩵🤍

We celebrate and appreciate all you do for the next generation of whale lovers!

06/13/2025

Smile, the weekend’s almost here! Can you see it?😏

06/11/2025

Sightings can’t stay this hot, can they? That’s what we keep saying but there’s no sign of activity slowing down any time soon. We are grateful and enjoying every minute!

Cooperative bubble feeding, curious interactions, and breaching are just a few of the behaviors that we’ve observed. Atlantic white sided and even 💥bottlenose dolphins 🐬 have been occasional sights, along with fin whales, minke whales, harbor porpoise, and lion’s mane jellies.

The shearwaters are starting to move in, notably sooty and Manx, and we’ve been seeing more and more Wilson’s storm petrels. And the gray seals! There have been SO many, both on the beaches and offshore with the whales.

Now for the whale names. It seems like a few new whales pop up, we see them for a few days, then another batch moves in. The list is getting LONG; as of this post, the next whale identified will be #100 for 2025, and we’re only three weeks in!

Entropy
Hangman
Skydancer
I.T.
Buzzard
Leukos
Osprey
Trailhead
Sprinkles
Woodwind
Cruiser
Face-Off
Woodwind
Campground
Ventisca
Venom
Pleats
Glo-Stick
Firefly
Greenbean
Springboard
Ursa
Hippocampus
Gladiator
Palette and calf
Giraffe and calf
Egret
Satula
Lavalier
Lamp
Strike
Pixar
Circus
Osprey
Trailhead

If you’ve been thinking about another trip, we strongly recommend taking advantage of the activity, because as you probably know, the whales are wild animals and sighting patterns can change quite quickly! 🐋

06/10/2025

We have some sea turtle fans on board today! Here’s an update from our friends at the New England Aquarium Turtle Rehab Facility. They take great care of the sea turtles that strand on Cape Cod in the fall. Once the turtles receive a clean bill of health, they are returned to the wild. 🐢

06/09/2025

On World Ocean’s Day, and everyday, we are so very grateful for our beautiful blue planet!

1. Humpback whales
2. Loggerhead sea turtle
3. Common dolphins
4. Gray seal
5. Forster’s tern
6. Lions mane jelly
7. Blue shark
8. Humpback whale
9. Fin whale

As a proud member of Whale Sense (whalesense.org), we are committed to responsible whale watching practices. All photos were taken in compliance with established guidelines and regulations.

HWWC proudly contributes its data to the GOM Humpback Whale Catalog curated by Center for Coastal Studies.

06/04/2025

Imagine our surprise when the pod of nearby dolphins looked nothing like the typical species we see on our trips! Instead, these offshore bottlenose dolphins wowed us all with their impressive size and acrobatics. A smaller pod and a bit elusive, we were able to sneak in a few looks between sightings of several humpback whales, including Azrael and Furrows.

06/02/2025

Instant conversation starter with any whale enthusiast: “Do you have a favorite whale?”

05/31/2025

The last few trips have been absolutely out of this world! Breaching, bubble nets, new mom + calf pairs, curious, close to boat whales…

We’ll be the first to say that every trip is different, and even today we wondered if the “big show” had moved on. Fingers crossed they stick around until you are able to join us!

As a proud member of Whale Sense (whalesense.org), we are committed to responsible whale watching practices. All photos were taken in compliance with established guidelines and regulations.

HWWC proudly contributes its data to the GOM Humpback Whale Catalog curated by Center for Coastal Studies.

05/28/2025

Whale activity continues to wow us all! With a large aggregation of humpback whales in the area, we’ve had some truly outstanding sightings as of late. Many of the humpbacks have been kicked feeding, an exciting behavior that caps off the whale’s bubble net and serves up a big canister-shaped school of fish to snack on.

Atlantic white sided dolphins have been spotted fairly regularly as well! These toothed whales are often feeding on the same fish, but the little calf in the second photo procured the “awwws” 🥹 throughout the boat. We also met Giraffe’s 2025 calf- not the African variety of course, but the humpback!

Some of the names likely sound familiar but there are plenty of whales we’re just getting to know!

Blackhole and calf
Giraffe and calf
Nile
Strike
Pixar
Hippocampus
Pleats
Sushi
Eruption
Wonderland
Landslide
Bandit
Glo
Samara
Milkweed
Infinity
Startrail
Tango
Fern
Pele
Sanchal
Greenbean
Falcon
Bristle
Forensics
Touchdown
Floodlight
Lamp
Boutonniere
Bayou
Landslide

Address

269 Millway, PO Box 254
Barnstable, MA
02630

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 6pm
Tuesday	8am - 6pm
Wednesday	9am - 6pm
Thursday	8am - 6pm
Friday	8am - 6pm
Saturday	8am - 6pm
Sunday	8am - 6pm

Telephone

1-508-362-6088 or 1-800-287-0374

Website

http://www.whales.net/

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