What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm Saturday 9am - 5pm Sunday 9am - 5pm

San Diego Whale Watch

Home
United States
San Diego, CA
San Diego Whale Watch

San Diego Whale Watch San Diego's FIRST year round whale and dolphin watching experience! Www.sdwhalewatch.com

**NOW HIRING FOR TICKET BOOTH POSITION!
(1690)

Contact [email protected] for more info** We embark on 3-hour trips aboard the Privateer in the search for a variety of marine animals. We often see sea lions, seals, a variety of birds, dolphins, and different species of whales depending on the time of year. Throughout the months of December-April, we enjoy the annual Gray Whale migration along the coast of California. In the summer, we are

able to encounter the mighty Blue Whales feeding miles offshore! We get occasional visits from Humpback, Minke and Fin Whales, as well as Sea Turtles and even sharks! Join us on one of our whale watching adventures to enjoy some of the Pacific Ocean's most magnificent creatures! All photos are property of San Diego Whale Watch unless otherwise noted and were taken aboard our vessel. They can not be reproduced or used without permission. All images © 2014-2018 San Diego Whale Watching LLC

02/27/2025

The calm before the storms proved to be quite gorgeous today! It was sunny and brisk with abundant wildlife. Just 5 mins after exiting the jetties we sighted a pod of long beaked common dolphins hunting bait fish down below. We watched them hunt for fish while the birds preyed on the dolphins bounty. Shortly after leaving them we spotted a southbound gray whale. We observed this gray whale for a while - it began to travel out west eventually which seemed out of character so - we left this whale to his migration and set out in search of more wildlife. We headed out to the drop off in a westerly direction and found a few scattered dolphins, but as we followed them we found more and more - seemingly a long line of long beaked common dolphins sweeping the area for any available food. Once we were traveling the direction they liked - they clung around our boat and did some people watching. Dolphins hung with us until we had to turn back to shore.

Naturalist, Alison

02/24/2025

Felt like summer out there! It was whale soup! SO MANY WHALES WE COULDN’T KEEP TRACK! Usually we don’t get aggregations of fin whales until around May - but we got a call letting us know about a pair of fin whales just 8 miles off the coast - when we got there - WE FOUND AT LEAST 5 fin whales and two minke whales. We didn’t even have to track them or their direction of travel - they were circling all around us between dives to feed on what appeared to be some early arriving krill! Every time I’d point a whale out another would appear in the other direction! Fin whales spouts can be seen from miles away on. A clear calm day so - about two miles from these whales we started getting REALLY excited to see so much evidence of life.

Naturalist,
Alison

02/23/2025

We hung out with Gray whales and Long-beaked Common dolphins all day!

We started the morning trip off with a pod of ~50 Common dolphins zooming around just a mile off the Mission bay jetties! The sea conditions were glassy and smooth which made for some excellent underwater viewing! We could see every little movement they made! We continued out and heard about a Gray whale very close to the coast so we made a u-turn and waited about 10min and never saw it. So we left it be and pushed it to the west. We sighted a massive splash on the horizon! We cruised out to investigate and caught up with a northbound Gray whale! We got excellent looks!

On our way back in we caught up with more Common dolphins! We observed their surfing capabilities in our wake and on the bow! On our second trip, right off the bat we spotted some Common dolphins splashing around! We observed them cruising beside our boat with a couple cow/calf pairs in the mix! Only about 4-miles from Mission bay, we caught up with a TRIO of Gray whales! They were headed south to Mexico! We enjoyed watching them come up for synchronized breaths! We were lucky to see their tails being lifted! They were only down for about 4-5min dives. We turned in toward the coast and spotted another awesome pod of Common dolphins feeding on a big bait ball where birds were diving next to them!

Another sunset for the books! We had nothing to go off of from earlier in the day, all sighted whales had made it deep down into Mexico - way outside of our range so we schemed up our own plan to find the wildlife tonight. We headed out to 3 miles so everyone could grab drinks - and cruised up north from there. Pretty soon we saw some massive splashes cruising up to the north - west were quickly in pursuit. We spent some time trying to catch up to this pod of 50-70 bottlenose dolphins. They were difficult to count because they were separated between two pods that were alternating dives. We had plenty of time to spend with these dolphins but decided to peel off and search for some larger baleeen. When we were nearly back to the jetties, Melissa spotted a spout on the horizon so, we added an extra 20 ish minutes to our trip to make sure everyone got good looks at the pair of gray whales traveling north in the company of more bottlenose dolphins! Whenever we get inter species interactions, it’s super exciting! We watched the bottlenose harass the gray whales and the grays seemed to get a little excited about threat company.

Get out here people! The whale watching is HOT!

Naturalist,
Vanessa & Alison

02/22/2025

We had an amazing day with sightings of both Gray whales and Common dolphin! On our morning tour we set out to the west and spotted some fun feeding frenzies with ~50 Long-beaked Common dolphins corralling bait to the surface! A couple of California sea lions popped up in the mix. There were some California brown pelicans dive bombing straight into the water and coming up with mouths full of fish! We continued out to the drop-off and got surrounded by dense fog! We had anywhere between 1/2 to 1-mile of visibility. We lucked out as a single Common dolphin raced up to our boat to bow ride! We circled the area and spotted more scattered dolphins popping up all around us! After reaching La Jolla, we continued in and hugged the coast hoping for a Gray whale! We were pleasantly surprised to see a small puffy spout not too far from our boat! It was a Northbound juvenile Gray whale! We got a couple looks and even a nice lift the tail as our wave goodbye!

On our second trip, we zoomed straight up the coast taking in the beautiful coastline views! We spotted many birds diving in various spots likely feeding. We also had a handful of California sea lions sighted along the way. We caught up with that single juvenile Gray that was headed back up to Alaska! We got the best looks as it came up for 2-3 breaths, and then snorkeled near the surface! We could see the beautiful turquoise glow as it cruised to the north. We even got to see its tail flukes raised high in the sky! We spotted a few Long-beaked Common dolphins on the way home!

I got a feeling’, woo-hoo, that tonight’s gonna be a gray-t night, that tonight’s gonna be a gray-t night! On today’s sunset trip we caught up with scattered long-beaked common dolphins. We saw about ~150 long-beaked common dolphins throughout the trip. They being a little elusive and did the disappearing act on us a couple times. However, we consistently had dolphriends throughout the trip! Then, we heard of some interesting activity up near La Jolla so we headed out in that direction. On our way back, we found a TRIO of gray whales located ~3 miles offshore! We got to see them lift their tail flukes a few times and saw so many adorable heart-shaped spouts! ❤ Tomorrow is Sunday funday on the Privateer, please come join us!

Naturalist,
Vanessa & Melissa

02/22/2025

Oh what it is to be at sea, there’s just something so viscerally raw about the ocean - no matter the day - it’s always just as wild. We saw some incredible life out there today, whales and dolphins on each trip.
This afternoon, we were lucky to find 150 BOTTLENOSE dolphins! That’s a wild number for bottlenose, usually we find them in the 20’s or 30’s but, the larger the pod - the bigger the personality. On the way back to shore we sighted a northbound gray and got to hang with it as it cruised, glowing turquoise just below the surface. Our evening trip started off with a pod of common dolphins swarming all around us, we had a group of teens and you could hear their joyful streaks all around the boat, it’s absolutely contagious!
Shortly after we encountered a pair of two grays migrating north.

Naturalist, Alison

02/20/2025

February 20, 2025

Oh what a Gray-t time we had on the water today! We loved having awesome sea conditions! The water was super glassy, sunny skies, great visibility and smiles all around!:) We headed out of the jetties and quickly encountered a few coastal bottlenose dolphins. Then, we went further out west and found a pod of ~100 long-beaked common dolphins. The sea conditions were so glassy that we could see right through the water. We were able to admire all the dolphriends swimming in the water and could see their entire bodies! We left the LB common dolphins and headed out towards the drop-off. We found TWO gray whales swimming side-by side located around ~7 miles off shore! They were travelling southbound and were going down for ~4 minute dives. We even saw their tail flukes multiple times! We had a whale of a time today hanging out with our favourite marine mammals. Please come join us soon! We should slowly start to see some northbound gray whales too! More ocean fun coming up tomorrow!

Naturalist,
Melissa

02/19/2025

HOW LUCKY ARE WE? Seriously, we have whales, dolphins, sunshine, mild weather, calm seas … it really couldn’t be better! We headed out of the jetties and almost immoderately found a pod of 150 long beaked common dolphins. After playing with the dolphins for a bit - enjoying their high flying antics - we headed north to see if we could relocate some gray whales that had been reported earlier. We had much success as we cruised parallel with the grays as they made their way down to Mexico. We sat at near idle with these whales and as we sat, a massive pod of 250+ common dolphins passed by, giving us side glances as they circled and investigated our vessel.

It’s peak time to get out on the ocean! I hope we get the opportunity to share these magical days with all of you!

Naturalist,
Alison

02/18/2025

February 18, 2025

Who knew gray whales were giant sea puppies who like to ask for belly rubs? ! ❤ Our afternoon trip started off with a bang almost immediately! We found a California sea lion as soon as we left the jetties which caused us to slow down a bit. Then, before we knew it, we spotted a spout off of our bow! This spout turned into TWO spouts from two individual gray whales. As we were making our way towards the two spouts, ANOTHER gray whale popped up on our port side! We headed towards the gray whale on our port side because it was closer. Once we got a better look, we quickly realized there were actually TWO MORE gray whales swimming side by side. We were quickly surrounded by 4 gray whales traveling southbound. We hung out with the squad of gray whales for a good amount of time and saw a few up-close tail lifts. Then, as we were waiting for the gray whales to resurface again, we came across a pod of ~100 long-beaked common dolphins and a great flock of diving California brown pelicans! We headed back towards the gray whale zone and found ANOTHER gray whale, for a total of FIVE gray whales! This gray whale was displaying very interesting behavior, rolling around and showing its belly and waving its pectoral flippers in the air like they just don’t care! The gray whale continued to show its belly almost looked like it was asking for belly rubs. Then, we went back out towards more birds which led us to another pod of ~75 long-beaked common dolphins. We also saw an awesome raft of California sea lions in the mix. The sea lions and dolphins escorted us all the way back towards Quivera Basin. The cherry on top was a pod of ~5 inshore bottlenose dolphins and an adorable cow/calf pair!! Today was cetacean heaven on the Pacific Ocean. Looking forward to more ocean fun tomorrow, please come join us.

Naturalist,
Melissa

02/17/2025

Back to Back trips with Gray whales and Common dolphins! We set out on our morning trip and sighted a pair of Gray whales! They were about 5-miles from shore and slowly cruising to the south. We were so happy to see their spouts, the roll of their back and one of the whales tails! We continued to the NW and caught up with some short-beaked Common dolphins! They were super active and seemed to have the zoomies! They popped up all around our boat! It was fun to see them surfing our wake and riding the bow! On our afternoon trip, we set out to the west and spotted another pair of Southbound Gray whales only a couple miles from shore in 200-ft of water! We had nice views from both sides of the vessel! They consistently synchronized their breaths leaving passengers excited to see a double spout! They never lifted their flukes but we enjoyed their long periods at the surface. We continued out to deeper water and once we got to the drop-off we caught up with a fun pod of ~100 Long-beaked Common dolphin! They were feeding in deeper water about 200-feet below our feet! We spotted many cow/calf pairs all around us. On our way in, we could NOT find more dolphins! There were a bunch of pods sighted everywhere we were. We even spotted a raft of about 20 California sea lions! They picked up their heads to check us out! We also spotted a very small dinner plate sized Mola mola! We picked up a couple Mylar balloons along our journey today!
Sunset trips don’t get much better than this one was! We cruised right out to a southbound pair of gray whales and had tons of time to spend with them getting good looks on both sides for both sides of the boat. We found a small pod of long beaked common dolphins directly after the grays, headed out further and encountered some more dolphins hunting fish on the way back in!
With so much life in our waters - it’s a great time to come out!

Naturalist,
Vanessa & Alison

02/17/2025

Whale, whale, whale, what did the gray whale say to the california sea lion?
- long time, no sea! Today, we saw an incredible raft of ~10 California sea lions! They looked so cute as they popped up next to the Privateer and checked us out! Then, we travelled very far south past Cabrillo National Monument and found a heart-shaped spout from a gray whale! We hung out with this gray whale for a couple of breath cycles. It was going down for ~3 minute dives. At one point, it even popped up super close to us on our port bow! We wished it whale and made our way back to Quivira basin. Our afternoon trip was a bit quiet. However, we managed to pick up at least ~4 Mylar balloons throughout the trip. It really made us think about how we can all serve as ocean stewards on a daily basis. Here at San Diego Whale Watch we try our best to protect and conserve our ocean ecosystems by picking up Mylar balloons whenever we encounter them on the water. We also host beach clean ups every other month.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset cruise! We started the trip with about 5-7 Coastal bottlenose dolphins in the Mission bay jetties! They swam right up to our bow and briefly surfed in our wake! We continued out to the west and spotted some Short-beaked Common dolphins! They came out of nowhere and zoomed up to us and then continued back toward land. There was about 15-20 in total! We continued just past the drop-off and hung out with a NORTHBOUND Gray whale! It was following the drop-off contour and came up for 1-2 breaths and had 5-7-min dives. It was a small juvenile that displayed a nice heart-shaped spout! We left it behind and continued on in search for more wildlife!

This is about the time we start to see both southbound and northbound Gray whales! So come out soon, it’s Halftime in the Gray whale season!

Naturalists,

Melissa & Vanessa

02/16/2025

Happy World Whale Day! San Diego’s waters are home to an incredible variety of whale species throughout the year! From the acrobatic humpbacks to the massive blue whales, each species has something special to offer. But if you had to choose... which whale is your favorite?

Here are some of the whales we encounter on our tours:
🐋 Gray Whale – The migration champion, traveling up to 12,000 miles round trip!
🐋 Fin Whale – The second-largest whale in the world, known for its sleek speed.
🐋 Blue Whale – The largest animal to ever live on Earth!
🐋 Minke Whale – Small but speedy, often surprising us with quick surfacings!
🐋 Bryde’s Whale – A warm-water mystery, occasionally making rare appearances!
🐋 Humpback Whale – The crowd favorite, known for spectacular breaches and tail slaps!
🐋 Orca (Killer Whale) – The apex predator of the ocean, spotted on rare, special occasions!

Drop your favorite in the comments! ⬇️

02/15/2025

We had a pretty SWELL day aboard the Privateer! The seas were still a bit lumpy and we enjoyed the natural roller coaster we call the Pacific Ocean! We pushed out to the west taking it nice and slow. About 9.5 miles from shore we spotted a tall, wispy spout! We caught up with two FIN whales! They were slowly cruising to the south. On our echosounder, we noticed there was a ton of bait seen near the surface and as far down as about 400-ft below. We got some awesome looks with one of the cycles, the Fin whale popped up close to us! We noticed it turned to the south and went down for its sounding dive. The other Fin whale was sighted to the south of us and seemed to synchronize its breaths with the one we were watching. We turned in for a smooth ride in.

For the afternoon trip, we set out to the west, got to the drop-off and turned to the north. We followed the drop-off to hopefully increase our chances of wildlife sightings. We spotted some spouts to the north of us so we waited it out and saw a handful of those spouts and determined it was likely a single Fin whale. However, we waited for it to come back up, but it seemed to have given us the slip. We waited almost 20-25 min! But never saw it again. We spotted a Harbor seal and some bottlenose dolphins on the way in!

We have one more trip to go, so stay tuned for another update!

Naturalist,
Vanessa

02/13/2025

Forgot a Valentine’s Day card? Don’t worry, we’re SEAL-ing the deal for you! Who needs roses when you’ve got a sunfish smooch or a flirty fluke wave from a gray whale? Love is in the air (and splashing all around), so whether you’re single, taken, or just here for the cute marine life, consider this your official Valentine.

Tag your boo—or your bestie—and let them know they’re FIN-tastic. And if they don’t appreciate a good ocean pun… well, that’s a red flag(ish). 🚩

02/10/2025

Migration Monday is upon us! We caught up with THREE Gray whales headed south on their annual migration to the lagoons in Mexico! They were spotted only a couple of miles from shore! We enjoyed watching spout after spout as they came up to the surface for 3-5 breaths and 5-8 min dives! They were a bit unpredictable as they were seen headed SW then straight east and then back south again! We maintained a wide distance to allow them enough space to do their thing! We continued out to the NW and followed the drop-off to the north. Once off La Jolla, we turned in and spotted a fun pod of ~60-70 Long-beaked Common dolphins! They were really spread out but it was exciting to hang out with a nursery pod! Everywhere we looked a cow/calf pair popped up by the boat! They surfed our wake and rode the bow. It was a great day seeing both baleen and toothed whales!

Naturalist,
Vanessa

02/09/2025

We had an awesome day with a Gray whale and Common dolphins sighted! Just outside the Mission bay jetties and a few miles from shore there was single southbound Gray whale cruising slowly. We caught up with it and enjoyed it surface for 1-3 breaths followed by a tail-fluking dive! It was down for 5-8 min dives and seemed to be a little on the shy side. Our last cycle with it was the best as we got great looks at its barnacles/lice and a nice big arch of the back and tail flukes! We turned around and searched to the north and got up to La Jolla. On our way back, Captain John spotted a big pod of ~50-75 Long-beaked Common dolphins in 70-ft of water, just outside of the kelp forest! We spotted lots of cow/calf pairs and a couple of porpoising sea lions in the mix. It’s always a goal of ours to observe both baleen and toothed whales on our tours! Today was a WIN!

We hope you have a wonderful Sunday and hope to see you soon!

Naturalist,
Vanessa

02/08/2025

We were rockin’ and rollin’ out on the Pacific Ocean! We set out of the Mission bay jetties and hooked it to the north! We enjoyed the beautiful weather and great visibility! Along the way, we spotted a huge raft of California sea lions! We observed them from afar and estimated about 20 of them all hanging out together! We cruised the Gray whale highway and after reaching La Jolla, we pushed out to the west to the drop-off. We followed that to the south and spotted a couple large splashes to the west of us! It was an amazing pod of ~150 Short-beaked Common dolphins! We have not seen them in about a month, so it was a nice treat! They were breaching and porpoising all around us! We noticed one show off that almost seemed to be doing the moonwalk! It was fun sight to see! There were plenty of cow/calf pairs sighted traveling toward our bow and wake! We continued in and had a nice smooth ride home!

We have two more trips to go! We will be back with updates!

Who’s the cutest crusty cetacean of the sea? - A gray whale! We found two gray whales on our afternoon trip! They were found about ~2.5 miles offshore. We hung out with the first gray whale for a few breath cycles. It was going down for ~3 min dives! It was acting a bit elusive only coming up for one breath at a time. So, we went ahead and caught up with our second gray whale of day! This gray whale popped up on our port bow super close to the boat. It was acting curious and checking us out! Then, as we went out a bit further out west, we spotted another spout! It resembled a heart-shaped spout so we think it was another gray whale. However, it gave us the slip and never spotted again!

Our afternoon trip started off with a bang! As soon as we left the jetties we found a masssive heart-shaped spout from a gray whale! It was going southbound towards the San Ignacio lagoon- their winter breeding grounds! We hung out with this gray whale for a few breath cycles and even saw a shy tail lift! Then, we headed out west and sighted another spout around ~7miles offshore in about ~1060 feet of water! Once again, the whale was acting a little elusive and never spotted again. The spout was very tall and columnar so we think it might have been from a Fin whale because of our location & distance from shore and the size & shape of the spout! Elusive whales seemed to be the theme of the day! Nonetheless, we were so stoked to have spotted these mighty marine mammals. Please come join us for more ocean fun tomorrow!

Naturalist,
Vanessa & Melissa

02/07/2025

We had one trip today with sightings of ~400 Long-beaked Common dolphins spread out over 2-miles! To start our trip we cruised out to the NW but had some visibility limitations with rainy and foggy conditions. Captain John M. spotted a huge splash at the edge of our visibility in the fog, so we waited to see if something popped back up, but whatever it was it gave us the slip! We continued up the coast and out at the drop-off outside of La Jolla, we sighted some diving birds! Initially, we had about 50 or so Common dolphins racing toward our boat from all directions. We caught up with a feeding frenzy with commons, California sea lions, and hundreds of birds! We loved to see the calves as they cruised in mom’s slipstream! We had great looks at the surfing Commons as they rode the bow and our wake! It was an amazing sight to see! It’s not something we see every trip, so definitely exciting to see so much life all in one spot!

We will see ya tomorrow!

Naturalist,
Vanessa

02/06/2025

February 6, 2025

What do you call a whale who knows all the secrets of the sea?
-A whale-informed individual!

Today, we had such an action-packed day from start to FINish! The trip started off with us finding an awesome pod of ~5 inshore bottlenose dolphins just outside of the jetties! Then, we headed up northwest towards La Jolla and encountered several scattered pods of ~100 long-beaked common dolphins. The dolphins and birds led us to a beautiful heart-shaped spout from our favorite winter friend- a gray whale! We hung out with the gray whale for a few breath cycles, it was going down for ~4 min dives! The gray whale popped up super close to our port bow showing off its barnacle covered body! We even saw a tail lift at the end! Then, we headed up further out west towards the drop-off, we had dolphins escorting us all the way out towards the drop-off the entire time! In ~700 ft of water, we saw a massive spout from TWO fin whales! The fin whales were circling us for a while and then another fin whale popped up behind us! We hung out with the trio of Fins for a few breath cycles and had long-beaked common dolphins hanging out and surfing in our wake the whole time! It was rad to so much wildlife out on the Pacific Ocean today! The cherry on top was another pod of ~5 inshore bottlenose dolphins leading us back to Quivera Basin. Please join us for more ocean fun tomorrow!

Naturalist,
Melissa

Address

1617 Quivira Road
San Diego, CA
92109

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm
Sunday	9am - 5pm

Website

http://www.sdwhalewatch.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when San Diego Whale Watch posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to San Diego Whale Watch:

Videos

Huge thanks to everyone who joined us on Sunday for our Ocean Beach cleanup! With an incredible 104 volunteers, we achieved our best turnout yet and removed 214 pounds of trash from our beautiful coastline. Your dedication makes a huge difference for our oceans and marine life. A special shoutout to our amazing partners who supported this effort: Hodad's, Hyatt Mission Bay, our future, and Trident Coffee. Rest&Relax Real Estate and Service Kings, thank you for providing buckets and grabbers—you’re rockstars! 🙌. Can you guess what item we gathered the most?1️⃣ Cigarette butts2️⃣ Plastic/foam pieces (AKA Nurdles, <2.5 cm)3️⃣ Food wrappers. Drop your guess in the comments below!#sdwhalewatch #sandiegowhalewatching #beachcleanup #oceanlove #seesandiego #missionbay #visitsandiego #whalewatching #whalewatch #conservation

Shortcuts

Our Story

San Diego's FIRST year round whale and dolphin watching experience! We embark on 3-hour trips aboard the Privateer in the search for a variety of marine animals. We often see sea lions, seals, a variety of birds, dolphins, and different species of whales depending on the time of year. Throughout the months of December-April, we enjoy the annual Gray Whale migration along the coast of California. In the summer, we are able to encounter the mighty Blue Whales feeding miles offshore! We get occasional visits from Humpback, Minke and Fin Whales, as well as Sea Turtles and even sharks! Join us on one of our whale watching adventures to enjoy some of the Pacific Ocean's most magnificent creatures!

Address: 1717 Quivira Rd. San Diego, CA, 92109

Phone: 619-839-0128

KGAY Travel
3245 University Avenue, # 1-111

San Diego Whale Watch

02/27/2025

02/24/2025

02/23/2025

02/22/2025

02/22/2025

02/20/2025

02/19/2025

02/18/2025

02/17/2025

02/17/2025

02/16/2025

02/15/2025

02/13/2025

02/10/2025

02/09/2025

02/08/2025

02/07/2025

02/06/2025

Address

Opening Hours

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Videos

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Our Story