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San Diego Whale Watch

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San Diego Whale Watch

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

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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

12/15/2024

Sunday, December 15, 2024

We had waves of dolphins on our morning trip today! We had some fun swelly but glassy seas! We started the day with a pair of Inshore bottlenose dolphin hanging out in the jetties. They surfed the bow for a moment before continuing to the north. We cruised out to the drop-off and caught up with an amazing pod of ~250 Long-beaked Common dolphin! They were slowly traveling to the north. They were spread out in a long line enjoying their Sunday funday! Passengers were excited to see them ride the bow and surf our wake! There were a couple tiny little calves that surfed next to us! We turned toward the coast and hugged the kelp forest to the south in search of Gray whales.

We will back tomorrow looking for more!

Naturalist,
Vanessa

12/14/2024

They’ve arrived!!! Yesterday we spotted the first gray whales of the season on our noon tour.

Did you know? Gray Whales undertake one of the longest migrations of any mammal, traveling up to 12,000 miles roundtrip! Catching the start of this epic voyage is always such a special moment.

Congratulations to our winners .schiavo who all guessed December 13th! 🎉 Please check your DMs

12/14/2024

Saturday, December 14, 2024

We had an amazing day on the water! We cruised out to the west and caught up with a Fin whale! We hung out with it about 8-miles from shore! It actually was trending toward the coast! It gave us the slip for the first few breath cycles, but on our final looks, we got great looks! It surfaced for at least 7 times and we could see its lower white right jaw. They have an asymmetrical
lower jaw which makes it more efficient when feeding! We waved goodbye and enjoyed a nice smooth ride in!

We have one more trip to go! We will update you soon!

Our sunset trip was absolutely gorgeous!! We headed out west towards the drop off and encountered a massive pod of ~250 Long-beaked common dolphins! They were so spunky and fun to hang out with as they surfed along the Privateer! We went towards Point Loma in hopes to find a migrating Gray whale. Instead, we were treated with a spectacular sunset. More adventure awaits us tomorrow! Please join us on the water!

Naturalist,
Vanessa & Melissa

12/13/2024

We encountered our FIRST GRAY WHALE OF THE SEASON!

It was a rolly day out on the Pacific Ocean! We had fun going out of the lumpy Mission Bay jetties! We went west until about 3miles from shore and cruised to the north in search of Gray whales! We were so happy to hear from our friends at Legacy whale watch, as they alerted us of a single southbounder! We were a couple miles outside of La Jolla when we spotted the 10-ft puffy spout! Our favorite saying over here, is Thar She Blows! We let it pass us by and then paced it as it traveled south. It came up for 2-3 breaths, and went down for 3-5min dives. It was showing much of an arch or tail, but that’s likely because it wasn’t going down very far. It was traveling slowly but surely to the south. We waved goodbye and wished it ‘whale’ as it continued toward Mexico! We attempted to push out to deeper water but it was pretty nautical, so we turned in and enjoyed the smooth ride in!

We can’t wait for more Gray whales to show up! Come join us as we search for them on the Gray Whale Highway!

Naturalist,

Vanessa

12/12/2024

The Pacific mixed it up on us today! We were expecting Grey or Humpback whales but instead we got the second largest creature on the planet. We saw a mid sized fin whale on our afternoon trip! This whale had about a 10 minute dive time, stayed up for about three breaths each time it surfaced. We saw the tall colomner spout from about a mile away. We found it in 2,700 ft of water about 11 miles from the coastline.

Naturalist,
Alison

12/10/2024

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

We had the best sea conditions and visibility! We set out to the west and caught up with an incredible pod of ~300 Short-beaked Common dolphins headed SW. They surrounded our boat and we got the best looks as they leaped and breached everywhere! We loved to see the teeny tiny calves! They popped up all around our boat! We could hear their squeaks and whistles when they swam toward us. We didn’t have to go very far and found another pod of dolphins. This time they were Long-beaked Common dolphins with about 200 individuals all traveling to the NW. We never see the two species of Common dolphins mix, and wondered if they would since they were en route to intersect. We heard from our other whale watch friends that stayed with them and reported they got within 500-ft of each other but passed each other by! We may find a couple of one species hanging out with the other, but never usually a full immersion! We searched the shallow coastal Gray whale highway for heart-shaped spouts, but no luck on our PM trip.
The afternoon trip started with brilliant visibility and flat seas - we could see for miles! We sighted an enormous line of white water off on the horizon and set towards it to see what it could be. With our engines revved high - the line never seamed to get any closer - we were racing against time and daylight toward what seemed like and endless line of dolphins. The longer we chased them - the more worried we were that they would be JUST outside of our range, that we’d have chased them for nothing, that we’d have to turn back to shore before we’d be able to enjoy their boisterous energy. At the VERY last minute - they slowed and changed course in our direction. We had a few minutes to spend with this 400 strong pod of long beaks but MAN! They must’ve known that the passengers were expecting something special - they played at the bow and danced in the last warm rays of light. The sunset was incredible too! The whispy cirrus clouds caught the rays of light like flames licking the sky. We even got a rainbow cloud thrown in. Sunset cruises in winter never disappoint.

Naturalist,
Vanessa & Alison

12/09/2024

EVERY single dolphin in San Diego came to say hello to us today.
We’ve had some sparse seas with a dolphin pod or a whale or two but this…. This was a dolphin entourage for nearly our entire trip! As we cruised out west with hundreds of long beaked common dolphins - we kept finding more and more pods! The amount of energy these dolphins were expending was astounding! They stayed in a sprint for quite some time creating a giant field of whitewash foam.

Naturalist, Alison

12/08/2024

Sunday, December 8, 2024

It was a fun day on the water! As soon as we got out in the Pacific Ocean the Fog took us over! We pushed out to the NW as fast as we could to get past it but before we knew it surrounded us! Fortunately, once we got out to 3-miles from shore, it cleared up and we had amazing visibility! We got out to about 9-miles from Mission Bay and spotted some leaping, breaching Shorties! There was about 400 Short-beaked Common dolphins socializing out to the south of us. As soon as they noticed us, they raced straight to the boat! We had the best time with our new dolphriends! They were porpoising all around us. They were super chatty and could hear their high-pitched whistles! Lots of tiny calves were spotted all around us! They seemed to continue to the west as we turned toward coast. On our way in, we spotted a lone California sea lion, and school of ~10 baby Mola mola’s! There were a few gulls hanging out with them too!

We are excited to see what’s in store for tomorrow!

Naturalist,
Vanessa

12/08/2024

We’ve been SO LUCKY with the wildlife and the weather lately!
We’ve had crystal clear atmospheric conditions, glassy seas and deep blue water. The whole day was pretty stunning, we started with a large of common dolphins about 400 strong in the morning and afternoon, the glassy conditions let us see the TONS of dolphins swimming just beneath us (Video in comments). Sunset aligned perfectly with wildlife once again, not sure where this luck is coming from but - WE’LL TAKE IT! Capt John went the extra mile (quite actually) to get good looks of at a pair of humpbacks that were slowly migrating south to Mexico. Their spouts erupted a bright glimmering fuchsia as they met the suns last rays of light.

We’d love to see you out here! Get to bookin!

Naturalist, Alison

12/06/2024

December 6,2024
So how do dolphins make a difficult decision? -They flipper a coin!
Today, we had to make some tough decisions navigating through such dense fog! On our morning trip, we went north towards La Jolla hoping to find some early gray whales. However, the ocean was still sleeping cozily in the fog. Sea conditions remained calm, flat and absolutely beautiful all the day! We also found patches of sunshine and improved visibility as we travelled further offshore. On our afternoon trip, we encountered a MEGAPOD of long-beaked common dolphins located about ~10 miles offshore! A megapod is when there’s more than ~1000 dolphins in one general area! They were found southwest of Mission Bay in about ~900 ft of water. The ocean is full of surprises and we can’t to sea what tomorrow has in store for us!

Naturalist,
Melissa

***Photos taken by Captain Bryan

12/06/2024

December 5, 2024

THREE FOR THE WIN! Today, we found three Humpback whales throughout the trip. We found our first humpback whale located straight out west around ~7 miles offshore! We hung out with this humpback whale for several breath cycles. It was being a tad bit shy but we still managed to get great looks! We also found an adorable yellow-bellied warbler around ~7 miles offshore, he hung out for awhile and got a ride back home with us on the Privateer. On the way home, we found a pair of Humpbacks which popped up right in front of our port bow! We enjoyed a dreamy sunset on the way back in to end another epic day on the water! Please join us soon!

Naturalist,
Melissa

12/04/2024

Some days at sea FEED YOUR WHOLE ENTIRE SOUL. Tonight was made of magic and everything good in this world.
We’ve had a quiet week out here so expectations were set pretty low but MAN! The ocean pulled an EPIC UNO reverse on us.
We set out to the west and were treated to some of the most playful feeding long beaked common dolphins. We hung out with them as the sun sunk low into the sky, turning the entire sky golden, glassy seas reflecting like molten gold. OUT OF NOWHERE the dolphins ERRUPTED into a full on stampede. (Video in Comments)The Dolphins porpoising high out of the water, shiloutted in twinkling gold light. Right before we got back to shore, We found TWO humpback whales, a precious cow calf pair moseying down the coastline on their way down to Mexico. With the sun below the horizon, they cut through dreamy pastel pink and blue cotton candy colored water. Swimming tenderly next to each other, remaining on the surface for long periods they gave us quite the show.
Nights like these are what dreams are made of.

I hope we get to share more with you soon 🩵
Naturalist,
Alison

12/03/2024

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

It was a gorgeous day on the water! We set out to the west and spotted a fun fast-moving pod of ~100 Long-beaked Common dolphins! They surrounded our boat and we enjoyed watching surfing our wake and riding the bow! There were plenty of cow/calf pairs swimming next to our boat. We continued on and followed the drop-off to the north. We sighted several birds and kelp paddies along the way. As we cruised back to the coast we spotted ~5 Offshore bottlenose dolphins investigating a kelp paddy holding a huge school of anchovies! We spotted a small school of ~5 baby Mola mola’s too!

We can’t wait to see what we find on our next sunset trip!

Naturalist,
Vanessa

12/02/2024

Monday, December 2, 2024

We made some new Dolphriends on our afternoon trip today!

We set out to the west, and spotted a pod of ~75 Long-beaked Common dolphins traveling slowly to the north! We got great looks as they rode the bow and surfed in our wake! They were very boat friendly! There were plenty of cow/calf pairs sighted all around us! We continued out to deeper water and spotted some big splashes near the horizon! Then we spotted some dolphins launching out of the water like rockets! We knew then we had Short-beaked Common dolphins! They were so fun to watch breach and porpoise all around us. We turned the engines off and could hear them chatting with each other! We even heard the longest, loudest whistle, everyone was stoked!

Hope to sea ya on the next one!

Naturalist,
Vanessa

12/02/2024

Holy fog, it was foggy out there today. On our morning trip, we found several scattered pods of ~1000 long-beaked common dolphins! We travelled north along the drop and found another awesome pod of ~25 LB common dolphins located near La Jolla. Our afternoon trip was a little quiet but we have more fun coming up this evening. The last toasty rays of sunlight gave us the best show of the night on our sunset trip! At one point after the sun went down - a passenger screamed “POURPOISES! Off to our starboard side!” So we turned around to investigate. Alas, it was but a raft of sea lions!

Naturalist,
Melissa & Alison

12/01/2024

Saturday, November 30, 2024

Today, we welcomed all of our whale watchers to Lake Pacific!

The sea conditions were flat, calm and glassy all day long! We were so excited to see multiple schools of baby Mola mola!! They were hanging out at the surface in groups of 7 to 20! We've been seeing the little guys consistently for about a week now, so come out and see this uncommon sighting soon!

On our morning trip, we lucked out and hung out with a juvenile Humpback only a couple miles from shore! It was traveling south toward Mexico! We zoomed out to the west and spotted a fun pod of ~100 Short-Beaked Common Dolphin! It was a nursery pod with at least 15 cow/calf pairs sighted! We picked up a mylar balloon in our travels too! On the afternoon trip, we set out to the 9-mile bank and sighted hundreds of birds on the horizon! Underneath those birds was ~400 Long-Beaked Common Dolphin! They were all around us in every direction we could see. We got great looks as they surfed in our wake and rode the bow! A few calves were observed too!
We had a wonderful sunset trip!!
We saw 150 Long-Beaked Common Dolphins. They were leaping joyfully out of the water against the gorgeous sunset.
Vanessa & Melissa

11/30/2024

Conditions today were MIND BLOWING we could see San Clemente Island on the Horizon today - It’s about 50 nautical miles from us here in Mission Bay. (Check the comments from a panoramic sweep of the sunset) The ocean remained glassy though most of the day, it felt as if we could spot even the smallest disturbance in the water.
We had three species of dolphins today, The morning trip had about 150 long beaks followed by about 50 shorties. We found a pod of 7 Risso’s on our afternoon trip and another pod of long beaks on our sunset trip. From the first moments of setting out on the sunset trip until the last licks of sunlight faded from the sky, we had the most spectacular never ending sunset of the year. The whole sky was ablaze - and somehow in the misty pink clouds - a rainbow appeared - with no rain in sight.
Orcas were reported just south of us last night - so we’re thinking they did a sweep of the area and spooked everything big out of our waters.
We’ll be back to check again tomorrow!

Hope we see ya out here soon!
Naturalist, Alison

11/28/2024

We’re always grateful to be out on the ocean, just a bit extra today!
The ocean was lookin pretty empty but we stretched our legs as far as we could on this trip today to make the magic happen! Way outside the drop off we found a feeding frenzy of 400 long beaked common dolphins hanging out with a humpback whale! We were able to hang with them for a while before heading back to shore. The longbeaks danced in our wake and played at the bow every direction we turned as we followed the little humpback around.

Happy holidays everyone, no matter what you’re celebrating!

Naturalist, Alison

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/

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Videos

Spending time on the water and being around marine life is not just exciting, it can also contribute to emotional wellness. Studies show that being near the ocean reduces stress and anxiety, while increasing feelings of calm and happiness. A UK study found that people who live closer to the sea are 22% less likely to experience mental health disorders. Immersing yourself in nature, like watching majestic marine creatures, has been linked to reduced cortisol levels, which helps manage stress. Check out this peaceful video of a fin whale gliding gracefully through the water. Fin whales, the second-largest animals on Earth, are known for their calm and serene presence, making them the perfect symbol of tranquility. Just watching them can be a soothing experience! #emotionalwellnessmonth #sdwhalewatch #sdww #seesandiego #missionbay #visitsandiego #whalewatching #whalewatch #finwhale #sandiego

From wigs to fake nails, balloons, and more—looks like we’re prepping for a beachside fiesta! 🎉 But the party's over when these items start harming our precious wildlife and drifting into the bay. Help us turn the tide and keep our beaches clean and safe for everyone this California Coastal Clean-up Day. Join us Saturday evening at Fiesta Island and see what treasures (or surprises) you find! 🐠 Comment "clean" and we'll send you the details. What’s the wildest thing you’ve found during a beach clean-up? #sdwhalewatch #sandiegowhalewatching #beachcleanup #protectourwildlife

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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