Condor Express Whale Watching

Condor Express Whale Watching Condor Express in Santa Barbara has been creating amazing whale watching experiences since 1979 🐋 Come aboard - Your Adventure Awaits!
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The Santa Barbara Channel offers some of the finest whale and dolphin watching in the world. View gray, humpback and blue whales, dolphins, orcas, seals and sea lions along the coast and at the Channel Islands. Gray whales pass along the cost during their annual migration every winter and spring. Friendly humpback and gigantic blue whales enter our Santa Barbara Channel to feed from March through

fall. The channel is home to over 27 species of whales and dolphins, six types of seals and sea lions, and countless seabirds and fish throughout the year. The Condor Express is an eco-friendly, 75’, quad-jet catamaran that has an extremely stable and comfortable ride. It carries up to 127 passengers. This state-of-the-art vessel uses water jet propulsion and was specially designed for allowing ocean mammals to visit up close without endangering them with a spinning propeller. Because of it’s design and speed, we get to the wildlife quickly, sit quietly, and allow whales and other sea life to visit with us.

Get ready for some serious fun in the sun as we dive back into action in the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area! ...
02/23/2025

Get ready for some serious fun in the sun as we dive back into action in the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area!

Our coastal whale watching season is here, which translates to shorter trips and plenty of opportunities to hang out with some fantastic wildlife!

Don't be a landlubber – come and experience the thrill of exploring our amazing backyard and the incredible wildlife that calls it home!

Book online at www.condorexpress.com

And just like that we are back at it again! 🩵
02/23/2025

And just like that we are back at it again! 🩵

Image: a pod of common dolphins with beautiful Santa Cruz Island in back. 2025 02-22 SB Channel Two trips left the Santa Barbara Landing docks today, 9a and 12n. We ventured into the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area under clear blue skies and with glassy seas. Total sightings for the day in...

02/10/2025

Absolutely insane to see Orcas back to back to back, 3 days in a row and this CLOSE to shore!

The Condor crew is chomping at the bit to be back in the water and searching for wildlife again 🩵🐋
Make sure you start booking tickets for this month and keep your fingers, toes, arms & legs crossed for more encounters like this 😱🤩

Our boatyard maintenance is primarily focused on the engine rooms and areas below the waterline! So a lot of things you ...
02/05/2025

Our boatyard maintenance is primarily focused on the engine rooms and areas below the waterline! So a lot of things you would never see while being out with us.

As our crew completes yard work, we are putting the finishing touches on tasks such as repainting the lower decks, applying bottom paint, and partially repainting the hull, in addition to reinstalling the intake grates.

We look forward to welcoming you back on the boat soon and getting back to whale-watching 🩵🐋

The Condor Express has been high and dry for almost three weeks, but don't worry, we haven't been twiddling our thumbs! ...
01/20/2025

The Condor Express has been high and dry for almost three weeks, but don't worry, we haven't been twiddling our thumbs! Our crew has been hard at work, scrubbing and painting and generally making our boat look like new again.

Big shoutout to our team for their hard work. They're itching to get back on the water and share the magic of the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area with you all 🩵🐋

01/01/2025

HAPPY NEW YEAR from our team here at SBCWHA! 🐋

2024 was our first full year as a designated whale heritage area // //

We are so proud of all we’ve accomplished this year 👏🏻 From educational opportunities in classrooms, to hosted whale events learning from world class whale researchers, we’ve had a whale of a time here in the Santa Barbara Channel. One of our main objectives this year is to get school groups out to with us! There’s plenty of local school groups that have never even SEEN THE OCEAN, let alone the gentle giants that call it home. Stay tuned for all of our upcoming programs and activities coming in 2025 by subscribing to our News Letter using the link in our bio! 🫶🏻

Photo by aboard

12/30/2024

Last month, Santa Barbara Channel held a ‘Whale of a Celebration’ – a weekend of festivities to celebrate their first year of being designated as a Whale Heritage Area! 🐳🎊

The event was opened with a blessing by Chumash elder Julie Tumamait Stenslie, followed by a cocktail reception and whale-themed film festival, featuring local filmmakers Rick Rosenthal and Adam Ernster.

The celebration also included a programme of educational talks by marine scientists, including the Whale Heritage Area’s Co-Director Holly Lohuis, as well as representatives from local marine conservation initiatives.

Hosting the event was Hiroko Benko, Co-Director of the Whale Heritage Area and owner of Condor Express Whale Watching, who welcomed guests aboard for a special trip as part of the celebration. A humpback whale, known by researchers as CRC- 12483, joined the festivities and treated onlookers to a display of tail flukes and breaching (beautifully captured in this photo by Adam Ernster Photography)!

Congratulations to Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area for a ‘fintastic’ first year! 🐋 We can’t wait to see what the SBCWHA community achieves next!

https://www.montecitojournal.net/2024/12/10/celebrating-the-1st-anniversary-of-the-sb-channel-local-whale-heritage-area/

It was lumpy and bumpy but by the time the sun broke through the fog we found a mini honey hole 🐋
12/29/2024

It was lumpy and bumpy but by the time the sun broke through the fog we found a mini honey hole 🐋

Image: A couple of humpback whales are seen heading into heavy seas in the Santa Barbara Channel.2024 12–28 SB Channel Today was our last trip of the year. We will be doing our biannual haul-out for maintenance and inspection during January and half of February.Today, Captain Eddy and the crew rep...

Calm seas, blue skies, & a blue shark 🩵🩵🩵Along with a handful of other things we saw! Find out more in the blog 🥰
12/22/2024

Calm seas, blue skies, & a blue shark 🩵🩵🩵
Along with a handful of other things we saw! Find out more in the blog 🥰

Image: a blue shark takes a look at the Condor Express. 2024 12–21 SB Channel Captain Danny and the crew reported excellent conditions in The Channel today for locating and watching wildlife. Seas were glassy and skies were sunny all day. Sightings included: 2 blue sharks, 50 California sea lions,...

12/21/2024

Beautiful day out in the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area! Our awesome crew found 5 Humpback Whales & 15 Dall’s Porpoises 🩵🩵

12/19/2024

There’s been reports of Orcas in the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area! This seems to be a great time of year to find this whales in our channel! Who knows what the weekend will bring 🤷🏼‍♀️ but we will keep our fingers & toes crossed!

Book tickets now at www.condorexpress.com 🐋🩵❄️

Address

301 W Cabrillo Boulevard
Santa Barbara, CA
93101

Opening Hours

Monday 7:30am - 6pm
Tuesday 7:30am - 6pm
Wednesday 7:30am - 6pm
Thursday 7:30am - 6pm
Friday 7:30am - 6pm
Saturday 7am - 6pm
Sunday 7am - 6pm

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Beautiful day out in the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area! Our awesome crew found 5 Humpback Whales & 15 Dall’s Porpoises 🩵🩵

Serenaded at Sunset! The Annual Broadway Cruise was an incredible evening listening to Brain & Deborah sing classic broadway songs while soaking in the beautiful Santa Barbara coastline with a full moon rising! Thank you to all those that joined us! 🎥: Benson Schade

Friendly Mola Mola
Friendly Mola Mola

Now that’s a friendly & HUGE Mola Mola 😱

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About Condor Express Whale Watching

The Santa Barbara Channel offers some of the finest whale and dolphin watching in the world. View gray, humpback and blue whales, dolphins, orcas, seals and sea lions along the coast and at the Channel Islands. Gray whales pass along the coastline during their annual migration every winter and spring. Friendly humpback and gigantic blue whales enter our Santa Barbara Channel to feed from May through fall. The channel is home to over 27 species of whales and dolphins, six types of seals and sea lions, and countless seabirds and fish throughout the year. Come aboard - your adventure awaits! The Condor Express is an eco-friendly, 75’, quad-jet catamaran that has an extremely stable and comfortable ride. It carries up to 127 passengers. This state-of-the-art vessel uses water jet propulsion and was specially designed for allowing ocean mammals to visit up close without endangering them with a spinning propeller. Because of its design and speed, we get to the wildlife quickly, sit quietly, and allow whales and other sea life to safely visit with us.