Monterey Bay Whale Watch

Monterey Bay Whale Watch offers year-round whale watching trips to observe the spectacular diversity and abundance of whales and dolphins inhabiting the Bay. Monterey is the best place in the nation to view a variety of marine mammals and seabirds. The Monterey Submarine Canyon approaches close to the shore, allowing deep water species of whales, dolphins, and seabirds to occur near the coast. Shallow water species, such as the gray whale, are found very close to shore in the narrow shelf region. Depending on the season, whales and dolphins that are frequently observed include Gray Whales, Humpback Whales, Blue Whales, Pacific White-Sided Dolphins, Risso's Dolphins, Northern Right Whale Dolphins, Common Dolphins, Killer Whales, and Dall's Porpoise. We occasionally spot Fin Whales, Minke Whales, Harbor Porpoise, Bottlenose Dolphins, and Beaked Whales. Our captains have over 20 years of experience with nature trips and offer excellent views of marine wildlife. All our trips are led by marine biologists, most with 10+ years experience, who fully narrate and answer questions during trips. Our whale watching trips are educationally oriented and our biologists collect valuable data on the marine mammals sighted during these trips, including distribution, relative abundance, and behavior of whales and dolphins. We also photo-identify individual whales and dolphins, contributing to assessments of population, residency patterns, and migration or movement patterns.