Monterey Bay is renowned for whale watching all year round. Not only it is located on the popular route of whale traffic, but the deep ocean canyon where whales feed on the border is very close to shore.
One has to go to the Old Fisherman's Wharf (wharf #1) to get on the boats. Parking tips:
- Allow at least 4 hours parking if the tour takes 3 hours.
- The most expensive lot is next to the wharf, $1.50 per hour, attendant on site.
- The best choice is Customs Garage West, first hour free, then $1 per hour, attendant on site. Go towards downtown on Del Monte Ave. Turn left at Tyler St and enter driveway immediately on the right. To walk to the wharf, exit garage on Del Monte, turn left and walk one block to Alvarado St. Turn right, cross Del Monte and walk through Portola Plaza to wharf. Takes 10 minutes to whale boats.
Which whale tour to take? Two companies have most of the business and are quite reputable. They both offer 10 am and 1 pm (or 1:30 pm) trips, 7 days a week.
- Monterey Bay Whale Watch (www.gowhales.com, 831-375-4658), Sea Wolf II is 70 ft long boat, capacity 70 passengers, usually 30 per trip. Sur Clipper is 55 ft long, fewer passengers than Sea Wolf.
- Monterey Whale Watching (www.baywatchcruises.com, 800-979-3370), Princess Monterey is 100 ft long, capacity around 120. Magnum Force is 75 ft.
In choosing a whale tour operator, one has to consider the size of the boat and marine conditions. Monterey Bay can be unpredictably choppy. Two factors contribute to the situation. First, ocean swells, caused by ocean currents. The swells can be 15-20 ft tall, and come in successions of walls each 100-200 ft apart. The boat ride up and down the crest and trough of the swells would be like riding a roller-coaster. Second, waves, caused by wind, 3 mph is ok, but 10-15 mph is bad. It is not unusual to have a day of high swells but calm winds, or vice versa. Before booking for a whale tour, check for marine weather forecast first. Go to http://bonita.mbnms.nos.noaa.gov/visi... where several categories of real time weather information for Monterey Bay are available. The advantage of larger boat is in riding comfort in case of moderate choppy sea. But smaller boat can offer better whale watching vantage point, since it can be maneuvered easily. In case of bad weather, all boats would be grounded by the operators.
That brings another point to look out for: cancellation of trip by the operator. Besides bad weather, a trip can be canceled if not enough passengers have signed up. Usually the morning trip has more people sign up than the afternoon. Also, swells and strong winds can happen more often in the afternoon. When a trip is canceled, the operator usually would give some incentive to customer to reschedule or return for future date, such as a discount in the price. It is advisable to call the operator within 24 hour of trip to check for go or no-go.
To enjoy the whale tour, be sure to bring some snacks (to remedy cold and wind, and motion discomfort). For taking pictures, you may need a camera with 5-10 times optical zoom. In using a digital camera, you may need to set the picture quality to more than 2000 pixels length. This would be handy if the whale appears small in the picture, and you have to enlarge the small area with good resolution afterward. The law prohibits whale boats to get closer than 100 yards from the whale. Exception is when the whale moves closer to the boat voluntarily!
Happy whale watching!
