whale watching in Victoria w/ HAL

[thefamilycruisers]

My husband and I will be in Victoria on the Statendam on Sept. 24. We are only there for the morning. We are thinking of taking the ship's whale watching excursion. Does anyone know which company HAL uses?

[6rugrats]

I would not book through the cruiseline. Book it yourself directly with the tour company. Look at Eagle Wing Whale Watching Tours.

[PNW Traveler]

Prince of Whales is a good whale-watching tour. They depart near the Fairmont Empress.

[Putterdude]

I don't know who HAL uses but if you are only in Victoria for a few hours then I would be inclined to stick with the ship's tour. If you have the time both Eagle Wing and Orca Spirit are close by at Fisherman's Wharf.

 

http://www.orcaspirit.com/

 

www.eaglewingtours.com/

[thefamilycruisers]

Thanks for the responses.

I have checked with several of the companies that offer these tours and unfortunately the timing is off. Our only option is the ship's tour. I am not usually a fan of ship's excursions, but really wanted to get a chance to go out to see some whales. Trying to see if the ship's tour seemed like a good bet.

[Putterdude]

I rather thought this might be the case. By the way there has been a new calf born into the J pod which you may just get to see.

 

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Endangered+killer+whale+gives+birth+first+calf/7054699/story.html

[operabob]

If you do use a local co. rather than HAL's "approved" tour ask first if there are killer whales out and about (BTW: no one here says a-boot :)). If there aren't any sometimes you can negotiate a lower price.

 

Of a personal opinion though, if I was only going to be in Victoria for the morning, I'd skip the whale watching in favour of a walk through old downtown. This is a gorgeous city on a sunny day with a lot of interesting history.

 

If you're healthy it's only about a mile walk to downtown from the cruise ship terminal through a very clean residential neighbourhood..