Best port for whale watching?

[astrofan4ever]

We are booked on the Radiance out of NYC this September, can anyone tell me which port would be best for a whale watching excursion?  The stops are Boston, Portland, Halifax or St. John?

[martincath]

Saint John - if it's the New Brunswick one, as opposed to St Johns Newfoundland. Trips actually go out of St Andrews by the Sea, about an hours drive west. The Bay of Fundy is one of the world's best whalewatching spots because of the huge tides - they churn up the bottom making this extremely productive water, which entices the whales as there's always a ton of food. Multiple whale species - and while Portland trips also head toward the Bay, it's well outside the narrower parts so not as successful for whale spotting on short trips compared to the Saint John area.

 

Halifax basically sucks for whale watching - open ocean, minimal regular feeding grounds for any species within a few hour boat cruise range. Boston does have good whalewatching (Stellwagen Bank is an underwater plateau with upwelling deep water, so provides a similarly-productive feeding ground to Fundy), but since it's a big city with a ton of other stuff I'd bump the priority way down - unless you have your heart set on seeing Hopewell Rocks or St Martins Caves from Saint John already, as there's no way you'd have time to do both a 'walk on the seafloor' and a whalewatch, they're in opposite directions from each other. .

 

Otherwise though Saint John is small potatoes tourist-site-wise, so it's a great port to be out of town for several hours as you can see all there is to see in town in a really short time. Personally I'd rent a car and book an indy whalewatch - this will save an absolute fortune over the insanely-overpriced ship tours that stick you on a bus; even a solo will likely save significant cash and if you can fill a car with people you could literally save a thousand bucks (I've seen ship tours run $300pp, compared to a car, 2 hours worth of gas, and a ~$70pp whalewatch - and local prices are of course Canadian while ship tours are in USD!)

 

Edited February 8, 2020 by martincath

[astrofan4ever]

Thank you! Lots of good information 

[Mtngirl2]

We have done wonderful whale watching from Portland.  But, how much time will you have when in Portland?  We have done day-long whale watches, going way out into the Atlantic, and have seen many whales.  Some whale watching trips are shorter, like 4 hours, and some may be offered only once a day at a time not convenient for you.  Hope you are able to find something good for you!