Whale Watching from Victoria

[DwayneG]

We're going to be stopping in Victoria, BC in early October.  If we sign up for a whale watching tour are the odds good for actually seeing whales that time of year?  The prices are high if we just see more ocean, but worth it if we see whales.  Any tour companies you really like?

[martincath]

Yes, odds are very good - while Orcas are still the bread & butter 'whale' from Victoria and the main season is April-October, you may actually have slightly better chances to see other species too as some of the earlier-leaving Greys & Humpbacks that spend summers in Alaska may be passing on their way back south.

 

I've only ever done Prince of Whales out of Victoria (on their zodiacs) and am happy with them - but I believe that there's an even better guarantee available with another company these days (everyone locally including PoW offer 'unlimited trips for life until you see a whale' and seasonal odds run 90-95% - but BC Whale Tours also offers a 20% refund on top of that guarantee).

 

If you'll never return to the area then 'free trips for life' is meaningless - but aside from boat types I don't believe there's any real difference in % viewing with any Victoria company, as they all share info on whale locations so it's entirely down to whether your boat is fast enough to get to them and return in the tour's duration. This is why the zodiac style are better than the slower boats - all local companies have them these days, some also offer more traditional hulls for folks who can't handle the bouncing around (bad backs, pregnant etc.) - but other than vessel type, your odds of spotting a whale on any given ride are basically identical regardless of who you go with.

 

Of course this assumes that your cruise actually happens... so I would not be inclined to book any excursion at this point, there are plenty of Victoria whale-watching firms so even walk-up availability is very likely. If/when cruises are confirmed to be happening again, you can worry about locking down a particular company/timeslot that fits around your port times.

 

[DwayneG]

Thank you, sounds like you know your stuff!