whale watching in Monterey Bay

<p>I will be in the Monterey area at the end of July and am considering going on a whale watching trip. Basically I have two questions: is this a good time to see whales and are there any outfits that you've had either very good or bad experiences with? </p>

<p>I live in the Monterey Bay Area and my favorites are Fast Raft and Monterey Bay Whale Watch.<br>

<br /> http://fastraft.com/ little bit more expensive but it is a more close to the water safari type tour with less people in each boat. They are also very good with photographers. Their main captain Kate is a good photographer herself as well as a great naturalist.</p>

<p>If you want something a little bit less expensive on a larger boat go with Monterey Bay Whale Watch. I work with their main photographer regularly and they do great tours. http://www.gowhales.com/ <br /> I took my wife out on one of their tours for our anniversary and it was the afternoon tour and we got to watch the sunset out on the water. It was really great. They also have a very knowledgable naturalist on board and a skilled captain.</p>

<p>Word to the wise if you visit that area please make sure you pull over to let faster traffic go by you and if you pull over pull all the way off the road. We have a lot of accidents happen because of poor driving and parking habits from visitors. Also if you go down the coast there are not many bathrooms so make sure you go when you can and not on the side of the road that is becoming a major issue in the area as well.</p>

<p>I went in early August and did the Monterrey Bay Whale Watch trip. It was INCREDIBLE. We started out with three Blue Whales, saw two Humpacks, schools of Gramps, and a number of good seabirds as well. What I would suggest is that you check out their "Sightings" page and see what animals you might expect when you visit (they have sightings back several years. The link is here.<br>

http://www.gowhales.com/sighting.htm</p>

 

<p>I've been there in January and I saw lot's of whales! It was really beautiful!!! something you'll never forget!</p>