San Diego Whale Watching Tours
Upcoming departures.
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San Diego Whale Watching Cruise
- 9:30 AM to 1:00 PM Book Now
- 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM Book Now
Whale Watching returns December 2024 - stay tuned for schedule updates!
San Diego is among the world's top destinations for viewing marine wildlife. During whale watching season, mid-December through April, more than 20,000 gray whales migrate along our coast. For the thrill of a lifetime, cruise alongside these magnificent whales in their natural environment guided by San Diego's most experienced whale watching fleet.
Flagship's history traces back to the world's first whale watching cruise—right here in San Diego in 1955. Learn about the ocean ecosystem and enjoy live commentary on the sights and sea creatures you may encounter: gray whales, fin whales, humpbacks, minke whales, dolphins, sea lions and more.
Your ticket sales help support Ocean Connectors, providing San Diego youth with access to hands-on environmental education.
Best of all, whale sightings are guaranteed. If you do not see a whale, your next trip is free!
Your Experience Includes
- Ship-Wide, 360-Degree Viewing
- Open-Air Observation Deck
- Snacks and Beverages for Purchase
- Spacious Indoor/Outdoor Seating
Select Your Cruise
San Diego ranks among the world's most incredible places for viewing marine wildlife. Between December and April, more than 20,000 gray whales migrate along our coast. For the thrill of a lifetime, cruise alongside these magnificent whales in their natural environment with Flagship Cruises, San Diego's most experienced whale watching company.
Flagship's history traces back to the world's first whale watching cruise—right here in San Diego in 1955. Gain a deeper understanding of the ocean ecosystem and enjoy live commentary on the sights and sea creatures you may encounter: gray whales, fin whales, humpbacks, minke whales, dolphins, sea lions and more.
Best of all, whale sightings are guaranteed. If you do not see a whale, your next trip is free!
Tours depart twice daily aboard our comfortable, two-story whale watching yacht, with spacious open-air sundeck, multiple restrooms and free guest WiFi.
Flagship's whale watching cruises are educational and fun for the whole family. The incredible connection with nature will leave a lasting impression. Reservations recommended.
- 9:30 am - 1:00 pm
- 1:30 pm - 5:00 pm
| Ages 13+ | $52.00 | ||
| Ages 4-12 | $39.00 | ||
| Ages 13+ | $55.00 | ||
| Ages 4-12 | $41.25 |
Before you depart
Cruises may be cancelled in the rare event of unsafe weather conditions. For further information, please visit our FAQ
Groups of 20+ People Ask About Our Special Rates and Services
Whale Watching Route
We follow the whales' migration path to bring you up close for the best sighting spots, which change every day .
Early in the season, whales swim closer to the coast, so the maximum distance is about 3-5 miles. On their return trip, northbound whales swim further out, up to 9-12 miles off the coast .
Photo Gallery
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when you sign up for Flagship emails
GONE WHALE WATCHING SAN DIEGO
San Diego's Premier Whale Watching Experience Departing From Beautiful Mission Bay.
Trips 7 days a week! Featured on National Geographic, The BBC, and Discovery!
See our most recent sightings on Instagram! @GoneWhaleWatching
DISCOVER THE DIFFERENCE
YOU'LL BE LEFT IN AWE!
Our signature whale watching tour departs daily at various times depending on the weather. With a 6-32 passenger limit depending on vessel, these are the most intimate whale watching tours possible in San Diego! We spend approximately 2.5 hours exploring the San Diego coast looking for any and all signs of wildlife. Our vessels cruise at over 30mph to get you to the wildlife faster, and our sightings rate is the best in San Diego for this reason!
Our unique low profile vessels bring you closer to the wildlife than y ou could ever imagine. You will be able to make eye-contact with wild dolphins, and everyone on the boat will have "the best view" !
When you book a trip with us, you are getting the premier dolphin and whale watching experience in San Diego.
There is simply no other company that covers as much ocean as we do, and we have BY FAR the best sightings rate of any company in San Diego.
SIGNATURE PUBLIC WHALE WATCHING/ PRIVATE TOURS
*Limited Capacity Tours:
2-2.5 Hours
Fastest Boats in San Diego!
Departs Daily
$110 Adults +tax
$105 Children +tax
**Group Pricing Available for Parties of 6 or more!
Private Charters starting at $650
*6-32 guests max depending on vessel:
**call for group pricing
FULL-DAY & EXTENDED BLUE WHALE TOURS
Special Trips to Explore the Outer Waters for Premium Sightings and Exotic Species:
$300-$315 per person: adults only, 6 passengers max
We are the only company in San Die go to offer trips like this!
Whale Sightings GUARANTEED on every Extended Tour!
Extended Blue Whale Tours run June-August and are the best opportunity in the world to see the iconic Blue Whale!
(Most 2024 dates are sold out)
Pick Up Location:
1617 Quivira Rd, San Diego, CA 92109
The dock in front of Sportsmen's Seafood!
858-500-2568
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Whale Watching Cruise
Whale Watching in San Diego
Availability: January - March
Experienced Captain & Guide
Memorable Whale Watching Experience in San Diego
Join us as we take you on a unique seasonal experience aboard a classic Friendship sloop sailboat. This tour avoids the traffic of the large tour groups giving you great views and unrivaled photo opportunities. This is your chance to see the migration of gray whales off the coast of Southern California so call to book today and take advantage of the San Diego whale watching season.
Observe the majestic sight of migrating gray whales
Spot other marine life around the harbor
Enjoy our selection of snacks and drinks
Avoid the congestion of large tour groups
Click the tabs to find out more info
Trip details.
- What to Look Forward to
$810 (private group price for up to 6 on average)
Please call to book this tour:
- Or +1 619-889-5988
Departure time
This will be confirmed upon booking
Meeting point
Sunroad Resort Marina, 955 Harbor Island Drive Docks A-D
January through March
Thursday through to Monday
Private tour, perfect for families or small groups (up to 6 on average)
- Soft drinks
- Packaged snacks
Not included
What to bring.
- Warm jacket
- Soft-soled shoes
- Don’t forget your sunscreen!
About your guide
U.S Coast Guard Licensed Captain with 35 years experience
What To Look Forward To
With informative commentary from Captain Phil, you will be able to observe San Diego’s marine wildlife in its natural habitat without the congestion of large-group tour boats. Each year, more than 20,000 gray whales make a 10,000-mile round-trip journey from Alaska to the lagoons of Baja California, where the females give birth to their calves. After spending time in warm Baja California waters so their young can grow strong, they make the journey north again in spring. The longest known distance any mammal migrates on an annual basis, it is truly an extraordinary spectacle to observe. With 70 miles of coastline directly in the migration path, San Diego is an ideal destination to see this impressive parade of gentle giants while aboard a majestic sailboat making this an unforgettable experience!
Take Our Guests’ Word For It
Heather b | march 2021, tripadvisor.
Captain Phillip is incredible! He was so gracious and kind. He is the most experienced person you would ever want to have as your Captain. We had a blast during our sail!
Della | April 2021
My boyfriend and I had such an amazing time on this sail!! Captain Phillip is hilarious, his boat is beautiful, and the other couples we were with fun to talk to – we had such a great time chatting and laughing, even went out for drinks with one of the couples afterwards!
Tess | May 2021
The Captain was friendly, entertaining, and hard-working. The weather was perfect, and the boat sailed like a dream. This was a beautiful boat…
Discover Our Other Adventures
Sunset cruise, private charter, afternoon sail.
Legacy Whale Watch
Legacy whale watch tours.
We will primarily be looking for whales and a variety of dolphin/porpoise species, along with sea lions and birds . From Nov/Dec. – April, California Gray Whales will be the targeted whale species; although we will never pass by a cooperating whale of another species.
A knowledgeable captain and crew that can answer questions, point out wildlife, and identify other points of interest will be on every tour.
The Legacy is a modern, stable, well-equipped 80 ft. fiberglass boat with two decks and ample seating. With windows throughout both decks, the Legacy has great views with the convenience of covered indoor seating for over 100 passengers. The boat has outside seating on the bow and elevated upper deck seating. Legacy has a well stocked bar of snacks and beverages as well as 3 full-sized bathrooms.
Captain's Blog
On Todays trip we were greeted by 2 Minke Whales! A usually shy species these two whales were in the area gobbling up bait fish and appeared many times for […]
A beautiful day on the water with a visit from a usually less seen animal! Today we got some great looks at a Minke Whale, the smallest of the great […]
What a special day on the water. Fun was had by all as we got to see 2 different species of Common dolphin, the Long beaked and Short beaked, both […]
Check Out Our Reviews on Google!
I always wanted to go whale watching, and booking with Legacy Whale Watch was totally worth it! My wife and son had a blast! We saw a few whales, tons of dolphins, and great scenic views. We took a bunch of fun pictures too. The staff was great! Wonderful family vibe, and they couldn't have been nicer and more accommodating. I highly recommend booking with them! Michael Davis
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- About the Crew
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Whale Watching in San Diego
Come sail along quietly alongside these majestic mammals.
JADA operates whale watching cruises most Saturdays, January through March, unless a private charter has been scheduled. Please check our calendar for availability. Departure time is 12:30 AM and generally we’ll return around 4:30 PM, depending upon how quickly we find the whales. We serve soft drinks and snacks while sailing. We recommend you bring a lunch.
Gray Whale Watching in San Diego The annual migration of gray whales along San Diego’s coast is one of nature’s most incredible spectacles. Not only is the gray whale one of the largest animals on earth, it also has the longest annual migration of any mammal. Each year about 26,000 gray whales undertake a round trip migration of over 10,000 miles from the icy Arctic waters of Alaska to the warm tropical lagoons of Baja California where the females give birth to their calves.
Gray whales are relatively slow swimmers and surface every three to five minutes to blow a few times before they dive under again. This usually provides ample opportunity to view the whales. Having knowledge of the diving, breathing, and migration patterns of the whales are key components to a successful whale watching cruise in San Diego.
Although it is possible to see gray whales from certain high shoreline vantage points, nothing compares to the experience of viewing gray whales up close from the deck of a sailing yacht. Whale watching is a memorable, fun, and educational activity for everyone of any age.
In addition to offering whale watching cruises in San Diego, Sail JADA Charters provides a variety of excursions on our beautiful sailing yacht. Private or public yacht charters could include sunset cruises, weddings on the bay or memorials at sea. Call (858) 222-9479 to learn more today.
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San Diego Whale Watching Tours
We’re seeing Lots of Dolphins, Fin Whales, Minke & Humpbacks!!
Whale Watching Tours Year-Round!
Whale Watching Tours For Everyone
choose from our amazing tours
DAYTIME Whale & Dolphin Watching Tours
SUNSET Whale & Dolphin Watching Tours
PRIVATE Whale & Dolphin Watching Charters
Our Whale Guarantee
A naturalist on every tour.
Who said learning can’t be fun?!
What We See…
We see different kinds of whales and dolphins throughout the year including: blue whales, grey whales, humpbacks, fin whales, minke whales & of course many types of dolphins! This fall we even saw a Whale Shark!!
Take a look at what we’re seeing now!
Events, Excursions & Charters
Why san diego whale watch.
🕒 Open Year-Round | Mon-Sun: 9am - 6pm | +1 619-297-7426
YOU'LL LOVE SEEING SAN DIEGO LIKE THIS
Take a break from the city and experience San Diego from the deck of a pristine sailboat, helmed by a fun & experienced captain.
Family-Friendly, Certified Captains Luxury Sailboats
Sailing San Diego Bay has never been this easy & fun.
Sometimes you just need to stop and take a breath. Relax with your friends and family and take in a side of San Diego you can only find on the water. Soak up the perfect SoCal sunshine, feel the breeze in the sails, and spot some of the area’s incredible marine wildlife on our sailing tours in San Diego.
More time on the water.
Our 3-hour Day and Sunset Sails offer more time on the water than any charter company in San Diego.
Everything is included.
Complimentary beer, soda, and snacks are included with every charter, so all you have to worry about is your SPF.
Safe, comfortable boats.
Our meticulously maintained fleet is helmed by US Coast Guard-certified captains.
“Whether you live in San Diego and want to get some fresh air and sail without a care, or you have visitors in town, which we did, you would be hard-pressed to find a better way to experience San Diego.”
– Paula, Google
Private San Diego Sailing Charters for Groups of 2-12
Make any of our San Diego sailing experiences an exclusive event for your friends and family. Groups of 5+ save when booking as a private sail.
MID WEEK SUMMER SPECIAL
$100 OFF Private Day & Sunset Sails
Valid Tuesdays – Thursday for bookings made and setting sail August – September
Use Code: summer100
- Sells Out Fast!
- Hour Glass 3 Hours
Private Sunset Sail
Most popular and first to sell out. Sunset Sails may be among the most romantic and relaxing moments of your day.
Sailboat Up to 12 Guests Max User Private & Bareboat Options Check Bubble Complimentary Drinks & Snacks
- Our Favorite
Private Day Sail
Our favorite for sure! Stronger winds give us more speed helping the boat go faster, creating a thrilling experience.
- Great for Families
- Hour Glass 2 Hours
Private Morning Sail
Great option if you have limited time. Morning Sails are best know for calm waters and light wind.
Small Group Public Sailing Tours in San Diego
All of our public sails max out at 6 guests, so you’ll never be crowded in with a bunch of strangers when sailing the San Diego Harbor . Perfect for individuals, couples, and small groups.
$15 OFF Public Day & Sunset Sails (Per Person)
Use Code: summer15
Public Sunset Sail
Sailboat Limited to 6 Guests Max User USCG Licensed Captain Check Bubble Complimentary Drinks & Snacks
Public Day Sail
- Great for Kids
Public Morning Sail
No rush. no worries. no experience required..
We did the morning tour and this was one of the best San Diego experiences we have done. From start to finish everything was easy. The sailboat was beautiful. Check in was quick and on time. Our group of four found the experience awesome. We live in San Diego and saw so many things we had never seen or even knew about. I'd definitely do this trip again.
The whole process of booking and checking in was simple with Sail San Diego. I loved riding with a small group of 6 people in total, it made for a really lovely experience. The captain made the sail fun and interactive. The three hour cruise time when by in a flash, and made me want to book again. I would strongly recommend Sail San Diego for its affordability, value, and expertise and friendliness of its staff.
What a fabulous memory maker! Perfect activity reuniting family from St. Louis and Phoenix with us and our grandchildren. Beautiful sail, accommodating and knowledgeable captain, and spectacular sunset. Can’t wait for more visitors so we can do it again! Read More...
Sailing San Diego Bay Since 1988.
We find that the people who make their way to San Diego, either to visit or to make their homes here, are seekers. They’re looking for that famous SoCal lifestyle: laid back, unpretentious, and fun. When you come out on the water with us, that’s exactly the vibe you’ll get.
As a locally-owned company with deep roots here, it’s our mission to show our guests the real San Diego from a perspective you can’t get anywhere else.
Can’t wait to see you on board our sailing tours of San Diego ! Cal & the Sail San Diego Team
SEE ALL SAILS
Host Your Event On the Water
Whether you’re looking for a fun way to reward your team, or you want to throw the most memorable and fun party for your friends and family, the team at Sail San Diego will help you plan the perfect unforgettable event on board our pristine sailboats!
Corporate Events | Bachelorette Parties | Birthday Parties
Find Us On Instagram!
Visit the sail san diego lounge.
Stop by our retail and check-in lounge and say hi! We’ve got tons of limited edition sailing swag and cool brands like Helley Hansen, Sunski Sunglasses, and SunBum Sunscreen.
Whale Watching 101
by San Diego Sailing Tours | Jan 22, 2017 | Uncategorized
It is official, the whales have made their appearance in San Diego and it is time for you to get out there and see them for yourself! Whale watching can be an exciting adventure so our team here at San Diego Sailing Tours has put together a guide on what to expect when venturing out to see to see these majestic creatures!
WHAT TO BRING
Comfortable pants and jacket- layering is key especially in cooler conditions
Hat/sunglasses
Windbreaker
Water/snacks
Medication- only if you get sea sick!
WHAT TO EXPECT
Whales are wild animals and nobody can control what they do. Therefore it is very important to be patient. It might take time for your captain to find them, but when you do it is magical! You will see them come up for air or even breach! Due to their unpredictable
Due to their unpredictable movements you might find that you don’t see any whales on your tour. Not to worry though you will see other kinds of marine life such as dolphins and seals! Take advantage of being on the water, enjoy the wind on your face and take in all the views
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The 5 best whale watching tours in san diego.
Take advantage of this lauded activity on one of these trips.
The Best San Diego Whale Watching
Getty Images
Though it's home to an assortment of sea lions, dolphins and birds, San Diego 's most popular animals are whales. It's hardly surprising, then, that the city boasts unrivaled opportunities for observing these gentle giants. After consulting traveler opinion and expert input, U.S. News identified the following whale watching tours as the best available. These outings feature professional crews that offer insights into the fauna encountered during these expeditions.
Adventure Whale Watching – Whale Watching San Diego
Price: From $109 Duration: 2.5 to 3 hours
This ride on a military-style rigid inflatable boat (RIB) features sightings of whales (and dolphins), plus views of the city's skyline, a submarine base and Point Loma Lighthouse. The excursions occur year-round, though the roster of whale species changes with the seasons. Humpback whales and common dolphins are in the area all year. Meanwhile, blue and minke whales appear in the summer and fall, respectively, and gray whales tend to show up in the winter and spring. Trip-takers find the captains to be friendly and adept guides. However, some warn that it can be a bumpy ride, so anyone with back issues or other concerns may prefer a calmer tour.
Tour times vary by season, but they are typically offered three times daily at 8:30 a.m., noon and 2:30 or 3:30 p.m. Groups are limited to 10 people, all of whom must be at least 4 years old. Private tours are also available.
Check prices & availability on:
Flagship Cruises & Events – Whale Watching Tour
Price: Adults from $52; kids from $39 Duration: 3.5 hours
This tour aims to be equal parts educational and fun, and reviewers consistently report that it succeeds in both respects, with the crew winning praise for being knowledgeable and personable. Better yet, if you don't see whales on your tour, Flagship guarantees you free passage on a subsequent outing.
Flagship Cruises & Events offers this tour from mid-December through April – peak season for observing gray, fin and humpback whales as they migrate along the coast – with departures at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. daily. In addition to its whale-focused tour, the company offers a variety of other cruises, including a ferry ride to Coronado .
Next Level Sailing – Whale Watching
Price: Adults from $85; kids from $51 Duration: 3.5 to 4 hours
The yacht America, a 139-foot yacht used for this excursion, sails daily throughout the year, offering chances to see humpback, blue and gray whales (among others, depending on the season). Patrons consistently describe the captain and crew as capable, attentive and engaging. (The vessel itself is also regarded as particularly attractive.)
Tours are offered once or twice daily, depending on the season. Fees include water, soda and snacks, but passengers are also welcome to bring their own food on board. Next Level offers several charter options, as well.
San Diego Whale Watch – Whale Watching
Price: Adults from $65; kids from $59 Duration: 2.5 hours
This tour features a certified marine biologist as a guide, ensuring that sea life enthusiasts will get the maximum amount of insight about the whales, dolphins and other creatures they'll see. Patrons appreciate the friendly crew members' informed commentary.
Tours occur all year, with daily departures at 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. A third tour may be offered on select days at 10 or 11 a.m. If tourgoers do not spot any whales, they can take their next ride at no charge. San Diego Whale Watch also offers a sunset cruise and private charters.
Sail San Diego – Whale Watching Sail
Price: Adults from $129; kids from $99 Duration: 3.5 hours
If you're seeking a small group tour with personalized attention well suited to couples or families, Sail San Diego might have just the outing for you. The company's whale watching sails host just six people per outing and travel into the bay or open water. Reviewers frequently describe the captains – who also serve as guides – as hospitable, helpful, entertaining and accommodating.
Cruises are offered twice daily at 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. between January and April. Fees include light snacks and beverages (including beer and hard seltzer). Sail San Diego also operates a sunset sail and private tours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Some species, like humpback whales and common dolphins, can be spotted in San Diego year-round. Otherwise, winter and spring are the best seasons to see whales, and January specifically is prime time for gray whales in the region.
Prices for whale watching tours in San Diego vary from about $50 to $150 per adult, depending on the length of the tour, whether it is a group tour or a private outing, and other factors. Children typically pay a discounted rate.
You may also be interested in:
- The Best San Diego Tours
- The Best Hotels in San Diego
- Fun Things to Do in San Diego With Kids
- The Best Whale Watching in Santa Barbara
- The Best Places to Visit in California
Tags: Travel , Vacations , San Diego , Tours
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Whale Watching Report
Come Here To Stay Up To Date With Our San Diego Whales With Our Daily Whale Watching Reports!
Next Level Sailing Whale Watching Report
| 8/18/24 | Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Summer is still here! We saw a very nice pod of common dolphins today. Everyone on this trip gets to come back for free to fulfill their whale watching guarantee. |
| 8/17/24 | 1 Humpback Whale, Sea Lions | Captain Troy found one of the same humpback whales as yesterday! Everyone was able to get some amazing views. We are going out later today with the American Cetacean Society. We can’t wait to see what else we can find! |
| 8/16/24 | 2 Humpback Whales. Sea Lions | We are thrilled to find humpback whales today! The seas are flat and the sun is out. It is very much still summer here in San Diego. The humpback whales are here for food, so let’s see how long they will stay in the area. |
| 8/4/24 | Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | While we did not see whales today, we had fabulous views of a large pod of common dolphins! |
| 8/3/24 | 2 Blue Whales, Sea Lions | We got to see blue whales for a second day in a row today! |
| 8/2/24 | 7 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins | The blues are here to stay! We are thrilled to see such a large density of blue whales at the start of August. |
| 7/31/24 | Blue Whale and Common Dolphins | The summer feels like it is just starting here in San Diego. We are getting some beautiful warm summer days. Our whale watching trips are full of activity. Today, we saw a blue whale and common dolphins. We can’t wait to see what August will bring! |
| 7/20/24 | Cow and Calf Blue Whales, Sea Lions | We were thrilled to find this cow and calf pair for a second day in a row! |
| 7/19/24 | Cow and Calf Blue Whales, Bottlenose Dolpins, Short Beak Common Dolphins, Sea Lions! | What a spectacular day! We got to see a blue whale mother with her calf. Did you know that a calf can weigh up to 5,000 lbs when born? We also got to see two types of dolphins. What a fantastic day, we can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 7/18/24 | Blue Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | These summer days are just fantastic. Blue whales and dolphins, oh my! |
| 7/16/24 | Minke, 6 pods of Dolphins, Sea Lions | We were able to see a ton of dolphins today as well as a minke. We can’t wait to see what else we can find this week! |
| 7/14/24 | Great Dolphins! | Unfortunately, we did not see a whale today. However, we saw a ton of dolphins! Everyone on this trip gets to come back for free. |
| 7/9/24 | Blue Whales! | Walter the pup was aboard today and he helped us find a beautiful blue whale! Be sure to check out his instagram @walterswhales. |
| 7/8/24 | Blue Whale, Common Dolphins, Offshore Bottlenose | We found a vry nice transiting blue whale. It was not feeding in this area, but we are thrilled to find it passing through San Diego. We also saw two different types of dolphins! |
| 7/7/24 | Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | This is the first time this season we have not seen any whales. In fact, all the whale watching boats in San Diego unfortunlately could not find whales today. We did have great dolphins. Everyone on this trip gets to come back for a free trip. |
| 7/6/24 | Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Happy July 4th! It has been a busy week here at Next Level Sailing and we are pleased to report that we have been seeing blue whales every day. We have also been seeing common dolphins and sea lions during our trips. |
| 6/30/24 | Cow & Calf Blue Whale, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | June was a huge whale watching success! Such a special way to end the month by seeing a beautiful cow and calf pair that were curious about us and decided to go people watching. We are thrilled to have seen blue whales every day in June. Let’s see if they stay for the whole month of July too! |
| 6/29/24 | Multiple blue whales, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | The blue whles are still here and we have continued to see them during our trips this past week. While the density of whales is going down as the food supply decreases, we are happy that they are still here. We can’t wait to get out to tomorrow and find them! |
| 6/22/24 | 1 Blue Whale, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | Summer is truly here. We are experiencing a heat wave in California and the coolest place to be is on the ocean. Don’t forget a jacket! We saw one blue whales. We can’t wait to see what else we can find. |
| 6/20/24 | 7 Blue Whales, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | We are thrilled to report that the blue whales are staying in the area for now. They are feeding and we are so excited to get to see them. We saw seven blue whales total and stayed with three blue whales over the course of several cycles. |
| 6/19/24 | 6 Blue Whales, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | What a great day! We saw a magnificent sight: six blue whales all in one day. It was superb to see these magnificent animals in the ocean right off our coast here in San Diego. |
| 6/18/24 | 1 Blue Whale, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | This is our first day back from scheduled maintenance. We were so excited to get on the water. It really feels like summer here in San Diego. While the mornings are gloomy, the afternoons really warm up. Don’t forget to wear layers. Today, we saw a spectacular blue whale that swam right up to the boat. Food must still be in the area, which is a great sign! |
| June Update | Blue Whales! | For the first two weeks of June, we have had great sightings of blue whales. We have seen them in groups of 4 and also single whales as well. We were shut down for scheduled maintenance in the middle of the month, but we are excited to get back on the water! |
| May Update | 20+ Blue Whales! | We are starting to get into the height of blue whale watching! There have been days where we have seen over 20 blue whales feeding right here off our San Diego waters. These incredible animals are feeding on krill. The whales will be here as long as the krill are here. Be sure to get out on the water during this peak season! |
| 5/12/24 | 2 Blue Whales, 8 Mola Mola, 28 Dolphins. | What a spectacular day! There is a lot of life in the water right now. Today is a perfect example with 2 gorgoues blue whales, 8 Mola Mola, and 28 short beaked common dolphins. There were about 25 in a pod and a pair that swam off by themselves. We also saw 4 inshore bottlenose dolphins too. What a day! |
| 4/25/24 | Juvenile Blue Whale | Today, we saw a juvenile blue whale. It was super friendly and swam up right next to the boat! |
| 4/22/24 | Blue Whale! | This is our first blue whale of the season! We are exceptionally excited to watch the largest animal to have ever existed. The weather was a bit overcast and chilly today, so don’t forget to pack a sweater when coming to San Diego. |
| 4/20/24 | 1 Fin Whale, 25 Common Short-Beaked Dolphins, Sea Lions | We are getting so spoiled with these incredible fin whale sightings! These animals will stay in San Diego and feed as much as possible until they hear of another food source. We are so lucky to get to see these animals every year! |
| 4/19/24 | 3 Fin Whales, 2 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Bottlenose Dolphins | The sun was shining and the whales were out in full force today! It was an awesome day. We saw 3 very friendly fin whales, 2 northbound gray whales, about 6 pacific short beaked common dolphins, and a couple of inshore bottlenose dolphins. We can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow! |
| 4/15/24 | 3,000 Sea Birds: Pelicans, Cormorants, and more! | While we knew there were whales in the area, Captain Troy asked the guests if they wanted to stay and watch this incredible experience. These birds were diving and feeding in such a large number, it was like being in a BBC nature movie. This has happened several years ago in our waters. We are in a height of spring and this is a fantastic time to get out on the water. There has been a blue whale sighting by the San Diego whale watching community already. We can’t wait to see what we find this week. |
| April, 2024 | Fin Whales! | We have been seeing fin whales consistently for the past several weeks now! It’s fantastic to have the sun out and see the second largest whales feeding right off our San Diego coastline. |
| 4/8/24 | Cow & Calf, Common Dolphins | We saw a humpback cow and calf feeding today! Over the past 13 years, we have been thrilled to see humpack whales slowly return to San Diego. This is a great example of a mother showing her calf that there is great food in our local waters. We also saw a lovely pod of common dolphins! The sun is out, we are so excited for this spring! |
| 4/3/24 | 4 Humpback Whales, Dolphins, Seas Lions | There was heavy fog today, so we had to move very slowly in the beginning. Once we go through the fog, we found 4 feeding humpbacks! There were also lots of dolphins and sea lions feeding as well. What a fantastic day 🙂 |
| 4/2/24 | Humpback Whales! | Over the past few weeks, we have been seeing migrating gray whales. Now that we are in spring here in San Diego, we are thrilled to report that humpback whales have started feeding. For the last two days, we have seen two humpback whales feeding in the same spot. It’s a fantastic sign to see so much food in the water. We are eagerly look forward to a fabulous spring season with more sightings to come! |
| 3/11/24 | Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Spring break has been a blast so far! We saw a southbound gray whale heading down to Mexico. We can’t wait to spend spring break with you 🙂 |
| 3/9/24 | 5 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a day! We saw three gray whales as well as a cow and calf heading north. We can’t wait to see what this month will bring. |
| Feb&March | Whales! | It’s been a busy time of year but we have been seeing whales every trip. Most of the whales have been gray whales, but we have seen a few humpback whales. We are keeping a close eye out for orcas. We can’t wait to have you out! |
| 2/11/24 | 4 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Botlenose Dolphins | Another spectacular day! We saw our friendly gray whale in the bay, along with three gray whales out in the ocean that were mating. We also saw two species of dolphins making for a spectacular day at sea. |
| 2/10/24 | 1 Gray Whale, 3 Humpback Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins | What a fantastic day! There was a gray whale in the San Diego Bay that we saw on the way out to sea. We found three humpback whales and we also saw inshore bottlenose dolphins. |
| 2/9/24 | Gray Whales! | For the last 30 days out on the water, we have been seeing gray whales! |
| 1/31/24 | 2 Gray Whales, Megapod Commons | We had a great pair of gray whales and a fantastic megapod of common dolphins! |
| 1/29/24 | 3 Gray Whales | A beautiful day complete with three gray whales! We are keeping a close eye on the weather for this week. |
| 1/28/24 | Gray Whales and Orcas! | Guess what? We got to see orcas today! Super exciting to see these gorgeous creatures in San Diego. Be sure to check out our instagram, @nxtlevelsailing for footage. |
| 1/27/24 | 2 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | What incredible weather! We are expecting a bit of rain next week, but we are thrilled with the weather this weekend. We got to see two beautiful southbound gray whales. |
| 1/26/24 | 3 Gray Whales, Bottlenose dolphins, Sea Lions | We were lucky enough to see not only three gray whales, but it turned out that they were mating! These animals are making their way down to Mexico, but if the conditions are right, we get to see mating behavior right here in San Diego. |
| January 2024 | Whale Watching Success! | Happy New Year! We have had a busy start to the year and we have been seeing lots of gray whales, dolphins, sea lions, and super cool naval activity. We can’t wait to see you out on the water. |
| 12/24/23 | Whale Watching | Hello everyone! Whale watching will resume on December 26th. The yacht America has been hauled out and she looks incredibly beautiful. Check out the story We can’t wait to see you in a few days! |
| 10/17/23 | Humpback Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What an incredible few weeks. We have seen humpback whales, mega pods of dolphins, and a ton of sea birds. We have also seen sea lions lounging around on the bait barges. It’s always such a pleasure having our guests aboard for a splendid day on the water. Don’t forget to look for military ships and submarines along the way. We will be hauled out for maintenance during November, so be sure to join us now! |
| 10/8/23 | 3 Humpback Whales, Dolphins, Sea Lions | We are starting to get into the height of fall. Grab your pumpkin spice latte and enjoy a beautiful day on the water. Whale watching in October is incredible. We saw three humpback whales today. We can’t wait to see what else we find! |
| 10/2/23 | Breaching Humpback, 500 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | September and October are often referred to as local San Diego summer. It is still warm, but it is not a busy time of year. We were absolutely thrilled to see a breaching humpback today! The sky was sunny and it was simply a gorgeous day. We can’t wait to see what else we will find. |
| September | Minke Whales, Mega pods of Dolphins, Sea Lions | This month has been busy for us at Next Level Sailing. We have had some of the most incredible mega pods of dolphins in our San Diego waters. We also have seen minke whales and distant blue whale spouts. We are excited to see what October will bring. |
| 9/2/23 | Minke Whale, Dolphins, Sea Lions | Happy Labor Day Weekend! The weather started out a little rainy, but turned out to be a gorgeous trip during our whale watching trip. We got to see a minke whale, common dolphins, and sea lions. We can’t wait to see what else we find this weekend. |
| 8/31/23 | Minke Whale, Dolphins, Sea Lions | We found a minke whale! We were so excited and this friendly fella allowed us to get great views. We can’t wait to see what we find this September! |
| 8/27/23 | Largest Megapod of common dolphins this year | August has been a busy month. We have been seeing lots of dolphins every single trip except for yesterday. Today, we were able to see the largest megapod of dolphins that we’ve seen this whole year. It was absolutely stunning. We are keeping our eyes peeled for whales in the meantime! |
| 8/7/23 | 1 Blue Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We were so excited to find a blue whale today! It was migrating south. We felt super lucky to find it as we were the only boat in San Diego to find a whale. We also saw lots of dolphins too. We can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow! |
| 8/6/23 | Common Dolphins, Offshore Bottlenose, Mola Mola, Sea Lions | The weather has been just gorgeous here in San Diego. A little cool in the morning, but it warms up in the afternoon. Captain Troy and crew headed out looking for whales. Unfortunately, we did not see whales. In fact, no whale watching group in San Diego saw whales. That said, we had great views of both common dolphins and offshore bottlenose dolphins. Guests were delighted to see these animals jumping and playing. We also got to see a very friendly mola mola, otherwise known as a sunfish. These animals rise to the surface to bask in the sun. It was great to see! All these people get to come back for free at any time to fulfill their whale watching guarantee. |
| 8/5/23 | Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | The days are warm, it finally feels like summer. Don’t forget to bring a jacket or sweatshirt, the weather cools off out on the water. We found a great group of common dolphins. We also saw sea lions and Navy dolphins. Everyone gets to come back for free! |
| 8/4/23 | 1 Blue Whale, 1 Minke Whale, Common Dolphons, Offshore Bottlenose | What a day! We saw so much activity out on the water today. We saw a magnificent blue whale and we also saw a minke whale too. There were a ton of common dolphins. We also saw a pod of offshore bottlenose. We can’t wait to see what we will find tomorrow! |
| 8/2/23 | Common Dolphins, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions, Submarines | While the weather was spectacular, we did not see any whales today. Everyone gets to come back for free any time to fulfill their whale watching guarantee. |
| 8/1/23 | 4 Blue Whales, 400 Common Dolphins, Ohio Class Submarine | The ocean was very flat. It has been humid in the mornings, so we weren’t surprised when the sky opened up and rained on us during the trip. Everyone got wet, but the sun was out soon after so everyone and everything dried pretty quickly. Captain Troy headed out to the canyon and found two pairs of blue whales. Guests were able to get fantastic views. On the way back in, we saw 400 common dolphins. There was also a command change on an Ohio Class Submarine, so guests were able to get wonderful views. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 7/30/23 | 1 Blue Whale, 500 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Another great day here in San Diego. We were able to have super close encounters with a friendly blue whale that swam right towards us. We also had a large pod of common dolphins that actually stampeded in a circle outward. We have never seen that before. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 7/29/23 | 4 Blue Whales, 500 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What an exciting day! We headed out and it was a little overcast, but warm on land. While we were raising sail, we felt raindrops. It was a little tropical rain shower, but the rain quickly subsided. We headed south and went through a small pod of common dolphins. With the help of our great whale watching community, we knew about a group of whales to the southwest. We finally made it and were greatly rewarded with super close views of three whales and a distant view of a fourth whale. The close views were absolutely spectacular. We also had a wall of about 500 common dolphins swimming towards us. On our way back home, we had beautiful blue skies and sunny weather. This is what whale watching dreams are made of. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 7/28/23 | 1 Blue Whale, 600 Common Dolphins, Mola Mola | We headed out west and the seas were very calm. There were two pods of common dolphins, it was awesome. The first pod had about 20 individuals and the second pod had 500. It was great to see them jumping and playing on both sides of the boat. Suddenly, Fathom saw a fluke print, then another and another. Sure enough, it was a whale! We followed this whale and it turned out to be a juvenile blue whale that was probably around 7 months old. It was small, but it looked very healthy and well fed. We looked and looked for mom, but never found her. Fellow whale watching boats saw whales in that area earlier in the morning, so maybe she just swam a couple miles away. We hope that they reunite soon! |
| 7/26/23 | 5 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The density is still high for blue whales in San Diego. It’s really amazing that we are still having these days were we see five blue whales in a small area. There must be a ton of food in the waters for us to see them in late July with such high density. We consider ourselves very lucky! |
| 7/25/23 | 1 Blue Whale, Common Dolphins, Offshore Bottlenose, Sea Lions | We headed out west looking for whales. On the way, we found common dolphins and offshore bottlenose dolphins. Through the help of our great whale watching community, we learned that there was a single blue whale just a couple miles to the north. We spoke with all the passengers to see if it would be alright if we were late. Everyone said it was okay, so we went for it. Guests were thrilled to get such a fantastic view of this massive blue whale. We even got to see the tail during it’s terminal dive. That extra hour was certainly worth it. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 7/24/23 | 1 Blue Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | These ocean conditions are spectacular. It is overcast and cool out on the water. Some people put on jackets, some use our blankets, but then it warms up on the way in. Don’t forget sunscreen. We had a fantastic trip with great views of a beautiful blue whale. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 7/23/23 | 1 Blue Whale, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Captain Troy headed to the north. All the whale watching boats were looking for whales and no one had found anything in the morning. Suddenly, Captain Troy saw a spout. Upon closer investigation, it turned out to be a blue whale. Hurray! We were all thrilled. Captain Troy shared this information with fellow whale watchers too. Everyone was able to see a blue whale today. |
| 7/22/23 | No Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today turned into a dolphin watching tour. We didn’t see whales, but we saw hundreds of common dolphins. While the seas were nice and the weather was comfortable, it was a bummer we didn’t see any whales. Everyone from this trip gets to come back for free. |
| 7/21/23 | 5 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | There were five blue whales that were super spread out. During our time watching them, they started to swim towards the boat. The five whales swam closer together, it was incredible to watch. Everyone had fantastic views. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 7/20/23 | 1 Blue Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We had super close views of one blue whale today. That said, we knew about four additional blue whales that were just north of us and they kept swimming north. It’s truly amazing that we have such a high density of blue whales in late July. |
| 7/18/23 | 6 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We ended up seeing six blue whales today! We even saw a tail during a deep terminal dive. It was incredible. Here in San Diego, we are just so lucky to enjoy these beautiful animals. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 7/15 & 16 | Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We saw blue whales on both the 15th and 16th of July. Captain Troy headed down south to the canyon and found several blue whales. We are so glad to find them again. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow! |
| 7/14/23 | 2 Blue Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Just incredible conditions today. It was super sunny and flat weater. We headed down to the south and found two magnifient blue whales. It was amazing! We also saw a tail during one of the dives. Yay! They also swam very close to the boat. We got some once in a lifetime views. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 7/10/23 | No Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Oh no! We were so sad that we did not see whales today. We have heard that there are blue whales feeding in Mexico. Hopefully there are still some krill in these waters off of San Diego. We are going to to try looking in a different place tomorrow. Everyone on this trip gets to come back for free. |
| 7/9/23 | 1 Blue Whale, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Wow! We got some incredible views of a blue whale today. It swam so close to the boat. Everyone couldn’t belive it. We also saw spouts from other whales not too far away. We are so excited to see this much density in July. |
| 7/8/23 | 1 Blue Whale, 300 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We started out with a sunny morning, but then it cooled off by the afternoon. Everyone was glad that they brought jackets! Captain Troy headed out west and we were thrilled to find a stunning blue whale. On our very first look, this whale took a deep dive and we got to see the flukes. How exciting! We stayed with this whale and got to see it over a few cycles. Unlike the other blue whales that have been trending north, this whale trended south. It also swam right to a large pod of common dolphins. The dolphins were jumping and playing, everyone had great views. We can’t wait to see what we will find tomorrow! |
| 7/7/23 | 1 Blue Whale, Navy Dolphins, Submarines, LCS | What a gorgeous sunny day! We had a great trip with beautiful sunny skies and calm seas. We found a southbound blue whale just 4 miles off the coast. It was surprising to see this animal so close to shore. We followed it for over an hour and guests watched in awe. There was also a lot of naval activity. We can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow. |
| 7/6/23 | 2 Blue Whales, Offshore Bottlenose, Submarines | We had some fabuous close views of 2 separate blue whales today. We also saw a third blue whale in the distance. It’s great to see so many blues in early July. They will be here as long as the food is here! |
| 7/5/23 | 3 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a beautiful day today. We had spectacular views of several blue whales. We also had common dolphins during our trip as well. It’s going to be a great month for whale watching! |
| 7/2-4 | Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Such a great way to celebrate July 4th weekend! We were able to see blue whales and common dolphins every single day. These past few months have been spectacular. We have seen whales every single trip we’ve gone out since mid May. |
| 7/1/23 | 1 Blue Whale, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was a little overcast today, but the seas were nice and calm. We found a single blue whale today that took deep dives and showed us fantastic views of its flukes. We were able to see several deep dives during the trip. It was wonderful! We can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow. |
| 6/30/23 | 5 Blue Whales, 800 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Captain Troy headed south to the canyon and found a wonderful group of blue whales. There were also so many dolphins! Captain Troy’s daughter, Amy, just moved back to town. She and her dog, @walterswhales, sailed with us today. We are thrilled to have them back. Be sure to check out Walter’s instagram, he loves watching the dolphins! |
| 6/29/23 | 4 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a gorgeous day! The seas are finally calming down with small swells and long periods. The sun was out, making it a beautiful day on the water. We headed just six miles off Point Loma and found a fantastic group of blue whales. They were feeding together, so everyone had great views of these whales. We also saw spouts from two other blue whales in the distance, making our total count six blue whales. We also saw common dolphins during our trip. We can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow! |
| 6/28/23 | 5 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The sun is still out! The seas are still a bit bumpy, but it was a fantastic day out at sea. We had beautiful views of these blue whales and we even had some great flukes. Guests also saw a great pod of common dolphins. On our way back in, we saw a missile getting loaded into a submarine. It was awesome! |
| 6/27/23 | 4 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was a stunning day on the water. At the begining of our trip, we had four blue whales that swam very close together. Then they split up and we stayed with the pair. At one point, they decided to go people watching. They came up right next to the boat. Captain Troy put the boat in neutral so they could swim wherever they pleased. We can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow! |
| 6/26/23 | 4 Blue Whales, Sea Lions, Osprey Helicopter | We are now in full sunny summer weather here in San Diego. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll still want a jacket/sweatshirt for the wind out on the ocean. That said, the sun was shining the entire day. It’s been bumpy out on the water the last few days, but the sea state should calm down as the week goes on. The whales have been great. We saw a single blue whale, then another single blue whale. We even saw a pair pop up right next to the boat. Everyone couldn’t believe their size, it was amazing to see them so close and hear them breathing. We can’t wait to see what we will find tomorrow! |
| 6/25/23 | 5 Blue Whales, 500 Common Dolphins, Warship, Sea Lions | It was an action packed day today. Not only did we see a blue whale, we saw five blue whales! This season has been incredible. We have seen the highest density of blue whales this year. We can’t wait to see what we will find tomorrow. |
| 6/24/23 | 3 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Warships | We saw three blue whales today and a small pod of common dolphins! Guests were able to get some great views of some active warships out at sea as well. |
| 6/23/23 | 1 Blue Whale, 300 Common Dolphins, Submarine | Thanks to our wonderful whale watching guests, we are able to share the latest blue whale numbers with top scientists. Today, we were able to work with Cascadia Research and they were able to tag more blue whales. It is very exciting to see such a high density of blue whales in San Diego. It’s all because of the food. The food is here, so the whales are here. |
| 6/22/23 | 1 Blue Whale, 300 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We are on a roll. We have seen blue whales every day this month! We are thrilled to see them out in full force this month. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 6/21/23 | Blue Whale, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Just another fantastic day at sea! We saw a blue whale up close and spouts out in the distance. We also saw our friendly Navy Dolphins. We can’t wait to see what this week has in store. |
| 6/20/23 | Blue Whale Cow & Calf, 1 Blue Whale, Sea Lions | We saw a total of three blue whales today. One group was an adorable cow and calf. It is absolutely thrilling to see a young blue whale in our San Diego waters. We hope to see it year after year for many generations to come. These magnificent animals can live up to 90 years old! |
| 6/19/23 | 2 Blue Whales, 300 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Sunshine, it’s great to see you! We finally saw some sun today. We headed out west and had some incredible views of two different blue whales. We also saw spouts of 2 other whales in the distance. The boat was surrounded by scattered common dolphins during the journey to the whales and the journey home. It was magnificent. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 6/18/23 | 3 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Happy Father’s Day! Just another wonderful day out on the water. It was a little bumpy today, but the conditions were still great. We found a blue whale cow and calf, and then we saw a third whale. Guests were able to get some great video. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 6/17/23 | 3 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What an incredible encounter. At one point, we sailed next to a single blue whale while we saw the cow and calf swim right towards it. The whales passed eachother and we were able to witness all three whales. Moma blue even took a deep dive and showed us her beautiful tail. The single whale swam right under the bow of the boat (Captain Troy was in neutral) and then took a deep dive on the other side of the boat. We saw two blue tails in one cycle. What a day! |
| 6/16/23 | 1 Blue whale, Navy Dolphins, Submarine, Sea Lions | It was a gorgeous sunny day. We could see blue sky and big puffy clouds. It’s been a gloomy and cold June, so it was quite refreshing to see the sunshine. We were able to get some fabulous views of a single blue. This whale showed us it’s flukes during a deep dive, it was so close to the boat. We are truly getting spoiled. |
| 6/15/23 | BREACHING HUMPBACK, Blue Whale, Offfshore Bottlenose Dolphins, Submarine | What an amazing experience. This time of year is my absolute favorite as you never know what you will see. Today, we headed out west. The waters were very calm and it was a bit overcast. Suddenly, a guest saw a splash. Captain Troy turned and soon enough, we found a magnificent humpback whale. This whale breached more times than I can even count. It rolled on its side and flapped it’s pectoral fins. It even rolled on it’s back and flapped both pectoral fins in the air. This whale kept breaching over and over and over again. It would take a shallow dive (no fluke) and then come up for a huge breach. It did this over and over again. We couldn’t believe it. We then saw another humpback whale breach in the distance. We headed over to it but never saw it breach again. However, there was a blue whale and what looked like a blue whale/fin whale hybrid right next to it. We saw a total of 4 whales today. On our way home, we saw a small pod of 20 bottlenose dolphins. We even saw an outbound LA Class Attack Submarine. What a day, we had a whale of a time. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 6/14/23 | 5 Blue Whales, 300 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Ohio Class Submarine | The blues are here to stay. We saw 5 blue whales, but they were spread out. We stayed with one that made gorgeous deep dives so we were able to see that stunning 25 foot wide tail. We saw a ton of dolphins swimming our way, so we sailed with them. It was a blast! We circled back and got some last views of the blue whale. We were also super lucky to see an Ohio Class submarine leaving San Diego. It was incredible. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 6/13/23 | 6 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We are back out on the water and the conditions are fantastic! It’s a little chilly, but the seas are calm and the animals are feeding. We were thrilled to see 6 blue whales today. We had some super close views and beauiful tail shots. We can’t wait to get back out tomorrow! |
| 6/4/23 | Cow & Juvenile Blue Whale, 500 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Just another incredible day. A blue whale juvenile popped up very close to the boat and actually swam towards us. Captain Troy just kept the boat in neutral. The juvenile’s mom came up too. Talk about curious whales! It was incredible. We then saw a huge pod of common dolphins. The whales popped up a mile away from us, so we followed the dolphins. Everyone had a great time. We will be closed for a couple days. We will resume operations on June 13th. See you then! |
| 6/3/23 | Blue Whales, 400 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a day! We saw blue whales and dolphins. The density of blue whales is decreasing, but we can still see spouts miles away. We are not sure how many blue whales are still in San Diego, but we had super great views of at least 3 whales. We were with a pair, but they joined a third blue whale. We were able to witness a lot of rolling. In addition, the common dolphins were swimming with the blue whales. It was magical to say the least. |
| 6/2/23 | 50+ Blue Whales, Sea Lions | A third extraordinary day! There are a few blue whales out here that love taking deep dives and showing us their flukes. Less than 10% of blue whales show us their tails, but the last few days have been epic. We have seen so many blue whale flukes. Simply incredible. You can see huge spouts way out in the distance, so we know that these whales are out there feeding. |
| 6/1/23 | 50+ Blue Whales, Sea Lions | Just another extraordinary day. Just like yesterday, there were spouts everywhere we looked. We had guests that sailed with us yesterday that rebooked to today, just to see the blue whales again. With the coordinated effort of our fellow whale watching companies, the captains have been able to discern that there’s at least 50 blue whales in just a 4 mile area. The density of whales from the canyon down to the Coronado Islands is just spectacular. Captain Troy has reached out to the Navy and Cascadia Research to let them know about these animals feeding in our waters. Scientists will be coming down to document these magnificent creatures. |
| 5/31/23 | 20 Blue Whales, Minke Whale, sea lions | Extraordinary day! On the way out to the canyon, we saw a minke whale. As we kept going, we started to see huge spouts. One after another, after another. We could see spouts as far as the eye could see. It turns out that we were able to witness the highest density of blue whales that we have seen since 2015. It was incredible. There were blue whales everywhere. We were able to get some amazing views. We even saw some blue whale poop. This is a good sign since it means that these whales are successfully feeding in our San Diego waters. They eat 40 million krill per day. This will not last forever, so be sure to come whale watching with us soon! |
| 5/30/23 | 3 Fin Whale, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | These conditions are just fabulous for finding whales. The seas are calm and the winds are light. The fin whales are feeding in the same area day after day. We are so lucky. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 5/29/23 | Fin Whale, Turtle, Sea Lions | It was still gray, but we found a stunning fin whale today! It swam right next to the boat. Everyone was able to get some amazing views. We also saw more spouts in the distance, but we wanted to spend time with this friendly whale. On our way back in, we saw a turtle! |
| 5/28/23 | Blue Whale, 2 Fin Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We are seeing May gray again, but we found another blue whale today! At one point, we had a blue whale on one side of the boat and a fin whale on the other side of the boat. It was amazing. We also saw two more spouts in the distance. We are starting to see more and more blue whales. These animals are just huge. If you haven’t seen a blue whale, come to San Diego for a chance of a lifetime. |
| 5/27/23 | Trip 1: 5 Fin Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions Trip 2: Gray Whale | While we saw a total of at least 5 fin whales, we were incredibly lucky to get super close views of a curious pair. At one point, we had a whale on either side of the boat! It’s just incredible to hear these huge animals taking a breath right next to you. There is nothing like it! During our second trip, we saw the juvenile gray whale that has been in the San Diego bay for 9 months. It was close to the submarine base. |
| 5/26/23 | 3 Fin whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | The fins are staying in the same spot. We keep going back to the canyon and we are finding them feeding. It’s great to see that there is so much food in the water. We can’t wait to get out and see them again tomorrow. |
| 5/25/23 | 2 Fin Whales, Sea Lions | The seas were flat and the skies were sunny today! Generally, May is gray, so it was wonderful to feel some warm sun. We had some fabulous views of fin whales today. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 5/22/23 | Blue Whale cow & calf, humpback whale, fin whales | We are starting to get very excited out here on the water. Today, we saw three different species: blue whale, fin whale, and humpback whale! They were all within just a few miles of one another in the Coronado canyon. Everyone was feeding. We can’t wait to get back out on the water. |
| 5/21/23 | 3 Fin Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a fantastic day! Don’t get me wrong, it is chilly on the water. Bring a warm coat, socks, and a beanie. That said, the sea conditions are very calm, allowing perfect conditions to see spouts. Sure enough, we went to the same spot as yesterday and found three fin whales in the area. It was just incredible to see these animals feeding in our San Diego waters. On our way back in, we stumbled upon a large pod of at least 400 common dolphins. Their little calves looked so darn cute. We can’t wait to get back out there! |
| 5/20/23 | 3 Fin Whales, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | Another great day for the books! Today, we had a fantastic trip. It was a private whale watching excursion for a small corporate group. We headed out west and found a group of three fin whales. They were very friendly whales. Everyone couldn’t believe just how big they were! We can’t wait to get back out tomorrow! |
| 5/19/23 | 5 Fin Whales, Sea Lions, Navy dolphins | What a day! It was chilly and overcast, but the sea state was fantastic. There were no white caps. We headed out west and found a total of 5 fin whales. They were incredible! We were able to get several views of a beautiful pair of fin whales that swam close to the boat. It was amazing. We had an awesome time! We can’t wait to go out tomorrow. |
| 5/18/23 | 1 Humpback Whale, Sea Lions, Navy dolphins | We were so excited to find a humpback whale today! This time of year is incredibly diverse. We also saw sea lions and navy dolphins. We can’t wait for tomorrow. |
| 5/15/23 | 3 Fin Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What an incredible day. This was a once in a lifetime experience, even for the crew. We headed out to an area where there were 3 fin whales. One of the whales was very curious about us and swam around the yacht America several times. We couldn’t believe it. When I say it was right next to us, I’m not kidding. Captain Troy was just in neutral, letting the whale check us out. We were completely amazed by the entire experience. We can’t wait to get out on the water. See you Thursday! |
| 5/14/23 | 500 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Happy Mother’s Day! The seas were calm and the visibility was fantastic. It was still a little chilly. We had such a great time celebrating mothers of all kinds today. Captain Troy headed to the same spot as yesterday. We saw a single spout, stayed in the area for 20 minutes and the whale didn’t pop up again. They can swim 4 miles in just one breath, so we decided to move on. Suddenly, we found ourselves completely surrounded by dolphins. There were a ton of cute calves swimming with their moms, it was adorable! Everyone on this trip gets to come back for free any time. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 5/13/23 | 2 Fin Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today, we headed south towards the canyon. It is still chilly due to May gray, so don’t forget to pack a warm jacket. We were so excited to find two huge fin whales. Their dives lasted around 8 minutes, but we were able to get some great surface time. We can’t wait to come back tomorrow! |
| 5/12/23 | 1 Humpback Whale, Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions, Drones | What an action packed day! It was chilly because it was overcast this morning. We expect it to be overcast during this time of year due to “May Gray.” As soon as we started our adventure, we got to see some really cool brand new navy drones that were being tested. We headed out to sea and found the same humpback whale we saw a few days ago. The whale watching community has named him “Barney.” We got to see him over several cycles. He seemed to be feeding in that particular area. We also saw a pod of offshore bottlenose dolphins. We can’t wait to get out tomorrow. |
| 5/11/23 | 1 Fin Whale, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | The sun finally came out for us today. The skies were blue with puffy clouds. It was spectacular. We headed out to sea and found a fin whale feeding in the area. It was so cool! |
| 5/8/23 | BREACHING humpback, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a big surprise! This is why May is one of my favorite times of year. We just never know what we will see. Today, we found a humpback whale that happened to breach just 100 yards away from the boat. It was so close, we couldn’t believe it! Even better, everyone was looking that way and several guests even got the breach on camera. Be sure to check it out on our social media! |
| 5/7/23 | 2 Sail Drones, Sea Lions, Submarines | The weather was spectaular today with flat seas. Much to our disappointment, we did not see any whales. That being said, we did see a lot of cool naval activity. We saw two sail drones out on the ocean. We also saw submarines at the base. There were a ton of naval security boats surrounding the submarines. It was definitely fun to see all the activity. |
| 5/6/23 | 1 Blue Whale, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | It’s officially blue whale watching season. We saw another blue whale today. Be sure to book your tickets while the blue whales are here! |
| 5/5/23 | 3 Blue Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Happy Cinco de Mayo! We saw three blue whales today, two of which we were able to see up close. Guests were even lucky enough to see a tail on the last dive. It was incredible. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 5/1/23 | Gray Whale, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | The sun finally came out today and we were so excited! It was still overcast in the morning, but it burned off later in the day. We headed out of La Playa to find an active group of Navy Dolphins. The trainers had them do all sorts of cool tricks for us. We headed over to the sea lions at the bait barge. Just past the submarine base, Derek suddenly called out “spout!” Sure enough, we found our friendly gray whale swimming close to Ballast Point. We watched this whale for several cycles. The waters in the bay were nice and calm. We headed out to the ocean, which proved to be bumpy. We did have a great view of a mola mola, and then we headed back for home. We can’t wait to see you later this week! |
| 4/31/23 | Trip 1: Humpack Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions Trip 2: Gray Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a day! We headed out to sea and found a large pod of scattered common dolphins. The seas were calm, but it was a little chilly. Don’t forget a jacket! On our way back in, we found a southbound humpback whale. We were able to get some very nice views. During our second trip, we headed out to sea and found another group of common dolphins. We didn’t see any spouts, so we headed back home. In the bay, we found our resident gray whale. This juvenile has been here for 5 weeks! We were able to get some great views before heading back home. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 4/29/23 | 1 Blue Whale, 30 Risso’s Dolphins, Sea Lions, Mola Mola | Today was an awesome day! We headed out west. Although it was overcast, the seas were calm and the winds were mild. The visibility was perfect for whales. Captain Troy decided to head south towards the canyon. On our way, guests spotted some Risso’s dolphins. We ended up sailing with a pod of about 30 Risso’s dolphins. There were a couple calves in the pod as well. They looked very healthy. One even breached about 7 times! Captain Troy headed further out west and suddenly saw something break the surface. It ended up being a blue whale! How exciting! We had incredible views of a massive blue whale right next to the boat. Fathom was able to get some amazing video. Be sure to check it out on our Instagram page, @nxtlevelsailing. It was time to head for home. We saw a mola mola (sunfish) on the way home. We did have a corporate cocktail cruise later in the day. During that trip, we had incredible views of a juvenile gray whale that was right next to Ballast Point. Could it be the same gray whale from several weeks ago? It’s hard to say but it was in the exact same spot. We are so excited for tomorrow! |
| April | Fin Whales, Humpback Whales, Gray Whales, Common Dolphins | It’s been busy on the water aboard the yacht America. The past few weeks, we have seen a ton of fin whales feeding in our nutrient rich waters. We have also seen humpback whales. As we are approaching the end of April, we are coming to the end of our gray whale watching season. However, we did see a cow and a calf just off Point Loma. We have also seen large pods of common dolphins. We have yet to see other species of dolphins, but we know with spring around the corner, we should start to see more species any day now. We are eagerly looking forward to an action-packed spring. |
| 4/10/23 | Fin Whale, Gray Whale, Hummingbirds, Sea Lions | It was a little gray and overcast today. We headed out to sea and saw a fin whale up close. There were also a ton of hummingbirds flying around us. It was really special to see these critters out in the ocean! We headed back home and found our friendly gray whale right next to the submarine base. We can’t wait to get back out in the ocean! |
| 4/9/23 | Gray Whale, Fin Whale, Common Dolphins | We saw a gray whale in the San Diego Bay right next to Zininga. There was a kayak fisherman really close to the whale, so we asked him to stay a little further away to give the whale some space. After a few great views, we headed out west and found a fin whale. We were able to get some spectacular views. A pod of about 20 common dolphins swam by and we followed them home. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 4/8/23 | Trip 1: Gray whale, Fin Whale, Sea lions Trip 2: Fin Whale, Sea Lions | The sun was out and the winds were light this moring. The water was glassy. We immediately found the juvenile gray whale right in the middle of the channel. While we were watching it, a motoryacht started to zoom by. Captain Troy got the driver’s attention and was able to encourage him to slow down. The driver saw the whale and thanked us. He was able to avoid a collision and his party was happy to see this young gray whale. We headed out to sea and found a very large fin whale feeding. This was so cool! We also learned that there was a second fin whale just two miles away. After some fantastic looks, we headed for home. We were able to come back and find this fin whale during our second trip. We were not able to find the juvenile gray, but we heard reports that it was spotted close to the ammunition loading dock. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 4/7/23 | Trip 1 & 2: Gray Whale, Humpback Whale, Dolphins, Sea Lions, Sea Birds | We had two trips today and we were excited to see the same animals on both trips. We found our friendly juvile gray whale feeding in the San Diego Bay. We also found a feeding frenzy out in the ocean. There were several hundred birds diving on the bait and 300 dolphins feeding on the same bait. A humpback whale came up right in the middle of the feeding frenzy and ate a ton of the food. During the afternoon, the wind picked up. That said, we found the same animals which was fantastic. There is a lot of food in the water this spring here in San Diego. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 4/6/23 | Gray Whale, Humpback Whale, Sea Lions | The sun was shining and it felt warmer today. We headed out and found our juvenile gray whale feeding off of Ballast Point again. After some great looks, we headed out west. The seas were much calmer today compared to yesterday, which made a smoother sail for guests. We found a humpback whale that was swimming north. All of a sudden, we saw a peduncle throw. It was amazing to see these 12-ft wide flukes slap the water. We can’t wait to see what we will find tomorrow. |
| 4/5/23 | Trip 1: Gray Whale, Humpback, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions Trip 2: Gray Whale, Offshore Bottlenose, USS Theodore Roosevelt, Sea Lions | We have been shut down for a few days because of the big storms hitting the west coast. It’s crazy to think that the swells were 15 feet yesterday. The seas were still bumpy from the storm. That said, we were so excited to get out to sea and go whale watching. This morning, we found a juvenile gray whale before we even made it to sea. This little juvenile looked like it was trying to feed on the sea floor. It was located just off of Ballast Point. After watching it for a few breaths, we headed out west. We were thrilled to find a humpback whale feeding with common dolphins and birds. Everyone was able to get super close looks of this humpback whale. During our second trip, we found the same gray whale in the San Diego Bay. We watched it for a few cycles, and then we saw offshore bottlenose dolphins just south of the lighthouse. We spoke with the other whale watching boats and the humpback we found earlier swam far off into the west. We decided to head south towards Hotel Del Coronado. While we didn’t find another whale, we were able to have an incredible crossing with the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier. It was amazing to see this ship out at sea. We visited with the juvenile gray whale again and headed back home. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 4/2/23 | Trip 1: 1 Gray Whale, 2 Fin Whales, Common dolphins, Sea Lion Trip 2: 1 Gray Whale, 2 Fin Whales, Common dolphins, Sea Lions | Today we had two trips. The sun was out, but it was still chilly on the water. We found a gray whale in the San Diego Bay that appears to be feeding. We saw this juvenile gray whale on both trips. It looked healthy, but it stopped just outside of Ballast Point to have a snack. It was there all day as we saw it on both trips. During the first trip, we headed out west and found a pod of 500 dolphins. It was time to head for home. Then, a fellow whale watching boat notified us of two fin whales that were only 4 miles away. Captain Troy decided to go for them as they are the second largest animal on the planet. We were able to get closer and it was incredible! Everyone was so excited. We made it home, but we were 15 minutes late. During the second trip, we found the juvenile gray whale in the bay again. We headed out west. The fin whales were further away, which meant it took longer to get to them. We also were able to get to sail with several hundred dolphins which was really cool too. There is a storm on Monday with 17 foot swells, so we won’t be sailing tomorrow. We can’t wait for Tuesday! |
| 4/1/23 | 1 Gray Whale | Today was not a whale watching trip, but we still saw a whale. We sailed in the America’s Schooner Cup race and placed first in our class. While we were racing home, we saw a gray whale in the San Diego Bay! |
| 3/28/23 | Fin Whale Cow and Calf, Humpback Whale, Common Dolphins | What a fantastic day! We saw a fin whale cow and calf, a humpback whale, and a megapod of common dolpins. There was so much food in the water. We are having a phenomenal spring season! |
| 3/26/23 | 1 Gray Whale, Megapod of Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a wonderful day! We got to see a northbound gray whale and a huge megapod of dolphins. The dolphins followed us for several miles on the way in to San Diego. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 3/24/23 | Trip 1: 1 Deceased Gray, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins, Submarine Trip 2: 2 Gray Whales, Whale, Sea Lions, Navy Dolpins | The first trip was a little bleak as we didn’t find any live animals. We did find a deceased gray whale floating on its back. Everyone on this trip gets to come back for free to fulfill their whale watching guarantee. We did get to see some cool activity as we watched a submarine leave the San Diego Bay. The second trip was much better as we were able to see two whales. We headed out west and found a gray whale just off of Point Loma. Then, we headed down to the south because there was a gray whale just off of Hotel Del Coronado. It seemed that this gray whale was feeding, or at least trying to feed as well. |
| 3/20/23 | 3 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | At first, we just saw a pair of northbound gray whales. Then, we realized it became a group of three gray whales! These animals were very active and the swam right next to the boat. Everyone had amazing views. We can’t wait to sail again soon! |
| 3/19/23 | Humpback cow & calf, Megapod common dolpins, Sea Lions | What a spectacular day. There was so much food in the water. On the first trip, Captain Troy found a huge bait ball with a humpback cow and calf. There were a ton of dolphins feeding at this location too. Captain Troy took the second trip to the same location and they found the humpack cow and calf again. Although it was a little drizzly, everyone had a fantastic time watching the wildlife. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 3/17/23 | 5 Gray Whales, 800 dolphins, Sea Lions, Submarine | The sun was out, it was a stunning day. Many guests and crew were in t-shirts today, it finally felt like spring. We saw a total of 5 northbound gray whales between both trips today. We also saw a ton of dolphins on both trips. We even followed a submarine out to sea during the second trip, everyone got super close views. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 3/16/23 | Trip 1: 3 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions Trip 2: Breaching Gray Whale. 500 Common Dolphins | What a great day! We were so excited to go whale watching and find gray whales today. There was a storm yesterday, so we did not go out yesterday. We headed out west today and found a wonderful group of three gray whales off the coast of San Diego. These were curious gray whales, they swam very close to the boat. On our second trip, we headed out west and found a group of two gray whales. One of the whales breached no less than 7 times. One was super close to the Yacht America. We couldn’t believe it. We can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow! |
| 3/14/23 | Trip 1: Blue whale cow and calf Trip 2: Humpback whale cow and calf | Incredible! Two different types of whales and two different species today. We are the first boat in San Diego to see a blue whale. It was just so exciting to see a blue whale mom with her baby! These animals are here to feed on the krill in our abundant waters. We are so excited to see them already. During our second trip, we also saw a humpback with her calf. This cow was also here to feed. We actually got to see the cow lunge feed. It was absolutely spectacular! It is officially spring time in San Diego. We are in for a fantastic season. |
| 3/13/23 | 2 Gray Whales, 500 Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a spectacular day! President Biden landed in San Diego and had a special occasion at the submarine base. There was so much security. Our guests were able to watch Air Force One land on North Island. We then saw the ships and submarines dressed up for his visit. We even saw the Coast Guard patrolling the entrance of the San Diego Bay with their big guns. It was really cool to see! With the help of our whale watching community, we found two very friendly gray whales. These northbound whales stopped and spy hopped, breached, and even circled around the boat. Everyone was amazed by their activity and grace. It was finally time to head for home, but Fathom saw a large group of dolphins in the distance. We asked everyone if we could be a little late back to the dock. Everyone gave us a thumbs up, so we had a fantastic time sailing with these common dolphins. It was spectacular! We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 3/8/23 | Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions, Submarine, LCS | It was a beautiful day on the water! We saw navy dolphins, sea lions, submarines, a littoral combat ship (LCS), but unfortunately no whales. Everyone on this trip gets to come back for free anytime. We will be shut down for a few days for scheduled maintenance, so we will see you in a few days. |
| 3/7/23 | 500 dolphins, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions, LCS, Submarine | Some days, we get a humble reminder that we are searching for wild animals. Today was one of those days. We were able to see a ton of dolphins, which was super cool! We also saw a lot of military activity. However, we didn’t find any whales. Everyone on this trip gets to come back for free to fulfill their whale watching guarantee. |
| 3/6/23 | 5 Gray Whales, Mega Megapod Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The sun was out, but it was still a chilly day at sea. We headed out west as we heard about a lot of bird activity on the radio. Upon closer investigation, we ended up finding a huge megapod of common dolphins. This was a very dense and active group. After sailing with this group for a while, we continued out to the bank to find whales. Suddenly, we saw a clear spout. Then another, then another! Once we got closer, it turned out we were sailing with a group of 5 northbound gray whales. They were healthy adults. After sailing with them for several cycles, we suddenly saw another megapod of dolphins stampeding from west to east. As they crossed our bow, we looked out to the east and saw that the first mega pod that we saw earlier was joining this new megapod. It was truly incredible. There were literally thousands of dolphins. Captain Troy called it a field and it almost looked like an island of activity that stretched for miles as far as the eye could see. Everyone was in awe. This is a great sign that we will have a very active spring season. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 3/5/23 | Trip 1: 6 Gray whales, 400 dolphins, sea lions Trip 2: 2 humpback whales, 800 dolphins, sea lions | What an incredible day! There was so much wildlife out in the ocean. We had two trips and both were action packed. During the first trip, we headed out west and a saw spouts in the distance. With a closer look, it turned out we had two northbound gray whales. These whales popped up right next to the boat several times. Then, we saw a lot of dolphins down to the south and a few spouts! We headed down to the south and found another northbound gray whale. We sailed with this whale and the dolphins, then started heading for home. Suddenly, Troy saw another spout with more dolphins. We got closer and it was a group of three gray whales, also heading north. For our second trip, we headed out west and saw some splashing in the distance. We found ourselves surrounded by two humpack whales and a ton of dolphins. These humpback whales were very large, they looked extremely healthy and well fed. Everyone was feeding right off our San Diego coast. There were also a bunch of birds in the area feeding as well. It was so cool to see. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 3/4/23 | 4 Humpback Whales, 100+ Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Spring is here! We love this time of year because there is an overlap between gray whales and humpback whales. Today, we saw 4 humpback whales feeding along with a large group of common dolphins. The birds were also feeding as well. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 3/3/23 | 3 Gray whales, 1 Humpback Whale, 600 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today, we were determined to find animals. We headed out west for two hours without seeing any sign of wildlife. Suddenly, we hit the bank and we found a group of northbound gray whales! We then saw some splashes to the south and also saw a spout. We sailed down and sure enough, had incredible views of the biggest humpback I have ever seen. It popped up right next to the boat. Everyone couldn’t believe it. This whale took us right to a group of dolphins. It was amazing. We ended getting back an hour late on this trip, but it was worth it since everyone had a spectacular experience seeing wildlife. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 3/2/23 | 7 Gray Whales, BREACH, Sea Lions | There was a big storm yesterday with high winds, so we were very excited to finally get out on the water. The seas were a little bumpy, but it was still a nice day out at sea. We headed out west and Fathom saw spouts in the distance. Suddenly, guests yelled in excitement. A gray whale breached! It breached again! We saw this happy gray whale breach as least five times in a row. It was so exciting to this type of activity. It turned out that there were seven gray whales swimming north together. It was truly spectacular when all seven popped up at the same time. It really took everyone’s breath away. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 2/28/23 | Bryde’s Whale, Bottlenose Dolphins, LCAC, Navy SEALS | The sun was out, but the winds were cool. While we saw some rain clouds, Captain Troy did an excellent job steering clear of the rain. We headed north and got some very close views of a Bryde’s whale. It took a deep dive that lasted longer than 10 minutes, so we headed down south to see what else we could find. We ended up seeing Navy SEALS jumping out of a plane and parachuting down into the water. It was so cool! We also saw two LCAC’s speeding by. On our way back in, we also saw some bottlenose dolphins. We can’t wait to see you on Thursday. In the meantime, tie down the hatches to get ready for the storm tomorrow! |
| 2/27/23 | 2 Gray Whales, 800 common dolphins, sea lions, Navy SEALS | The weather today was spectacular. The seas were calm and the sun was out. We had a fantastic day out at sea. As soon as we left the San Diego Bay, we saw a spout! It was a juvenile northbound gray whale. We knew about a larger gray whale out to the west, so we kept sailing. Then, we saw a large pod of common dolphins. There were at least 800 dolphins actively feeding. We sailed with the dolphins for a while and guests got great pictures. Then, Captain Troy sailed to the south and caught up with a large adult southbound gray whale. We were able to get great views of this whale as well, but we wanted to see what else we could find. We headed out west because Fathom saw a bait ball. There was also a plane flying overhead. Suddenly, we saw several Navy SEALS parachute out of the plane. It was so exciting! We finally reached the bait ball and found some more dolphins. What an action packed day. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 2/19/23 | Trip 1: 3 Humpback Whales, Sea Lions Trip 2: Single Gray Whale, Sea Lions | There is so much life in the water! We found a group of three humpback whales during our first trip. During our second trip, we found a single southbound whale. However, this whale was extra curious. It would come out of the water on the first breath and look at us with it’s eye. It was truly amazing. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 2/18/23 | Trip 1: Cow & Calf Gray Whale, Sea Lions Trip 2: 3 Gray Whales, Megapod Dolphins, Sea Lions | We are truly spoiled with this sunny weather. We found a southbound cow and calf headed towards Mexico. Both looked very healthy. We hope that they have a safe journey to Mexico and back to Alaska. During our second trip, we found three gray whales and a thousand dolphins. The water was unusually glassy and we got to see the sunset on the way in. Both trips were absolutely stunning. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 2/17/23 | 2 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Just another spectacular day here in San Diego. We found two beautiful adult gray whales that were swimming south. These were very healthy adults that were curious about the yacht America. They swam very closer to us and everyone was able to get some amazing views. Suddenly, common dolphins came in to play. It was incredible! Marie was quite involved with the dolphins and whales, she ran up and down the boat notifying us about these animals. She is such a smart pup! We can’t wait to see what we will find tomorrow! |
| 2/16/23 | 2 Gray Whales, LCAC, LCS, Sea Lions | Today was a whale watching dream! The sun was out and the seas were flat, it was a perfect day on the water. It was a little chilly when we headed into the wind, but otherwise it was gorgeous. We headed out west and found a southbound gray whale. This whale had beautiful dives and showed us it’s tail several times. We followed it for a long time. It was finally time time to go home, but we found another gray whale on the way back. We escorted this whale and notified an incoming Landing Cushion Air Craft (LCAC) so they could steer clear of this whale. Once the whale was clear of the LCAC, we headed for home. We also got to see an outbound LCS. We can’t wait for this weekend! |
| 2/15/23 | 1 Gray Whale, Sea Lions, LCS | The sun was out but it was quite chilly on the water. We headed out to sea and the ocean was not flat. There were some swells that caused the boat to rock back and forth. We found a single southbound gray whale. Captain Troy followed it for several cycles and we shared the sighting with other whale watching boats. It was finally time for us to head in. On our way, we had a very close view of a Littoral Combat Ship. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 2/12/23 | 3 Gray Whales, 2 Humpback Whales, Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a beautiful day! The sun was out and the skies were just incredible. We headed out west and found a southbound juvenile gray whale. After a few cycles, we went to see what else we could find. We came across two humpback whales feeding with common dolphins. It was so cool! We stayed with this group for a while and then headed for home. On our way back, we found a pair of gray southbound gray whales. What an action packed day. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 2/11/23 | Gray Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was a little bumpy out at sea today. Captain Troy emailed everyone the morning of the trip and made an announcement letting people know that it would be bumpy. For those concerned about seasickness, this was not their day. We offered refunds for those who did not want to go. That said, it was perfectly safe and it turned out to be a beautiful day. We saw a southbound gray whale as soon as we left the bay. We then saw a group of 100 common dolphins feeding close by. It was wonderful! We headed back in to our home dock. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 2/10/23 | 4 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | WOW! Just a spectacular day here in San Diego. It was sunny with super flat seas and calm winds. We headed south and found a beautiful group of four southbound gray whales. They were super friendly and came right up next to the boat. Guests and crew were both in awe! There were about 200 common dolphins swimming with the whales as well. It was amazing. We finally had to say goodbye to the whales and head for home. It was a beautiful sail back, but a little chilly, so guests were glad to have their jackets. We can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow! |
| 2/9/23 | 4 Gray Whales, Sea Lions, LCAC | Today was another great day! We found a southbound whale as soon as we left San Diego Bay. We headed out west to see what else we could find and sure enough, we found another whale. However, this whale was swimming north! The first northbound whale of the season! We followed it for a few cycles and then peeled off and followed another pair of southbound whales. This pair was extra adorable as they were a cow and a new calf. So cute! We can’t wait to see you all tomorrow. |
| 2/8/23 | 4 Gray Whales, Sea Lions | We are spoiled with this gorgeous weather. Captain Troy headed south and found a magnificent group of four gray whales. They were swimming very close together and they were friendly whales. Everyone was able to get great views! We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 2/7/23 | 3 Gray Whales, 800 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a beautiful sunny day! We had a wonderful day out on the ocean. At first, we found a little juvenile gray whale. It swam right towards a large pod of common dolphins. We sailed with these dolphins and then spotted a pair of large adult gray whales. It was awesome to watch these big whales take deep dives. After some fantastic views, we headed for home. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 2/5/23 | 1 Gray Whale, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Happy Sunday! We headed out west and we were very excited to find a single gray whale. This whale was traveling south. We followed it for quite some time and then we had to head for home. Monday’s trip is cancelled due to inclement weather. We are excited to see you on Tuesday! |
| 2/4/23 | 3 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | This sunny weather is wonderful! We headed out west and found a single gray whale migrating south. After following it for a few cycles, we decided to head north and see what else we could find. Lo and behold, we found another cute calf swimming with it’s mom. How exciting! We stayed with this adorable pair for a long time and escorted them safely past a fast moving research vessel. The calf came up to breath 3x as much as the mom. They were moving at a steady slow pace of about 3 knots. Hopefully they make it safely to Mexico. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 2/3/23 | 5 Gray Whales, Megapod Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Osprey Helicopter | We are truly getting spoiled! We had another amazing day with good weather and flat seas. Captain Troy headed towards some dolphins and saw a spout right in the middle of the group. Turned out there were two southbound gray whales. We followed them for a couple cycles, and headed out west to a higher density of dolphins. We had dolphins swimming beside us almost the entire time we were in the ocean. They were all feeding! We found another group of whales with the dolphins. This time, there were three very large adult gray whales. We followed them for a long time. There was another warship today that came barreling in, Warship 7. They were going 20 knots and unresponsive on the radio despite Captain Troy hailing them several times. We stayed with the whales until this ship was clear of the whales in order to prevent a ship strike. Captain Troy will be submitting a report to the Navy as they should not be traveling so fast through known wildlife zones. They also caused a substantial wake. Thanks to our guests, we can be out on the water and help protect these animals. We look forward to seeing you tomorow! |
| 2/2/23 | 3 Gray Whales, Megapod Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today was an incredible whale watching day! The weather was mild, the sun was out, and the seas were flat. We headed out west and a guest actually spotted the first whale spout. Captain Troy followed this whale which turned out to be a juvenile gray whale traveling at about 2 knots. After watching it surface a few times, we decided to sail further west to check out a ton of splashes. It turns out we found a huge pod of at least 1,000 common dolphins! They were spread out over a mile, but it was incredible being completely surrounded by the curious animals. We could hear their whistles as they swam next to the boat. There were a ton of birds on the area too. Suddenly, Captain Troy spotted another spout. We quickly turned south and upon a closer look, Fathom saw a teeny tiny blow. It was a calf! We found a cow and calf gray whale pair. The calf still had fetal folds, so it was still very young. However, both were swimming very well and looked super healthy. We stayed with the cow and calf longer than intially expected because there was a warship (LCS, Warship 8) that was not responding on the radio. They were on a colliding course with the cow and calf. Captain Troy hailed them three separate times with no reponse, however they did speed up. We waited until the ship was well clear of the cow and calf in order to ensure there would not be a collision, then we left the cow and calf. We entered the San Diego Bay with the warship following close behind. Everyone was able to also great fantastic views of this ship. All in all, it was a fantastic day. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 1/29/23 | 4 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | What an adventure! The weather was a deciding factor today and the forecast changed from yesterday to today. The chance of rain increased, so we notified our guests at check in and gave them the option to get a refund right on the spot if they didn’t want to get wet. Many guests chose to reschedule to a different day. There was a small but mighty group ready to sail with waterproof jackets. We headed out to sea. Captain Troy did his best steering around the rain, so we were able to avoid it for the most part. There was a sprinkle of rain that lasted 15 minutes, but the deck dried soon after. We had a fabulous group fo 3 gray whales that we followed for a long time. Then, we also saw a single gray whale on our way back home. It turned out to be a nice afternoon. We look forward to seeing everyone after the storm passes later in the week. |
| 1/28/23 | 4 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | It really felt like winter today. Everyone was bundled up with warm jackets and gloves. We headed out west and found a fantastic single gray whale. Captain Troy looked behind and suddenly saw a group of three gray whales just a few hundred yards to the west. We followed this trio for a long time, getting great views. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 1/27/23 | 6 Gray Whales, 800 Common Dolphins, Sea lions. LCS | Everywhere we looked, we saw spouts. Fathom counted at least 10 different whales in the area. We had a close view of a group of four gray whales. They were very consistent whales and they were also quite friendly as well. Captain Troy saw some splashes, so we went to investigate. We found dolphins! There were so many common dolphins. They were scattered, but everywhere we looked, there were dolphins. We followed the dolphins south and suddenly saw two more spouts. We were able to get great views of a pair of gray whales. It was finally time to head for home. We sailed with dolphins and then back home. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 1/26/23 | 3 Gray Whales, Sea Lions, LCS | Today was blustery but sunny. We had warm Santa Ana winds coming in from the west, turning the San Diego Bay into a windy area with white caps. As the day progressed, the wind slowly died down. We headed out to sea and found a fantastic group of gray whales. The seas were flat and it was a gorgeous day on the water. We followed then gray whales for a long time, they were super friendly whales. We also saw a Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 1/24/23 | 3 Gray Whales, 250 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, USS 72 | The sun was out! It was a gorgeous sunny day today. We sailed off the coast and Captain Troy spotted a fluke print. Patience paid off and we found a young whale. This whale was a little nervous, changing direction several times. We gave it space and sailed away as we never want to change behavior. Not too long after, we found a cow and calf pair. The calf was so cute and swam right next to the mom. Everyone had fantastic views. On our way back to San Diego, we found a large pod of 250 common dolphins. They swam on both sides of the boat, delighting everyone with their jumps and whistles. We can’t wait until Thursday! |
| 1/23/23 | 2 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | We are seeing whales every day! Today, we saw a single gray whale and followed it for some time. Then, we peeled off to look for another whale. Sure enough, we found another one and followed it as well. It is the height of the season. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 1/22/23 | 3 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions, Navy Destroyer | The weather took a bit of a turn towards the cooler side since yesterday. The winds were up and it was quite chilly. We headed out to sea and found an adorable cow with her calf. This cow was very small compared to other moms that we have seen. It’s quite possible this was her very first baby. We followed them along at a safe distance. A warship off to the west had an intersecting path with the cow and calf. Captain Troy notified this ship of the cow and calf. With the help of our whale watching community, we made sure that this cow and calf safely made their way past this warship. Captain Troy headed north and found a southbound single gray whale. We were able to get great views of this whale too! It was time to head for home. We sailed past the submarines and sea lions. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 1/21/23 | 4 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | It already feels like summer here in San Diego! The sun was out all day today, it was gorgeous. There were some moments where it was cold, so everyone was glad they had jackets. For the most part, it was a beautiful sunny day. We sailed out west and found a single gray whale that was a little tricky to follow. After a couple views, we went to see if we could find more consistent whales. Closer to shore we found a group of three gray whales. These whales were more consistent and showed us gorgeous flukes. Then one whale decided to take off to the west. It was finally time to head for home. We sailed past the submarine base and saw three submarines in the water. We also got a good look at the sea lions. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 1/20/23 | 6 Gray Whales, 500 Common Dolphins, Supply Ship, Sea Lions | What an action packed day! We headed out to sea and found a large group of 6 gray whales. We stayed with them for a long time. Everyone was able to get gorgeous views of these whales with Point Loma in the background. We headed out west and found a fabulous group of stampeding common dolphins. These dolphins definitely stole the show. On our way back, a gray whale suddenly breached. While we sailed home, a supply ship came into the channel so everyone got great views of that too. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow. |
| 1/19/23 | 7 Gray Whales, Sea Lions, C17, LCS | What a beautiful day! The seas have finally calmed down. It was sunny and flatter than the past couple days. Captain Troy decided to head south and we spotted a group of three gray whales. We also saw another single to the south. As we approached, we realized there were more gray whales. It was incredible to see an abundance of spouts so close together. In total, we saw 7 gray whales. It turned out that these whales were actually mating. They stopped and dove down for 15 minutes at one point. It has also been action packed with military activity. We saw a C17 fly overhead and a couple Littoral Combat Ships. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 1/18/23 | 2 Gray Whales, Sea Lions, LCAC | It has been stormy the past few days. We were so excited to finally soak up the sun and head out to sea. It was still chilly, but the visibility was wonderful. We could even see snow on the mountain peaks. Captain Troy found a pair of southbound gray whales just off the coast. It was a little tricky because there were some good swells, but Captain Troy was still able to get us some fabulous views. On our way home, we were passed by an LCAC hovercraft that swiftly moved passed us. We also saw a huge oil tanker, jets, and Osprey helicopters. It was an action packed day. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 1/14/23 | 8 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Captain Troy changed the whale watching trip to occur in the morning in order to miss the storm. We ended up having a fantastic trip with 8 gray whales! There was a group of two, a group of three, and a second group of three. We also saw about 25 dolphins swimming with the whales. When the whales dove down, the dolphins also dove down. It was so cool to watch them play with one another. The weather will be stormy through the night and tomorrow morning, so unfortunately tomorrow’s trip has been cancelled. We hope to see you soon! |
| 1/13/23 | 3 Gray Whales, 200 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today was also a great day! We sailed out and found a group of three gray whales and a large group of dolphins. We can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow. |
| 1/11/23 | 3 Whales, 200 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a day! We found a pair and a single gray whale. They were all swimming together, but out of phase. The pair would come up and then the single would come up. We also saw a great group of common dolphins. We can’t wait to see you next time! |
| 1/9/23 | 1 Whale, Sea Lions | Today we found a very nice gray whale. It was super friendly and we sailed with it for a long time. We also got to see sea lions today too! |
| 1/7/23 | 2 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We found a new calf! It was so exciting. It looked like this female gray whale just had a new baby. Hopefully they have a quick and easy time getting down to the safe warm lagoons in Mexico. The seas were much calmer today, which was fantastic! |
| 1/6/23 | Dolphins & Sea Lions | Captain Troy shifted this trip to a later time in order to miss the storm. We were the only boat out. Unfortunately we did not see whales, but we did find some great common dolphins. We hope these storms calm down soon! |
| 1/4/23 | 200 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It has been stormy for the past few days, so we have not sailed. The seas calmed down enough for us to go out sailing today, yay! We headed out and looked all over for spouts. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any whales but we did find a huge pod of Common Dolphins! It was so much fun. Everyone will get to come back for a free trip in the future, no expiration date. It will be stormy again tomorrow, but we will go out on Friday. We can’t wait to see you then! |
| 1/2/23 | 6 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Happy New Year! It was stormy yesterday, causing the ocean to be a little bumpy and confused. We headed out west and found a fantastic group of three gray whales. It appeared to be two adults and one juvenile. Off to the east, we also saw another pair of gray whales. After staying with the group of three for a while, we headed east and watched the pair. Then we also followed a single whale in the same area as well. It was finally time to say goodbye so we headed for home. We are closely watching the weather to see what tomorrow will bring! |
| 12/31/22 | Trip 1: Gray Whale, 500 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions Trip 2: Gray Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Happy last day of 2022! We are just so excited to wrap up this wonderful year with some great whale sightings. On both trips, we found large healthy southbound gray whales. There was a little bit of fog and the seas were super flat. It was quite beautiful on the ocean today. We also saw an abundance of dolphins and birds. We can’t wait to see you all next year. Happy New Year! |
| 12/30/22 | Trip 1: Pair of Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions Trip 2: 3 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was a whale of a day. In the morning, we found a pair of southbound gray whales. They were swimming just a mile off the coast. We followed them and then one decided to swim out west. We stayed with the other one for over an hour. The water was exceptionally glassy. It was a perfect morning for pictures! The second trip proved to be equally successful. We found a juvenile gray whale as soon as we left the San Diego Bay. This little fella was swimming south. Then, we saw a northbound gray whale that swam somewhat sporadically. It would swim north, then west, then north again. We saw another southbound gray whale in the distance. Perhaps they were going to meet up? They ended up passing one another. We stayed with the final third whale. This was a very large gray whale and everyone was able to get some amazing fluke pictures. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 12/29/22 | Trip 1: 4 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions Trip 2: 2 Humpback Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was a little cloudy today, but the visibility was great. We traveled north on the first trip and found a fantastic group of southbound gray whales. They were particularly playful and energetic. On our second trip, we traveled south and found a beautiful pair of humpback whales. One humpback whale had a disfigured fluke, but it seemed to be well fed and healthy. These whales were swimming very slow. All in all, it was a great day on the water. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 12/28/22 | Trip 1: Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions Trip 2: Gray Whales, Sea Lions | The visibility was fantastic today. There were some dramatic clouds, but it turned out to be a very pretty day. The seas were a little bumpy, but we had a long period so it was smooth overall. The first trip was a beautiful sail, but unfortunately a quiet morning on the ocean. The second trip, we headed out west and Captain Troy found a pair of southbound gray whales. Everyone aboard and in the whale watching community was thrilled. Finally, we found whales! We can’t wait for tomorrow. |
| 12/27/22 | Trip 1: Fog, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions Trip 2: Fog, Sea Lions | It’s crazy to think that yesterday was 80 degrees! We woke up this morning to super thick fog. It was so foggy we couldn’t see Point Loma as we sailed by. The fog lifted a little bit about 5 miles off the coast. We found scattered common dolphins, but no one found whales. The fog lifted a little bit during our second trip, but we still couldn’t see the Los Coronado’s in Mexico. We didn’t find any dolphins either. Everyone on both trips get to come back for free any time! |
| 12/26/22 | Trip 1: 2 Gray Whales, Breach 3 times, 500 Common Dolphins Trip 2: 2 Gray Whales, Breach, Sea Lions | What an action packed day! The weather was gorgeous with a high of 80 degrees. We are so very lucky to be sailing in sunny San Diego. As we left the San Diego Bay, Captain Troy immediately saw a spout! Sure enough there was a southbound gray whale. Then we saw it join with another gray whale. Just as we were about to leave, one of the whales breached three times in a row! It was fantastic. We then saw a ton of common dolphins swimming towards a busy bait ball. There were sea lions, birds, and dolphins. What a sight! Then, we had a fantastic second trip. We headed south and found another pair of gray whales. As soon as we got to them, one breached right away. We watched these whales for at least an hour, only diving down for 4 minutes. It was finally time to say goodbye. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 12/23/22 | 3 Gray Whales, Sea Lions | We headed out west and found a fabulous gray whale. This animal was super friendly and swam right next to the boat. After some amazing views, we went to see what else we could find. Suddenly, a thick fog bank rolled up to us. We saw tail flukes of two other gray whales just off our beam, but we lost them to the fog. We sailed carefully home. It was super cool to watch the fog completely envelope Point Loma. Have a great holiday everyone! |
| 12/22/22 | 3 Gray Whales, Sea Lions | We are loving this amazing weather. The sea is still flat and the sun was out with a high of 64 degrees. We found a fabulous group of 3 gray whales swimming south. They were swimming at a good pace of about 4.5 knots. They only took 5 minute dives, so we were able to sail with them for at least an hour. It was amazing. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 12/21/22 | 2 Humpback Whales, Breach, 800 Common Dolphins, 20 Pacific White Sided Dolphins | Today was action packed to say the least. We headed out west and came across a large pod of dolphins. At first, we thought there were 200 dolphins and then upon closer investigation, we could see that the stretch of dolphins lasted for another two miles. Suddenly, Adam called out a spout. Sure enough, we came closer to two humpback whales. One whale tail lobbed several times right next to the other whale. As we sailed a little closer, the whales appeared to be very curious about our boat. They swam towards us and swam two circles around the boat. Both common dolphins and Pacific White Sided dolphins swam with the whales too. Captain Troy set the yacht America in neutral and just let the whales swim as they pleased. Everyone was in awe. We also saw some beautiful rainbow spouts! Just when we were about to leave, one of the whales breached unexpectedly. We waited several minutes, but it didn’t breach again. We saw them surface out to the west. It was finally time to go home. We can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow! |
| 12/20/22 | 1 Blue Whale, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | It’s hard to believe but we actually saw a blue whale in late December! With the help of our great whale watching community, we went to an area just two miles off the San Diego coast where a blue whale was reported. We waited and waited until suddenly we saw the spout! Upon closer investigation, this blue whale looked very healthy. It was also a huge animal! We sailed alongside this animal for 5 miles and it took us out west to deeper waters. We finally had to say goodbye. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 12/19/22 | Submarines, Helicopters, Sea Lions, Quiet Animal Day | Although the weather was sunny and the ocean was flat, it was a quiet day on the water. We saw a lot of cool military activity with helicopters. However, we did not see any sea life except for sea lions on the bait barges. Everyone on this trip gets to come back for free any time in the future. Days like today remind us that we are searching for wild animals that sometimes hide from us. We are eagerly looking forward to tomorrow! |
| 12/18/22 | Gray Whale, Megapod Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Captain Troy headed north and found a single southbound gray whale. We were only two miles off the coast. We followed this whale for several cycles. Then, we saw a lot of birds and some splashing out to the west. Captain Troy decided to sail out and we found a huge megapod of dolphins. The water was so glassy with incredible visibility, you could see 30 feet down. We were able to get some great photos and video. Be sure to check out our Instagram and Facebook: @nxtlevelsailing. We can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow! |
| 12/17/22 | 5 Humpback Whales, Common Dolphins, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a day! The ocean was flat but it was quite cold. Everyone was happy that they had a jacket, hat, and gloves. We went 11 miles off the coast today and found a bait ball full of activity. Humpback whales were feeding, along with two different types of dolphins. There were birds and sea lions as well! We closely watched a group of three humpback whales and saw two additional humpback whales a little bit further away. Everyone had a wonderful time. We can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow! |
| 12/16/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Offshore Bottlenose, Navy Dolphins, F18’s, Sea Lions | We headed out to sea and found a stunning pair of gray whales. It was a cow and her yearling calf headed south to Mexico. Both whales looked very healthy. We were about 2 miles off the coast cruising at 5 knots. As we watched the whales, a cow and calf offshore bottlenose pair popped up. They were incredibly cute! They swam right in front of the boat. To the crew, it looked like the cow was nursing her calf. We will post our video to our YouTube Channel, Next Level Sailing. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 12/15/22 | Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was a quiet day on the ocean today, but absolutely stunning. The ocean was flat, which makes for a wonderful and relaxing day at sea. Keep in mind, it is chilly and windy. Everyone was happy that they brought jackets, hats, and gloves. We found some Pacific White Sided Dolphins, but the whales eluded all the whale watching operators today. Everyone on today’s trip gets to come back for free any time, no expiration date. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 12/10/22 | 2 Humpback Whales, Megapod Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a spectacular day! We headed out west on calm flat water. It is hard to believe that there will be a storm in the same waters tomorrow. With the help of our great whale watching community, we found two southbound humpback whales. In the distance, Fathom spotted a huge pod of common dolphins swimming right towards us. These dolphins formed a big line and they just stampeded right past us and the whales. We continued to follow the whales south and we even got to see both put up their tails. How fantastic! We can’t wait to see you on Thursday. |
| 12/9/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions, USS Tripoli (LHA 7) | Gray whale season has officially started! The weather was spectacular with gorgeous flat water and sunny skies. It is still very cold with highs of 61 degrees Fahrenheit. We were headed out to 9 mile bank when crew member Konner spotted a spout! He told Troy he was 100% sure it was a spout. Sure enough, upon closer investigation, it was a small spout. As we carefully approached, we found it was a juvenile gray whale that was 25 ft long. We were only in 110 ft of water, but it took deep dives so we saw it’s flukes often. It was so cute! About 2 miles away, we spotted a much larger spout. We headed over there and found it was a very large adult gray whale. This whale swam right next to the boat and we sailed with this whale for over an hour. It just snorkeled under the surface and came up to breath every couple minutes. After a ton of great views, we headed home. On the way, we got to see the USS Tripoli (LHA 7) come into the San Diego bay. It was awesome! We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 12/8/22 | 3 Humpback Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions, Birds | It was one of those fantastic National Georgraphic days today! Diana saw a spout and upon a closer look, we found a group of three humpbacks. They split up into a group of two and a single. As we followed them, the single whale breached! Diana also saw an additional two spouts to the south, making a total of 5 humpback whales. Swimming alongside the whales were Pacific white sided dolphins, and sea lions. Everyone was feasting, including the birds. What a day. We can’t wait to sail tomorrow! |
| 12/6/22 | Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions, Submarines, F18’s | Today was a reminder that we sail in a big ocean. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any wild dolphins or whales. Everyone on this trip gets to come back for free at any time, no expiration date. However, it was still a gorgeous day on the water. We can’t wait for Thursday! |
| 12/5/22 | 3 Humpback Whales, 300 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Just another fantastic day aboard the yacht America! Captain Troy sailed out to 9 mile bank when Diana suddenly said, “Spout! 100%” She was sure that she saw a spout and sure enough, she ended up finding a fabulous group of three humpback whales. There were two adults and one small calf. Guests were able to see tail flukes from all three whales. We also saw a fast moving group of three hundred common dolphins. The dolphins stopped and played with the whales, and then proceded to stampede north. We sailed with them for a brief period, but went back to follow the whales. There were a lot of birds, sea lions, and some scattered dolphins with the whales. The whales headed south towards Mexico. The adults looked like they had a great summer feeding as they were very wide. The calf was so cute. It’s flukes looked so small compared to the flukes of the adults. After watching the trio for a long time, it was time to go home. As soon as we turned, one whale breached just four boat lengths away! It was such a surprise. We stayed but it didn’t breach again. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 12/4/22 | 8 Humpback Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a beautiful day! It is chilly on the water, but the sea state is very calm. We headed out west and then south towards the Los Coronados. It was so quiet on the ocean, except for some sea birds. Just when we were about to turn around, Fathom yelled “Spout!” Sure enough, we found two humpback whale spouts. Upon a closer look, it turned out to be a cow and a calf. We even got to see a tail fluke from the calf. It was so cute and small! After sharing our location with other whale watchers, they found another pair of humpback whales. Captain Troy saw another pair in the distance, then a single several miles to the south. Fathom saw another single several miles up to the north breach twice! It was humpback whale heaven. The cow and calf headed towards a bait ball with Pacific white sided dolphins. It was so cool to watch them feed. We were super late, so we headed for home. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 12/3/22 | 200 Common Dolphins, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions, USS Carl Vinson, Hot Rum Race | Today was a humble reminder that we look for whales in a BIG ocean. Whales are wild animals and sometimes, they just don’t want to say hi to us. We headed out to sea and the conditions was beautiful. The seas were calm and the visibility was great. We searched and searched, but didn’t find any spouts. Thanks to the help of our great whale watching community, another group found a fabulous group of active dolphins. We sailed with this group for quite some time. It was such a blast for kids and adults alike. We also had great views of the USS Carl Vinson as it headed out to sea and we found ourselves right in the middle of the San Diego Hot Rum Race. Everyone on this trip gets to come back for free, no expiration date. |
| 12/2/22 | 2 Humpback Whales, 300 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | December is turning out to be a fantastic month! We headed out west and immediately came across a very active pod of northbound common dolphins. We followed them and everyone watched them stampede right next to us. It was amazing! We then headed south and found a pair of humpback whales. They were slowly traveling south. It was time to head for home so we turned around. Several miles away, we saw two different humpback whales breach at the same time. We have never seen a double breach. How incredible! We can’t wait for tomorrow. |
| 12/1/22 | 2 Humpback Whales, 500 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Navy SEALS. | What a day! We are officially 100% for the month of December. First, the ocean conditions were incredible. The water was as calm as a lake and we could see for miles. We headed out west and a guest suddenly called out. Fathom quickly looked and sure enough, we found two southbound humpback whales. Captain Troy followed these whales and everyone was able to get wonderful views of these magnificent animals. While we watched these animals, we saw a C130 circling close by. Suddenly, we saw the Navy SEALS jumping out of the plane. Then, about 500 dolphins starting swimming north, towards us. Where to point the camera?! It was super action packed. Then another group of Navy SEALS jumped out of the plane. We watched as their parachutes touched the water. Captain Troy decided to follow the dolphins north and the kids aboard were especially delighted. The dolphins jumped right next to the boat, showing off their newborn calves. What a great way to start off the month. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 11/28/22 | Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | The ocean was beautiful and flat, but it was a quiet day for sea life. The visibility was fantastic, we could see all the way up to Orange County and the San Gorgonio Mountain. While we didn’t find whales, we did see the navy training their bottlenose dolphins. We also saw the submarine base and a LA Class Attack Submarine in dry dock. Everyone who sailed on this day will be able to come back for a free trip, no expiration date! |
| 11/27/22 | 12 Humpback Whales, 800 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What an incredible day! It looks like humans were not the only ones feasting during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. With the help of our wonderful whale watching community, we were able to sail with a dozen humpback whales that were actively feeding. There was a huge feeding frenzy with dolphins, whales, birds, and even sea lions. We can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow. |
| 11/16/22 | 50 Offshore Bottlenose, 300 Common Dolphins, LCAC’s | While we didn’t see whales, it was a gorgeous day on the water. We saw a big pod of offshore bottlenose dolphins out at 9 mile bank. On our way in, we found 300 common dolphins headed out west. The sun was out and the ocean was as flat as a lake. Everyone had a wonderful time. We even saw some LCAC’s zooming around (Landing Craft Air Cushion). We look forward to seeing you this weekend! |
| 11/14/22 | 3 Humpback Whales, Megapod Dolphins | What a day! The sun was out, the ocean was flat, and we saw so many animals. Captain Troy headed out to sea and found a group of three humpback whales: cow, juvenile, and escort. What a sight. All three were heading south down to Mexico. The little blow from the juvenile was so cute. We saw the flukes of the cow and the escort, but the juvenile never showed us its tail. That said, we did see its cute little dorsal fin. Off in the distance, we saw splashes from a ton of dolphins. Captain Troy headed toward them. Lo and behold, we found ourselves a megapod of dolphins! We sailed through dolphins for at least a half hour as we headed towards Point Loma. It was incredible. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 11/13/22 | 2 Humpback Whales | Just in the glare, Diana was able to spot two more southbond humpback whales. The ocean was very calm and the sun was out. Don’t let that fool you, it is still chilly on the water. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 11/12/22 | 2 Humpback Whales | Yay! We were so excited to see two humpback whales today. First, Captain Troy just saw one whale. We followed it for quite some time, then a second whale popped up. Everyone got really great close views. The pair was traveling south. We can’t wait to find some more tomorrow. |
| 11/10/22 | Megapod Dolphins, Sea Lions, Submarines, Snow! | It was a very chilly but sunny day on the water today. Everyone was bundled up with jackets, warm socks, and hats. The storm made the visibility incredible today. We were so excited to see a megapod of common dolphins. They were scattered over two miles. They were all swimming in a straight line and we just sailed up and down the line. It was amazing to see so many dolphins working together. We could see a beautiful layer of snow way up at Mt. Gregornio. It is officially winter here in San Diego. |
| 11/7/22 | Sea Lions, Submarines | Unfortunately we did not see any whales today. It was a beautiful day on the water, but no whales. Tomorrow is going to have rain, so we are cancelling tomorrow’s trip. We look forward to seeing you later in the week! |
| 11/6/22 | 2 Humpback Whales, Sea Lions | The weather has been very cold and rainy the past week. There was a small craft advisory for serveral days, so we unfortunately had to cancel a couple trips. We were very happy to get back out on the water today. We found a wonderful pair of southbound humpback whales. At one point they came very close to the boat. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 10/29/22 | 4 Humpback Whales, Sea Lions | The oceans have been so calm and the sun was out. We were so excited to see 4 beautiful humpback whales. They were traveling very close together. To hear all of them breathing at the same time was magnificent. We can’t wait until our next trip! |
| 10/28/22 | 9 Humpback Whales, Sea Lions | Today was truly spectacular. We heard about humpback whales before we even left our dock. There were five separate groups of humpback whales that were reported as soon as we got out into the ocean. We spotted a group of two humpback whales that got super close to the boat. Then we saw another pair of humpback whales. We learned about a large group of five whales, so we headed to that area. Interestingly enough, this large group was only 1 mile off the coast. We watched in awe as we sailed alongside. Some of them showed us a lot of their body as they came up for air and took deep dives. The water was exceptionally flat and the sun was out. We can’t wait for tomorrow. |
| 10/26/22 | 2 Humpack Whales, Common Dolphins | The sun was out, but the seas were not calm. There was a 4 ft swell with long periods between each wave. The whales did not disappoint. As soon as we sailed out, we found a beautiful pair of humpback whales. They showed us their gorgeous flukes. Just like all the other humpback whales, these two were traveling south. We can’t wait to see you on Friday! |
| 10/22/22 | 2 Humpback Whales | The seas have been beautifully calm. It was a gorgeous sunny day and we found humpback whales! This pair was wonderful and everyone was able to get great views. We can’t wait to see you next time! |
| 10/21/22 | 5 Humpback Whales, Common Dolphins, Submarine | We sailed out to the bank and found a good pod of 50 common dolphins. While we sailed back, a guest spotted several spouts! We made a turn and sure enough, we found 5 southbound humpback whales. We also saw a submarine as well. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 10/20/22 | 1 Juvenile Humpback Whale, Dolphins, Submarine | We found an adorable juvenile humpback whale that was traveling south just outside of the kelp forest. We watched as it breathed while traveling south. Captain Troy saw dolphins in the distance, so we went to check them out. There were about 200 common dolphins. We also followed a submarine all the way back into San Diego. It was an action packed day! |
| 10/19/22 | 5 Humpback Whales | There is a fantastic whale watching community here in San Diego. One of our fellow whale watchers found a wonderful group of 5 humpback whales just a couple miles off the San Diego coast. We headed right to them and sailed with them for a long time. It was truly magical to hear all of them taking deep breaths! We can’t wait for tomorrow. |
| 8/25/22 | 4 Minke Whales, Offshore Bottlenose, Elephant Seal, Sea Lions | The past few days have been been quiet on the mammal side, but we have seen hundreds and hundreds of tuna! At one point, we even counted 32 fishing boats in just 1 square mile. Everywhere we looked, there were tuna. Today, we were thrilled to finally find some mammals. We saw a total of 4 minke whales and a group of 20 offshore bottlenose dolphins. Shockingly, we also saw an elephant seal today. It was quite a surprise as we never see them down here. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 8/17/22 | 1 Blue Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We haven’t spotted blue whales for a few days. Captain Troy and Diana heard reports of a blue whale up to the north and decided to go for it. Luckily this whale was traveling south. We were able to follow this whale south, guests were able to get incredible views. We are eager to find more migrating blue whales in the next few weeks! |
| 8/16/22 | Common Dolphins, Tuna, Bait Balls, Sea Lions | There is a lot of tuna out in the water! We headed out west and found at least 7 different bait balls with tuna jumping out of the water. From afar, they almost looked like splashes from dolphins. If I was a humpback whale, I would be here! Despite all our efforts, we didn’t see any whales. Hopefully they will come back tomorrow! |
| 8/12/22 | Common Dolphins, Coast Guard Special Forces, Sea Lions | The weather has been spectacular. It is very warm on land, rising up to 80 degrees with 70% humidity. The humidity is very unusual for San Diego, but we are loving these sunny days on the ocean. While we didn’t see whales today, we did find common dolphins and sea lions. We also saw an impressive view of Coast Guard Special Forces. They zoomed past the guests in their speedy boat, it was super cool! |
| 8/11/22 | Sea Lions & Navy Dolphins | Although it is rare, sometimes we don’t see whales or wild dolphins during our trips in the summer. Unfortunately, this happened today. It was a gorgeous day out on the water with beautiful sunny skies and blue water. That said, we couldn’t see a dolphin or whale for miles. Hopefully the wildlife will return to these waters tomorrow. Everyone aboard today’s trip will get to come back for free anytime! |
| 8/10/22 | Cow & Calf Blue Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Seeing a blue whale cow and calf late in the summer is such a contrast to early spring. The calf has grown considerably in size and weight. It still stays right with its mom for dives, but we were amazed to this beautiful sight. We also passed through three huge separate pods of common dolphins. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 8/9/22 | 3 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | There must be a lot of food in the water. For five days straight, we have been getting fantastic views of these beautiful animals. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 8/8/22 | 7 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Another fantastic day on the water. We are just so excited to see blue whales day after day in our San Diego waters! |
| 8/7/22 | 7 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It looks like these blue whales are here to stay for a while. The weather has been absolutely stunning, with beautiful blue skies and calm waters. Guests have been having the best time spotting these whales and getting great pictures. Be sure to check our social media, @nxtlevelsailing and @wagsnwhales for pictures and videos of the latest sightings. |
| 8/6/22 | 4 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Captain Troy sailed to the same spot as yesterday. Sure enough, we found blue whales. One fluked several times, everyone was amazed by it’s beautiful tail. We feel so lucky to see these blue whales again this summer. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 8/5/22 | 7 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We went down to 9 mile bank and were so ecstatic to find 7 blue whales! There was even a cow and her calf. Everyone was so excited, it was incredible to be surrounded by spouts once again. We hope that these animals stay for awhile. There have been a lot of dolphins in these waters, so there must be an abundance for food. We look forward to sailing tomorrow! |
| 8/3/22 | 2 Bryde’s Whales, LA Class Submarine, Sea Lions | The weather was gorgeous. We headed out to the bank and found the same pair of Bryde’s whales! They were actively feeding and moving very quickly. With just a fluke print as a clue, Captain Troy quickly turned the boat so everyone had great views when the whale popped up again. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 7/25/22 | 2 Bryde’s Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Diesel Electric Submarine | Captain Troy headed down to the Coronado Islands. Suddenly, he saw a spout. It was a Bryde’s whale. Then we saw another whale close by. These whales were moving very quickly, feeding in the area. We were able to get some great views thanks to Captain Troy’s excellent steering. We can’t wait to see you on Wednesday! |
| 7/24/22 | Blue Whale Cow & Calf, Dolphins, Sea Lions | We haven’t seen blue whales for several days. We were do excited to see this adorable pair. There is a lot of food in the water, we can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 7/11/22 | 2 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We were so excited to find a blue whale cow and calf! We have not seen a mom and baby in a few weeks here in San Diego, so it was fantastic to see this pair. The baby swam right next to it’s mom. At one point, their pair was very curious about our boat and we were able to get such a close look. We are so excited for tomorrow! |
| 7/10/22 | 1 Minke Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | No other whale watching boats were able to find a whale today. Captain Troy saw a bait ball and headed over to investigate. There were a ton of sea birds, dolphins, and fish. All of a sudden, he saw a spout! It was a minke whale. It was awesome to see this whale feeding in the middle of a bait ball. We are excited tomorrow! |
| 7/9/11 | 800 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | While we didn’t find a whale today, guests were able to see three separate amazing pods of common dolphins. The sun was out and it was a gorgeous day. Everyone on this trip gets to come back for free. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 7/8/22 | 2 Blue Whales, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | We headed out to 9 mile bank again and spotted two blue whales! At first it looked like we just saw one, but then the pair came up right next to one another. These were two big adult blue whales. It was fantastic to watching them swim right alongside one another. We are glad that they are feeding on all the food in these waters. We didn’t see wild dolphins today, but the Navy dolphins showed off when we were in the bay. We are looking forward to tomorrow! |
| 7/7/22 | 1 Blue Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It looks like the same whale was out today as yesterday. We even saw more flukes and some whale poop. It was a little overcast in the morning, but the sun found its way through the clouds. It turned out to be a gorgeous afternoon. We also saw some dolphins in the mix as well. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 7/6/22 | 1 Blue Whale, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | The sun was out and it was a beautiful blue bird day. We even had a cute VIP guest named Max. He was an adorable English Sheepdog puppy. We spotted a wonderful blue whale that fluked several times. Everyone was thrilled to see this massive tail! Be sure to check out our TikTok for videos: @wagsnwhales. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 7/5/22 | 1 Blue Whale, 200 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The seas are not flat, but they definitely calmed down since Sunday. We were so excited to find a magnificent blue whale that swam close to the boat. It fluked three separate times, everyone was able to get amazing views of it’s beautiful tail. We even saw whale poop on the last look! On our way back, we saw several bait balls with common dolphins. There is a lot of food in the water. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 7/3/22 | Agitated Seas | Most whale watching days in summer months are calm and sunny. Today, the actual sea state was not as predicted. We experienced 5 foot swells at 7 seconds. It made our progress very slow out to the ocean and we were not able to get to 9 mile bank. This day was certainly not a good example of the whale watching trips that we like to provide. Everyone on this trip can come back for free. For any questions, they can also contact Fathom: [email protected] or 619-922-6215. Thanks! |
| 7/2/22 | 2 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We are excited to celebrate this July 4th weekend with our guests. The weather was absolutely stunning today and there was an abundance of wildlife. There were just so many birds on our way out to the 9 mile bank today. We found two blue whales that dove under the surface for about 11 minutes. Captain Troy did a fantastic job steering the yacht America. These whales decided to come up close the boat, allowing guests to get an incredible view. It is just so exciting to see blue whales in San Diego in July. We are looking forward to a great month. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 7/1/22 | 1 Blue Whale, 900 Common dolphins, Sea Lions | There was a lot of food in the water today. Everywhere we looked, we saw bait balls with dolphins. We were able to get close to at least three separate bait balls with tons of dolphins. We also found a magnificent blue whale. We had three cycles with this whale and it fluked for all three deep dives. It was amazing to see this beautiful animal on such a gorgeous day. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 6/30/22 | 2 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Such gorgeous weather! We sailed out and found two blue whales at 9 mile bank. These were two adults that were feeding. They were down for about 12 minutes. One showed us its fluke, which was very exciting. We can’t wait to go sailing tomorrow! |
| 6/29/22 | 3 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It has been so hot on land the past few days. We had the most beautiful weather on the water today. Captain Troy headed straight out to the bank and found three blue whales. It was so cool to watch the largest animal on the planet gracefully swim through the water. We can’t wait for tomorrow. |
| 6/28/22 | 2 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Another sunny day here in San Diego. With the help of our fellow whale watchers, we found a friendly group of 2 blue whales. One was pretty curious about our vessel. Guests were able to get great views. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 6/27/22 | Submarines, Sea Lions | Today unfortunately was a no whale day. Fathom went up the mast for a long time looking for whales and dolphins. Although the visibility was great and the weather was warm and sunny, there were no mammals in the ocean. Today was just a reminder that we are searching for wild animals, and we are always very lucky when we see them in their natural habitat. Everyone on this trip can come back for a free future trip. We look forward to tomorrow! |
| 6/26/22 | 1 Blue Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The winds picked up today, but the sun was out and the seas were flat. We headed out and found the same blue whale that we saw yesterday. It was in the same spot. This whale decided to show off and fluke three separate times. It was so cool to see this huge tail as the whale took a dive. We can’t wait for tomorrow. |
| 6/25/22 | 1 Blue Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Another sunny gorgeous day in San Diego. We found a single blue whale out in the canyon. This whale took a beautiful dive and showed us his flukes. Everyone cheered, it was so exciting to see such a beautiful sight. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 6/24/22 | 2 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today was an unbelievable day! We had the most friendly blue whale we have ever encountered. This whale swam right towards us and did circles around our boat. Captain Troy just put the boat in neutral and this whale was very curious about us. Everyone had some amazingly close views. It was incredible! We can’t wait for tomorrow. |
| 6/16/22 | 1 Blue Whale, 300 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We headed south today to find a magnificent blue whale! This blue whale was the same whale that we saw a few days ago. It has 3 very distinct scratches on its dorsal fin. At one point, this whale popped up right behind us. Captain Troy immediately put the boat in neutral, guests watched in awe as this whale breathed a few times and took a deep dive. We even got to see it’s tail. What an amazing experience. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 6/15/22 | 400 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | There were reports of Blue Whales off of La Jolla yesterday, so we headed up that way to see if we could find them. Unfortunately, we did not find whales. However, we were able to get amazing views of a large active pod of common dolphins. There is still a lot of food in the water. We look forward to tomorrow! |
| 6/14/22 | 100 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Over night, the sea state became much rougher than predicted, but it was still safe. Captain Troy told everyone at check in that the seas were higher than expected, so if anyone was prone to seasickness, today would not be a good day. He refunded anyone that wanted a refund. We also rescheduled guests who wanted to go later in the week. About 20 guests still wanted to go sailing, so we headed out to sea. Despite large swells, the seas were safe. We were able to find a nice pod of common dolphins, but unfortunately no whales. Everyone will be be able to come back for free to fulfill their whale watching guarantee. |
| 6/12/22 | 5 Blue Whales, Mako Shark, Common Dolphins, Bottlenose Dolphins | What a day! We had very close views of three blue whales. We could see two more blue whales a mile to the west and a mile to the south of us. We also saw a mako shark jump out of the water two times. That was crazy to see! We also found two different pods of dolphins: common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. We will not be whale watching tomorrow, but we can’t wait to see you on Tuesday. |
| 6/11/22 | 5 Blue Whales, Megapod Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Everyone was so lucky to get to be able to see two pairs of blue whale cows and calves. Both calves looked very healthy and they swam right next to their mothers. One of the calves even breached a few feet above the surface. It was so playful! We also saw the same blue whale that we saw yesterday. It had three distinct marks on it’s dorsal fin, very striking. All five blue whales were swimming in very close proximity. We also had a megapod of common dolphins swimming to the southeast of us. We asked our guests if it was okay if we were late, everyone said lets go for it! We sailed with this amazing group of active dolphins for 15 minutes. There were so many cute baby dolphins in the mix. We can’t wait until tomorrow. |
| 6/10/22 | 1 Blue Whale, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | “May gray, June gloom” is not just a phrase, it’s reality here in San Diego. Don’t forget to bring your sweatshirt because it is chilly on the water with this thick marine layer. That doesn’t stop the whales. Today, we found a single blue whale that was just 8 miles from San Diego. It had three distinct lines on its dorsal fins. We also saw blows from two other whales three miles away. Guests were able to get very close views. This whale did show us its tail, but it was just a few feet above the ocean’s surface. We can’t wait to come back tomorrow! |
| 6/9/22 | 4 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions | It is blue whale watching season! Every day, we are seeing blue whales off the coast. We are so excited that they are staying here, feeding on the abundance of krill in the water. We can’t wait to take you whale watching tomorrow! |
| 6/8/22 | 4 Blue Whales, 800 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today we had close views of several blue whales. We did see one that had an almost non-existent dorsal fin. I took several videos of this whale in order to send to NOAA. Despite it’s dorsal fin, this whale looked very healthy. After spending some great time with the blue whales, we saw stampeding common dolphins in the distance. We checked to see if everyone was okay if we were a little late. After we received approval from the guests, we headed over and were completely surrounded by a huge group of common dolphins. There were some adorable calves that were just learning how to swim. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 6/7/22 | 5 Blue Whales, Sea Lions | Guests were able to see blue whale flukes today! We had a single blue whale that loved to show us it’s magnificent tail. Now, this was not Bubbles, the blue whale, but it was another blue whale. It was just amazing to see this huge tail as this whale took an 11 minute dive. |
| 6/6/22 | 4 Blue Whales, Sea Lions | Today we found the cow and calf right away. Captain Troy decided to stay with these two the whole trip. Every day we see the calf, we notice something new. Today, this calf was diving exactly like it’s mom. We even saw both dorsal fins at the exact same time. It has been so cool to see this progression with each trip. As this calf learns how to feed on krill, we expect to watch it grow pretty substantially this summer. |
| 6/5/22 | 7 Blue Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a spectacular day! We had representatives from NOAA join us to see just how many blue whales are in the area. The marine layer quickly burned off this morning and the ocean was very calm. We found a group of 7 blue whales, including our favorite cow and calf. The NOAA representatives were so happy to see such healthy work. All of our collaborative efforts with NOAA and the Navy are paying off. Ships are avoiding this feeding ground and they are not performing live fire exercises in the area. We are very excited to watch these whales for the whole summer! |
| 6/4/22 | Minke Whale | It was a little overcast today. We headed South West to 9 mile bank. There was a pretty big rain cloud looming overhead, so Captain Troy decided to turn south. This way, everyone avoided getting soaked. We didn’t see any spouts in the distance, so we decided to head for home. We passed a car carrier, and then Diana suddenly saw a spout. We got closer and it was a minke whale! We also saw offshore bottlenose swimming with the minke. We stayed with this whale and the dolphins for as long as we could. It was finally time to get back as we were an hour late. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 6/3/22 | 1 Blue Whale, Offshore Bottlenose, Sea Lions | The weather is getting warmer and warmer with the seas getting calmer and calmer. We heard reports of a whale just west of Point Loma about 10 miles offshore. We headed out and found a spectacular blue whale. Although this was not Bubbles, this whale did like to show us it’s flukes with every deep dive. Guests were incredibly lucky to see this magnificent creature up close. Typically, it spent about 10 minutes under water and then came up for many surface breaths. Everyone had great views. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 6/2/22 | 4 Blue Whales, 1 Fin Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a spectacular day on the water. It was so calm. It was a little overcast in the morning, but burned off throughout the day. We were thrilled to find the blue whale cow and calf! They were so cute, swimming right next to eachother. We also saw Bubbles the blue whale close by as well. All of sudden, we were also right next to a fin whale that was very curious about the boat. All in all, what a wonderful day on the water. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 5/31/22 | 20 Blue Whales, 3 Fin Whales, 200 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It really doesn’t get any better than this. Captain Troy even said he has never seen so many blue whales in one area. There were 20 blue whales! Everywhere we looked, we saw spouts. Some were close by, some were in the distance. We were in the canyon, 9 miles from Point Loma. Crew and guests were absolutely delighted when we also saw a blue whale cow and calf! It is so exciting to see a calf of an endangered species, particularly a blue whale. It looked very healthy as it was nursing and learning how to feed on krill. At one point, we had a whale on either side of us and Captain Troy just sailed in neutral. This was truly a once in a lifetime experience for everyone aboard. We are so excited to see so many blue whales in one spot. Let’s hope they stick around for a few weeks. Captain Troy notified the Navy and NOAA about the location of Blue Whales so they can make sure ships stay clear of this area. |
| 5/30/22 | 2 Blue Whales, 4 Fin Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The sun was shining today, it was so warm on the water. We had incredible views of two different blue whales. Bubbles, the blue whale, is still in the area and showed an incredible tail fluke for guests today. We also saw fin whales feeding within a 1/4 mile of the blue whales. It was truly spectacular. There were also about 30 common dolphins that swam with us for a short period as well. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 5/29/22 | 2 Blue Whales, 6 Fin Whales, 200 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We headed out to the 9 mile bank again today. There were so many whales, it was hard to know where to look. At one point, we had two fin whales on either side of us. Guests watched as dolphins swam with the whales. It was incredible. We are so excited to sail again tomorrow. See you then! |
| 5/28/22 | 10 Fin Whales, 1 Blue Whale, Sea Lions, Common Dolphins | The winds picked up today, but the sun was out. We headed to the same area we went to yesterday and found the same amazing pod of fin whales and blue whale. Everywhere we looked we saw spouts. Guests had super close views to a group of four fin whales that swam right next to the boat. It was incredible. We can’t wait to go whale watching tomorrow! |
| 5/27/22 | 10 Fin Whales, 1 Blue Whale, 200 Common Dolphins | This is a fantastic time to come whale watching in San Diego! We sailed 14.5 miles off the coast. The ocean was completely flat and the sun was out. Everywhere we looked, we saw whales. Guests had incredible views of fin whales and Bubbles, the blue whale. We can’t wait to go whale watching tomorrow. |
| 5/24/22 | 4 Blue Whales, Risso’s Dolphins, LA-Class Submarine | Today was an exquisite day! We headed out to 9 mile bank and saw a total of four blue whales. They were all feeding on krill, taking 10 minute dives. At one point, they were very curious about us and swam around the boat. It was truly an incredible experience. We started heading for home and much to our excitement, saw a pod of 50 Risso’s dolphins. This was a graet pod and a few of them even breached for us. Just as we were entering the San Diego Bay, we were able to witness an outbound submarine. We can’t wait to sail this weekend! |
| 5/23/22 | 2 Blue Whales, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | We were so excited to see not just one, but two huge blue whales feeding in our waters here in San Diego. We have been going to the canyon for the past couple days and have found dolphins. Today, however, we were so excited to find blue whales. One of the blue whales is named “Bubbles.” We have seen this whale in years past. It makes a distinct bubbles right before it takes a deep dive. It also fluked with each and every dive, delighting everyone aboard the yacht America. We can’t wait to go sailing tomorrow! |
| 5/1/22 | Fin Whale, Sea Lions | It was a great way to kick off the new month with fantastic sights of a fin whale. We are very excited to see what the spring month brings! |
| 4/30/22 | Fin Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What an amazing experience. We are seeing so many fin whales this week. We saw a fin whale today and a lot of common dolphins. Captain Troy notified NOAA about the abundance of fin whales in these waters so they can send scientists down to conduct research. He also notified the Navy so consider these feeding grounds when deciding how ships should enter the San Diego Bay. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 4/27/22 | 2 Fin Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today we saw a cow and calf ! They were such cute fin whales. The mom was showing her baby how to feed. This calf was smaller than the other calves we have seen the past few days. We are so excited to see more fin whale calves in our waters. |
| 4/26/22 | 3 Fin Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was so warm today on land. We started heading out to sea and we were met by a very thick fog. Captain Troy used the horn every two minutes to alert nearby boats. Once through the fog, it turned out to be a gorgeous day. We found three fin whales! A cow, calf, and another adult. We were so excited! We stayed with these animals and watched their fast behavior. The adults were actually lunge feeding, it was so cool to watch. They were moving very quickly and we were able to witness this at a very close but safe distance. We were an hour late to the dock but everyone had amazing views. |
| 4/25/22 | 3 Fin Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | There were three fin whales today, except one was an adorable calf! It was incredible watching this small calf swim very close to it’s mom. The other adult kept a close distance to the mom and calf as well. It was a beautiful sunny day. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 4/21/22 | 2 Fin Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today we saw two huge adult fin whales. They were massive! These two swam right next to eachother. Listening to these whales breath is just amazing. They were also so close to the boat! Fathom was able to get some great video. Check out our instagam, @nxtlevelsailing. |
| 4/15/22 | Gray Whale Cow, Calf, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | A guest spotted a disturbance in the water. Low and behold, it was a small calf! We then saw the cow pop up right next to her calf. We were about 10 miles off the coast and watched in awe as this cow and calf made their way up to Alaska. There was a Navy ship three miles away doing standard operations. We notified this ship that we were with a cow and calf attempting to make their way up north to Alaska. After many transmissions between Captain Troy and Naval ship, they decided to make a distinct turn to the southwest so that it would stay clear of the cow and calf. Thank goodness! Whale collisions are a big problem around the world. We were so happy to help this cow and calf make a safe transit north. Good luck with the rest of your journey! |
| 4/14/22 | Risso’s Dolphins, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Although we didn’t find any whales, everyone had a fantastic experience watching a pod of 25 Risso’s Dolphins. We also saw a large pod of common dolphins that swam with the boat. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 4/5/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Sea Lions | We were absolutely shocked to fin two southbound gray whales today. They breached four times in the distance. This pair was very comfortable swimming alongside our boat. Everyone got great views. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 4/3/22 | 4 Gray Whales, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | There was a group of four gray whales headed north. This was an incredible quad. They were pretty far out, 10 miles west from Point Loma. There was a lot of rolling involved, so these whales were definitely courting one last time before headed north to Alaska. |
| 3/18/22 | 3 Fin Whales, Dolphins, Sea Lions | We were so excited to see fin whales today! There was a mom, a calf, and an escorting male. It was an amazing experience for guests and crew alike. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 3/17/22 | 7 Gray Whales, 500 Dolphins, Sea Lions | Happy St. Patrick’s Day! We had a very lucky day today since we found a group of seven northbound gray whales all swimming together. It was so cool to watch each one dive after one another. We were completely surround by common dolphins while we were watching the whales. We also saw another pod of dolphins close to shore. It is going to be a wonderful spring season! |
| 3/16/22 | Sunny Blue Skies, Sea Lions | Even though the weather was spectacular, we were not lucky at finding sea life today. Unfortunately, we were shut out for the second day this year. Everyone will get to come back for free. |
| 3/15/22 | 4 Gray Whales, Sea Lions | It was a chilly morning. We headed out to sea and after traveling 12 miles, we found a group of northbound gray whales. They were wonderful whales! The marine layer burned off on our way back home. |
| 3/14/22 | 1 Humpback Whale, 700 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today was a perfect day to eat! We headed out west and Fathom saw some splashing in the distance. Upon a closer look, we found a huge pod of common dolphins. Captain Troy kept saying there would be a whale close by. Sure enough, we spotted a single humpback whale feeding with the dolphins. It was an extraordinary experience for everyone. A bluebird day with lots of activity. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 3/12/22 | 4 Gray Whales, Risso’s, Sea Lions | We headed out west to the bank and round a group of 30 Risso’s dolphins. There were several calves in the mix. They were so cute and small! We headed back towards shore to see what else we could find and we came across a group of four northbound gray whales. These whales were only four miles from shore, so we stayed with them for a long time and headed back. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 3/11/22 | 12 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a whale of a day! We spotted Junior just off of Point Loma at the beginning of our trip. We stayed with him for a couple cycles and then we headed out west. We went all the way to 9 mile bank and found a fantastic group of four northbound gray whales. They were wonderful whales, very friendly. We also had a large group 100 common dolphins come play with the whales. Guests really wanted to watch these whales for a while, so we stayed, even though it would make us late. We headed back for home and were spoiled with so many whale spouts. We passed by a group of three, another group of three, and a single. A stampeding group of common dolphins also came towards us too. Although we were 45 minutes late to the dock, it was action packed. Guests had great views. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 3/10/22 | 1 Gray Whale, False Killer Whales, Sea Lions | Junior is back! He was just off of Point Loma again, so everyone was very excited to see him. We sailed out west to see what else we could find. Low and behold, we spotted a pod of False Killer Whales. One of them even breached completely out of the water three times, right next to the boat! It was so cool to see these animals right next to the boat. We can’t wait until tomorrow. |
| 3/9/22 | Risso’s Dolphins, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions, LCS, Zumwalt | This was the very first day of 2022 where we did not see any whales. We did find a group of 20 Risso’s dolphins, which were pretty cool to watch. Fathom went up the mast to search for whales and despite being up there for over an hour and half, she didn’t see a single whale spout. All the crew were so disappointed that we couldn’t find any whales. Everyone from this trip will be able to come back in the future anytime for a free trip. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 3/8/22 | 6 Humpback Whales, 1 Fin Whale, 700 Common Dolphins, spouts of 2 Gray Whales | Today was truly an extraordinary day. We heard about a feeding frenzy off to the north west from our fellow whale watching boats. We knew that going up there would cause us to be an hour and a half late. We consulted with all the passengers aboard and everyone agreed that it was worth being late. Once we made it 11 miles from Point Loma, we were amazed by an abundance of whales, 500 dolphins, and sea birds. Everyone was actively feeding. It was the first time we saw humpback whales and a fin whale this year. We are so excited to see so much food in the water! On our way back home, we saw another large group of 200 dolphins stampeding. We also passed by spouts of two gray whales on our way back. Guests were able to get a quick look at the barnacles on the gray whales. There was so much diversity in the water today. This is one of the reasons we love whale watching in the spring. We can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow! |
| 3/7/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Sea Lions, Zumwalt, LCS | We headed out and immediately found our little juvenile gray whale, Junior, off of Point Loma. Captain Troy headed out west after some great looks at Junior. We picked up another spout near the “whistling buoy” and sailed with this southbound gray whale for a long time. The winds started to pick up and trimmed the sails for speed. We headed home. During our trip, we saw the Zumwalt destroyer, a littoral combat ship, and a cable layer ship. It was an active day on the water, we look forward to tomorrow! |
| 3/6/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Sea Lions | This past weekend, San Diego was hit by another storm. We had swells that went up to 9 feet with gusts reaching 30 knots. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our trips on Friday and Saturday. By Sunday, the seas had calmed down enough so that we could go whale watching. We found two separate gray whales. One was Junior. He has been in that same spot off of Point Loma for 16 days now. It’s pretty amazing, I wonder if we will see him tomorrow! |
| 3/3/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Sea Lions | A storm is brewing. We are constantly checking the weather, but it’s quite possible that tomorrow’s trip will need to be canceled. We had a nice trip today with some very good whales. Hopefully the storm will subside by Sunday so that guests can go sailing this weekend. Tie down the hatches and get ready for some rain! |
| 3/1/22 | 4 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Happy March! We are so excited that it is March, time is really sailing by here on the yacht America. We decided to go offshore again. We found a group of three gray whales, but they were a little shy. They were originally traveling south, then they turned to the west, then they turned north. We are not too sure what they were doing, but we gave them plenty of room so we did not impede their path. We finally had to head for home. On our way back, we spotted Junior. It made us late getting back to the dock, but guests really wanted to see this whale up close. We were able to get some amazing views of Junior. He even took a deep dive and showed us his flukes. Hurrah! Everyone was very happy. We can’t wait to go sailing again. |
| 2/28/22 | 6 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today was our first day far off shore. We went way out to nine mile bank and found a large group of six gray whales. They were traveling very close together. All six would come up to breath at similar times, but they were swimming so close together. It was really amazing, particularly when they all took deep dives. Guests were having a wonderful time. Puppy Marie brought her friend, Cash, who is an adorable golden retriever. One of our youngest whale watchers loved petting Cash. At just four years old, she was worried about getting sea sick. With calm seas and some puppy kisses, she had the best time on the water! |
| 2/27/22 | 1 Gray Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was another calm day on the ocean! We headed out and found our friendly juvenile playing in the kelp. He was showing off, so we stayed and watched him for at least 45 minutes. We headed back and sailed with a pod of common dolphins. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 2/26/22 | 6 Gray Whales, White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions | Earlier this week, several trips were cancelled due to the storm passing through Southern California. With this in mind, we offered two trips. Both trips had wonderful sea conditions. The swell was very mild and the sun was out. The morning trip had virtually no wind, so the sea was calm and the weather was warm. Guests had amazing views of a large single southbound gray whale covered in barnacles. We stayed with this whale nearly the entire trip. The second trip had a stronger breeze, which was great for sailing. Always bring layers, because the wind is a little chilly. We ended up finding two pairs of gray whales and a single during the second trip. It was amazing to see whales and also see snow capped mountains from the ocean. We can’t wait to sail tomorrow! |
| 2/24/22 | 4 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We headed out and immediately found a little juvenile gray whale playing in the kelp off the coast of Point Loma. After a few good looks, we headed further out and found a single southbound gray whale. We continued our journey south and found a pair of gray whales also headed south. It was time to head for home, so we turned around. There were a couple common dolphins that swam with us as we sailed home. Towards the end of the trip, the winds started to build to 13 knots. Throughout the trip, the sea was calmer than predicted at just 3 ft. |
| 2/21/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins | We set sail today for the last trip before the storm. Strong winds quickly carried the America to La Jolla where we encountered a trio of gray whales on their northbound migration. These whales have left the lagoons in Mexico early to have first access to the feeding grounds in Alaska. We saw the whale’s colorful flukes and backs covered in barnacles. Captain Troy saw a squall on the horizon, and we headed back to port just in time beat the rain. On the way back we saw some common dolphins that came to swim in the boats wake. More reports to come after the storm. Stay dry! |
| 2/20/22 | 5 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Rescue! | We had a very eventful day today with two trips, 5 whale sightings, and a rescue! We embarked from Shelter Island bright and early and set sail on beautiful, calm seas. Right as we rounded Point Loma we encountered 2 northbound juvenile gray whales playing in the kelp forest. After saying goodbye to these whales, we found a trio of gray whales on a late southbound migration down to Mexico. We saw birds on the horizon and Captain Troy headed over to find a pod of Pacific common dolphins feeding on delicious fish below the surface. Guests enjoyed views of the dolphins jumping completely out of the water! As we headed for home, we encountered a small boat taking on water in the mouth of the bay. One passenger was still in the boat and two were overboard. Thanks to quick action by Captain Troy and the crew, we were able to rescue all three people and their adorable dog and tow their boat to safety. If you want to see the entire rescue, check out this Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f77TZ5CmRME |
| 2/19/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | As soon as we left the San Diego Bay, we spotted an adorable juvenile playing in the kelp off of Point Loma. We decided to continue our journey south and we found another single gray whale by the Coronado Islands. This whale was also headed south. The ocean was calm and it was beautiful and sunny. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 2/18/22 | 3 Mating Gray Whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, Sea Lions, USS Nimitz | What a spectacular day! We headed out and immediately saw the USS Nimitz inbound for San Diego. She is not only the largest warship in the world, she is also the oldest. It was awesome to see her cruise past our yacht America. In the next few years, she will be decommissioned and replaced by a newer ship. It was a sunny day with a high of 67 degrees. The ocean was very flat and we found a group of three gray whales. We followed them for at least 40 minutes, then we checked out a bait ball full of Pacific white sided dolphins. The group of three gray whales then started to mate! We witnessed a lot of rolling and subsequent pectoral fins. What an special sight. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 2/17/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Sea Lions | Today, we had the pleasure of sailing with a family that wanted an exclusive private whale watching tour. With just four passengers, we set out and found a fantastic pair of southbound gray whales. It was a beautiful sunny day with flat seas. Our VIP guests enjoyed an exquisite lunch and sail back home to San Diego. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 2/16/22 | 1 Gray Whale, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | The heat wave is definitely over. We had one of the hottest weekends last weekends, but it rained all night here in San Diego. We actually cancelled Tuesday’s trip because of the storm. The ocean was a little bumpy with six foot swells. As the afternoon pressed on, the swells went down to just two feet. We found a very friendly gray whale that was headed north to Alaska. Guests enjoyed great views of this animal. Due to the small swell, we could see the entire body of this animal swimming under the water. That was really cool! |
| 2/15/22 | STORM- Closed | With a storm coming in, we cancelled today’s trip. |
| 2/14/22 | 3 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a perfect Valentines Day celebration! We enjoyed a fantastic sunny day with very calm seas. There were three southbound gray whales traveling very close together. The wind was just right that we even saw heart shaped blows. The sun was also perfect so everyone got to see rainbow spouts as well. It was the ultimate celebration. We can’t wait to see everyone later this week! |
| 2/13/22 | 3 Gray Whales, Sea Lions | We are still enjoying this heat wave, with highs in the 80’s. There were three very large southbound gray whales. Captain Troy sailed with these animals for at least an hour. Guests enjoyed fantastic views. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 2/12/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Minke, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today was the hottest February day in San Diego history, with a high of 91 degrees. Guests enjoyed the most spectacular sunny day with calm flat seas. Diana found a juvenile northbound gray whale and then another single gray whale. She also found a minke whale as well! There were scattered common dolphins throughout the day. What an amazing Saturday, we can’t wait for tomorrow. |
| 2/12/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | The weather is starting to get very warm. It definitely feels like summer is already here! We found two beautiful southbound gray whales that were very friendly. Everyone saw spectacular dives as these animals showed us their flukes. The ocean was as flat as a lake. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 2/10/22 | 1 Gray Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphin | We headed out west and found a nice pod of dolphins. The weather was very hot, with a high of 83 degrees. After seeing the dolphins, we headed north to find a single southbound gray whale. It was super friendly, everyone got great views. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 2/9/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Sea Lions, Common Dolphins | BREACH! Today we saw a gray whale breach twice. It was a very playful adult. We also saw it spy hop several times. A guest was able to get a great video, it is posted on our instagram: @nxtlevelsailing. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 2/8/22 | 3 Gray Whales, Sea Lions, Common Dolphins, Navy Dolphins | We headed up north today and found another group of three gray whales. These animals did not swim in a straight line, but rather zig-zagged, and also sometimes swam north. That said, they were wonderful whales and guests were able to get great views. We headed south and found a large group of 300 common dolphins. Guests were so excited! |
| 2/7/22 | 3 Gray Whales Mating, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What an exciting day! Today we found three gray whales that happened to be mating. Captain Troy traveled south and found these active gray whales. Pectoral fins, flukes, and spy hopping, guests really got an incredible once in a lifetime experience. The weather has been very warm. We are looking forward to more sunny days this week! |
| 2/6/22 | 3 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was so sunny and warm today with a high of 72 degrees. The seas were as flat as a lake with hardly any wind. We headed out and found a pair of southbound gray whales. Then we headed north an found a single gray whale. After a few views, we found a large group of 200 common dolphins. It was amazing to watch these beautiful animals under the water. The visibility was amazing. With flat water, the views were just gorgeous. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 2/5/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a spectacular day! We had amazing views of a pair of gray whales swimming south. Bring your family and friends for a fun filled day on the water. We even had some of our own friends come sail with us today and they had a great time. |
| 2/4/22 | 6 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We got to see the cutest gray whale playing today! It spy hopped several times and spun around in circles with the dolphins. We saw a pair in the distance and headed south to follow them for a few cycles. Then Captain Troy found spouts out to the west. We ended up finding a group of three gray whales heading north. These whales were moving very slowly, just 2 knots. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 2/3/2022 | 5 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was another gorgeous day out on the water today. We headed south and found the most amazing group of five gray whales. They were headed south and very friendly. Guests had amazing views of these majestic animals. We also saw a large nursery pod of 30 common dolphins. |
| 2/2/2022 | 3 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | |
| 2/1/2022 | 4 Gray Whales, Sea Lions | Guests were able to see two separate southbound gray whale pairs during their trip. It was fantastic to see these animals swimming along. We did have a reminder that we are still in winter here in San Diego as it was a little cloudy and chilly. |
| 1/31/2022 | 2 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sides & Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | |
| 1/30/2022 | 2 Gray Whales, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | |
| 1/29/2022 | 7 Gray Whales, Sea Lions | |
| 1/28/2022 | 4 Whales, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | |
| 1/23/22 | 3 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Another gorgeous day out here in San Diego. We saw snow capped mountains in the distance while sailing on calm waters. We found a social single gray whale today that stayed on the surface for a long times. Guests got wonderful views as they watched this beautiful animal. After sailing for a long time, we headed north. There was a group of two whales heading north. It’s a little early to see northbound gray whales, so these animals must be hungry. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 1/22/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Such a splendid January day. These Santa Ana winds have brought in some wonderful warm weather. Captain Mike did a great job finding a pair of gray whales and matching their pace as they swam south to Mexico. We stayed with them for a long time. Everyone got great views. We then saw some common dolphins so we went and they played with our boat. It was time to say goodbye to the whales so we headed for home. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 1/21/22 | 5 Gray Whales, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | We were spoiled right at the beginning of the trip with some amazing Navy dolphins doing all sorts of tricks! Did you know the Navy trains dolphins for underwater protection? Super cool. It’s so fun when the trainers decide to show off. We headed south and found a wonderful pair of gray whales. After sailing with them for some time, we headed north and found a fabulous group of three gray whales. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 1/17/22 | 4 Gray Whales, Risso’s Dolphins, Common Dolphins | Today was a spectacular whale watching day! The seas were flat and the sun was peaking out. Morgan found a single gray whale headed south for Mexico. This whale came up to breath several times and would be below the surface for 6 minutes at a time. After watching a couple cycles, we headed west because Fathom saw a good sized pod of common dolphins. They were so cute! They were feeding on a bait ball, so there were a bunch of birds as well. We sailed north and passed by another single gray whale, but we kept going north because it was a little crowded with other boats. Up north, we found a pair of gray whales that were also traveling south. They were absolutely stunning and came up right next to the boat. After staying with them for at least 20 minutes, we headed back. On our way, we found the same pod of at least 50 Risso’s Dolphins. They are so cool to see. They were just outside the kelp forest off of Point Loma and they were swimming very quickly to the north west. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 1/16/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | The ocean was completely different today. It was sunny and flat! You would never know we were in high winds the day before. There was a lot of kelp in the water from the tsunami the day before. Diana found a beautiful pair of gray whales. They were so friendly and came up close to the boat. We sailed with them for a long time and had some amazing views. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 1/15/22 | 6 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea lions | What a day! The morning started with a tsunami warning where a volcano erupted over 5,000 miles away. Captain Troy has dealt with these scenarios before, so he skillfully knew exactly what that mean for us here in San Diego. We could see the water raise the dock 2 ft, but over the course of 7 minutes, so it was slow but strong. We had two whale watching trips that day. The morning trip was incredible with calm flat seas and a group of 4 beautiful gray whales. We followed them south and it was absolutely gorgeous. We also saw some common dolphins as well. There was a little rain in the morning, but everyone had their rain jackets and it cleared up in no time. The afternoon trip didn’t have any rain, so that was wonderful. We headed south to find the group of 4, but there were heavy winds that pick up. After chatting with our fellow whale watching boats, we headed north. Amazingly, the seas were completely calm with no wind up north. We found a group of 2 whales that were very friendly. The trip ended with a stunning sunset and the most beautiful rainbows. It was a very action packed trip to say the least. All in all, it was a wonderful day! |
| 1/14/22 | 9 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Everywhere we looked, we saw gray whales. It was a whale of a time whale watching here in San Diego! |
| 1/13/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Risso’s Dolphins. Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today was absolutely spectacular! The seas were calm. Dogs Marie and Baxter had a great time whale watching today. They found 2 gray whales for us! We also saw some beautiful common dolphins. Captain Troy saw a big splash! Low and behold, we found the biggest pod of Risso’s Dolphins we have ever seen. They decided to swim east, right towards Point Loma. We sailed with them for at least an hour and watched in awe as they swam alongside. It was truly a joy to see them. There were probably at least 75 – 100 Risso’s all together. We even saw some calves in the mix as well. We can’t wait for tomorrow. |
| 1/11/22 | 7 Gray Whales (Cow & Calf included), Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Guests jumped aboard the Yacht America for the ultimate San Diego whale watching excursion today. The skies were clear and sunny, and the seas were calm. Captain Troy found a pair of southbound gray whales. The wind was just perfect so we could even see heart shaped blows. There were another two gray whales spotted several miles away in Mexican waters. We sailed north to see what else we could find. We were so excited to find a gray whale cow and calf! This cow and calf were so cute, the calf even become very playful. Check out our Youtube channel, Next Level Sailing, to see some great footage of this incredible experience. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 1/9/22 | 3 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today Captain Troy found a group of three whales. Since there were three whales, we can call it a pod. Since everyone was filming, Captain Troy said that it was a “San Diego Pod-Cast!” That got a good laugh. This weather has been wonderful. We will not be whale watching tomorrow, but we can’t wait to see you on Tuesday. Thank you! |
| 1/8/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Pacific White Sided Dolphins | We started off the weekend with a splash! Captain Troy found a pair of southbound gray whales. We also found common dolphins and Pacific white sided dolphins. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 1/7/22 | 3 Gray Whales, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | It was a little overcast today, but we had a wonderful day whale watching. We headed out and found three gray whales heading south for Mexico. These whales were very comfortable with us and we stayed with them for a long time. First one gray would always come up to breath a minute before the other two would surface. We also saw some beautiful heart shaped blows. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 1/5/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Scattered Common Dolphins, Sea lions | We had another sunny day here in San Diego with great southbound gray whales! We found a couple dolphins and some sea lions. It was almost warm enough for shorts once we were going downwind. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 1/4/22 | 4 Gray Whales, Bait Ball with Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today was another fabulous whale watching day. We sailed out and found what we thought was a single gray whale. There was a local boat that was charging the whales, cutting in front of them, and ultimately spooking the whales. It kept coming up once to breath and then took deep dives. We did our best to educate this local boater, and we also had another whale watching boat speak to this boater as well. Once the whale had more space, we found out this was actually a pair of gray whales! They were absolutely beautiful. They came up to breath several times and would dive down for five minutes, then they would come up again. They were a beautiful pair to watch. We headed up north again and found the same local boater harassing two more whales, they were not following the guidelines that were just explained to them, and they were ultimately stressing the the whales. Captain Troy told them that we would be reporting them to the Coast Guard as they were violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Unfortunately, this occurs often in San Diego during our winter whale watching season. We are very excited because the Coast Guard has agreed to come out on Saturday and help enforce safe whale watching practices. We continued our journey north and found a huge bait ball. There were Pacific white sided dolphins, common dolphins, and sea lions in the mix. There were a ton of seabirds as well. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 1/3/22 | 2 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Whale watching dreams are made of days like today. The seas were very flat, there were beautiful sunny skies, and the visibility was incredible. We could see snow capped mountains to the east and the north. Captain Troy found a pair of gray whales swimming south to Mexico. These healthy adults were swimming very close together and they were making four minute dives. A pod of twenty common dolphins came in and swam with the whales, it was truly amazing to watch. They continued their journey south as we sailed home. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 1/2/22 | 3 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | The sun was out and the seas have finally calmed down. It was a fantastic day for whale watching. We sailed south and saw a very friendly gray whale that made several deep dives, so we saw beautiful flukes. The dives only lasted three minutes, so there was a lot of surface time for guests. We sailed north and found a wonderful pair of gray whales. After watching them for a few cycles, we headed home. |
| 1/1/22 | 5 Gray Whales. Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Happy New Year! We were thrilled to start off the new year with a beautiful blue sky and a sunny day. We sailed out to sea and found five gray whales. They split up into a group of four and one, and then the group of four split into two groups of two. We watched in awe as they swam alongside. Common dolphins swam towards us and played with the whales. What an incredible day. We can’t wait to see you this year! |
- Chevron down 2021
| 12/31/21 | Gray Whale Pair, Common Dolphins, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a great way to end the year! We found a gray whale pair heading south to Mexico. These whales were very friendly and guests were able to have great views. There were even some common dolphins swimming alongside these whales. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 12/30/21 | Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | The seas were a little bumpy today. Unfortunately, we did not see whales during our trips. There were big clouds and we could see rain in the distance, making it a gorgeous day for dramatic ocean photography. Everyone on these trips will get to come back for free at any time. |
| 12/27/21 | 5 Gray Whales, Sea Lions | We only were able to offer our morning trip as there was a gale warning for the afternoon trip. The morning trip proved to be wonderful as we saw five gray whales. Everyone had fantastic views of these majestic creatures. The seas were also calm during our morning trip. We can’t wait to sail tomorrow! |
| 12/26/21 | Gray Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions | Our morning trip had bumpy seas, but we did see a whale spout in the distance. The views were not up to par with our expectations, so everyone on our morning trip will get to come back for free. The seas calmed down on our way in and we saw Pacific white sided dolphins. The afternoon trip was great as the seas were calm and we found a fantastic pair of gray whales right off Point Loma. They stayed very close to the boat, so everyone got great views. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow. |
| 12/22/21 | Gray Whale, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today was a chilly but gorgeous day. The ocean was flat and the visibility was great. We headed north and found an exceptionally friendly juvenile gray whale. This friendly fella played in the kelp along the kelp forest. He spy hopped at least five times. He also decided to pop up right next to the boat. Captain Troy put the boat in neutral and this whale swam on the other side of the boat right next to passengers. It was amazing. We said goodbye and sailed home. We can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow! |
| 12/21/21 | 2 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins | We headed out west and found a beautiful pair of gray whales. One of the whales was actually pregnant as she was very wide right before her peduncle. These whale traveled south, diving seven minutes between cycles. All of a sudden, they stopped and were down for twenty minutes! It is quite possible that the pregnant female might give birth today. We sailed home, wishing them good luck on their journey! |
| 12/20/21 | 2 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins | The seas have been beautiful and flat. We immediately found a gray whale right off of Point Loma. Then we spotted another spout! There were a few common dolphins playing with these whales, they also swam with our boat. These were very friendly whales, everyone had amazing views. We can’t wait until tomorrow! |
| 12/19/21 | 1 Gray Whale, 200 Common Dolphins | We were thrilled to find a juvenile gray whale today. This whale was very close to Sunset Cliffs. Our fellow whale watching boats had been escorting it past the Mission Bay channel so it would not get hit by fishing boats zooming by. We watched in awe as this whale continued its journey, all the way from Alaska to Mexico. It decided to swim very close to the kelp forest, so we sailed out west. We found a large pod of common dolphins feeding on a bait ball. They were so fun! We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 12/18/21 | 1 Gray Whale, 500 Common Dolphins | Splish splash, we are back! After getting hauled out for a week, we were all very excited to get back in the water. With a fresh coat of bottom paint, we can sail so much faster. We headed out to sea and found a gray whale up north by Mission Bay. After watching it for a few cycles, we sailed west and found so many dolphins. Everyone loved watching them jump and play. It was truly a dream of whale watching day. |
| 12/5/21 | 1 Gray Whale, Common Dolphins | We headed up to La Jolla and found our first gray whale of the season! This whale stayed in the same spot for all the cycles. We were so excited to see this friendly whale. He even came right up to the boat and did a little people watching. This whale started swimming west. We sailed home and found some dolphins along the way. It was sunny, flat, and bright. It’s going to be a great season! |
| 11/21/21 | Humpback, 200 Common Dolphins | The weather was gorgeous today with 80 degree weather. We sailed out and had fantastic views of a young humpback whale. On our way back, we saw 200 common dolphins! We can’t wait to sail tomorrow. |
| 11/15/21 | Breaching Humpback! | Today was the ultimate whale watching day. We had flat water and sunny skies. After heading out to 9 mile bank, we found a breaching humpback. This whale breached at least 5 times and spy hopped. It was amazing to watch this whale jump out of the water. We can’t wait until next week! |
| 11/14/21 | 5 Humpbacks, 1 Fin Whale | There were so many whales today! We saw a huge a bait ball with whales feeding. Everywhere we looked we saw spouts. The weather was exceptionally warm with a high of 85 degrees. We can’t wait to see what else is in store this week! |
| 11/11/21 | 2 Blue Whales, 1 Humpback | Happy Veterans Day! Today was a whale watchers dream. The weather was beautiful and warm with a high of 84 degrees. With the help of our fantastic whale watching community, we had amazing views of a humpback whale right off of Sunset Cliffs. We also saw two beautiful blue whales swimming side by side. It was an amazing way to spend the afternoon! We can’t wait to see you tomorrow. |
| 10/31/21 | 3 Humpback Whales | The ocean was incredibly flat today. We sailed just a few miles west of Point Loma and found three amazing humpback whales. They swam right up next to the boat. We sailed slowly with our engines in neutral while they swam around us. It was an unbelievable experience for guests and crew alike. |
| 10/30/21 | 2 Humpback Whales | Although it was a little overcast, the ocean was very flat. We ended up sailing 16 miles out to the ocean to find two southbound humpbacks. It was beautiful and so peaceful sailing next to them. |
| 10/22/21 | Humpback Whale, 30 Flying Fish, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | We saw another humpback whale today. This particular whale whale was quite shy and only made a brief appearance twice. It decided to swim very far away so we didn’t see it again. All the guests on this trip get to come back for free. |
| 10/20/21 | 700 Short-Beak Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | This was a huge pod! We also saw some babies in the mix as well |
| 10/17/21 | Humpback Whale, Short-Beak Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | There is so much food in the water, we were not surprised to see this humpback feeding off our San Diego coast. |
| 10/7/21 | Megapod Dolphins | We were just completely surrounded by dolphins, it was truly amazing! |
| 10/1/21 | 50 Risso’s Dolphins | Today, Next Level Sailing’s yacht America sailed out to 9 mile bank and found a large group of Risso’s Dolphin. As always, we are super excited to see these animals. We even saw a baby in the mix as well! |
| 9/26/21 | Blue Whale, Humpback Whale | We have never seen a blue whale so close to shore. This animal was only in 85 ft of water. We also saw a humpback whale several miles off the coast feeding on small schooling fish. There were many bait balls that we could see in the water that day. |
| 9/19/21 | 200 Short-Beak Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Balloons | We sailed out to the islands and found a large group of 200 dolphins. The crew could also see several other pods that were two miles away. There is lots of food in the water, we know that whales must be close by. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow. |
| 9/17/21 | Humpback Whale, Minke Whale, Common Dolphins | What a fantastic day! We sailed 16 miles off the coast and found Twitch, our friendly humpback whale. He swam with a large pod of common dolphins. There were a lot of birds on the water as well. The visibility was fantastic, we could see for miles. We can’t wait to see Twitch again soon. On our way back home, we also saw a minke whale just 5 miles off the coast. |
| 9/15/21 | Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Freedom Class LCS | The ocean was very calm today with beautiful sunny skies. We sailed out to the islands and found a lovely group of 20 short beaked common dolphins. Although we didn’t see any whales, it was an incredible day on the water. |
| 9/14/21 | 200 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | There was so much food in the water, we saw a large number of sea birds and dolphins. There were reports of dolphins up north and we also saw a pod of at least 200 commons to the south. The seas were calm and the light breeze was warm. We look forward to sailing tomorrow! |
| 9/5/21 | Bryde’s Whale, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | We have continued to have an amazing summer. With fabulous weather, we sailed out eleven miles to find a Bryde’s whale. This incredible whale weighs in at 90,000 lbs and can be around 55 ft long. We were able to see some great views! Looking forward to tomorrow. |
| 9/3/21 | 200 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, LHA 7 | The weather has proved to be gorgeous! We headed south towards the islands and found beautiful common dolphins. The water was so clear and blue. We also saw a lot of naval activity. We can’t wait to go out tomorrow! |
| 9/1/21 | Blue Whale, Sea Lions | Everyone loves seeing whales, no matter the age. My grandma, who is 88 years old, came out for her first ride aboard the yacht America. She couldn’t believe how smooth she sailed in the beautiful San Diego water. She was also amazed to see a beautiful blue whale! There are no age restrictions for our whale watching trips and everyone truly enjoys the experience. |
| 8/29/21 | Blue Whale, Sea Lions | This was an incredible day. A blue whale popped up right next to the boat while guests were out sailing. This massive animal took deep dives, ranging from 14-16 minutes. Captain Troy did stay out longer in order for guests to enjoy four cycles with the largest animal on the planet. It was an amazing experience! |
| 8/28/21 | 300 Short Beak Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Captain Troy sailed out to nine mile bank and didn’t see any wildlife. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted dolphins! This large pod decided to swim right towards Point Loma. Guests enjoyed a wonderful sail with dolphins swimming alongside during the entire voyage home. |
| 8/24/21 | 300 Short Beak Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, LCS, USS Michael Monsoor | Our trip started off quite eventful with a spectacular view of the second-Zumwalt class destroyer, the USS Michael Monsoor. This guided missile destroyer was incredible to see up close. We sailed out west and found a beautiful group of Common Dolphins. We also even saw a bait ball of fish. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 8/23/21 | 400 Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The ocean is still calm with beautiful warm days. We sailed out west and found a fantastic pod of dolphins. There was a big bait ball as we saw birds diving, sea lions feeding, and dolphins jumping. We can’t wait to go sailing tomorrow. |
| 8/20/21 | 800 Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | These calm days on the ocean have been spectacular. It is such a relaxing ride for everyone aboard. Fathom went aloft and saw a couple splashes as far as she could see. Captain Troy decided to investigate and low and behold, it was a huge pod of active dolphins. Diana pointed out all the cute babies. Puppy Marie was sure to tell everyone about it once we arrived at the dock. It was a wonderful day on the water, we can’t wait to see you again soon. |
| 8/19/21 | Sea Lions, Los Angeles Class Submarine and Shaft | Although the weather was gorgeous, we did not find any sea life in the ocean today. We didn’t even see any birds! However, the ocean conditions were amazing and the winds were up, so we got some amazing sailing in. We saw all the sea lions on the bait barge, which was a lot of fun. There was a particularly interesting moment today where we saw a new shaft installed on the Los Angeles Class Submarine. This was so cool! Of course we want guests to see whales, so everyone gets to come back for free. This is our whale watching guarantee. |
| 8/13/21 | 300 Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Summer is still here in San Diego! The water was bright blue and the sun was out today, making another gorgeous day. We found a good active pod of Pacific Common Dolphins today. There were some newborn babies in the mix as well, so cute! We can’t wait to sail again. |
| 8/8/21 | Swordfish, Megapod Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The ocean was so flat today, Fathom went aloft for a broader perspective. It really was a gorgeous day with sunny skies and big puffy clouds. She found a megapod that was spread over several miles. Guests enjoyed this huge group. We also saw a huge swordfish that was swimming just under the surface. Fathom was able to capture some great footage from her top down position. |
| 8/7/21 | 800 Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today we headed south towards the islands and found a huge pod of dolphins. They were especially active, jumping at least six feet up in the air. It was a fantastic day, we can’t wait for tomorrow. |
| 8/6/21 | 500 Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Another gorgeous day on the water. The ocean conditions have proved to be phenomenal, both calm and clear. We saw a ton of active dolphins today. What an amazing day to be out on the ocean. |
| 8/3/21 | 300 Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Osprey Helicopter | The water was exceptionally clear and blue today. We saw so many dolphins, birds, and sea lions today. We even saw an Osprey helicopter as well. We can’t wait to get out on the ocean again. |
| 7/27/21 | Megapod Pacific Common Dolphins, sea lions, USS Carl Vinson | There must be a lot of great food in the area because there are just so many dolphins. They love to play right alongside our beautiful vessel, the yacht America. The babies are just so cute as well. On our way home, we had a great view of the USS Carl Vinson with it’s carrier air wing aboard as well. What an awesome day, we can’t wait to see you soon. |
| 7/25/21 | Megapod Pacific Common Dolphins, sea lions | Stampede! There’s nothing like watching a megapod of Pacific Common Dolphins stampede right before your eyes. We always find it fascinating that these dolphins are so coordinated in their communication that they can all stampede together instantly. |
| 7/24/21 | Bride’s whale, Naval Dolphins, Sea Lions | The ocean was as flat as a lake today. Although it was a little overcast, the weather was still quite warm. We were so excited to see a Bryde’s whale (pronounced “broodus”). Although these whales are common in all oceans, it was the first time in our company history that we have ever seen one. This whale moved very quickly, swimming between 5-7 knots. It even rolled onto its back so we could see it’s pink stomach and pectoral fin. Captain Troy was sure to share this information with NOAA. |
| 7/23/21 | 700 Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, USS Lincoln | As we left the San Diego Bay, we had a close encounter with the amazing aircraft carrier, USS Lincoln. This view was extra special because they had their carrier air wing aboard. We saw so many jets and Osprey helicopters. It was really amazing to see this view and cheer for our service members. The weather is just so nice and warm in the summer. The ocean was clear and flat, allowing us to find a huge pod of Pacific Common Dolphins. There were a ton of calves in the pod as well. |
| 7/1/21 | 500 Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Chilean Submarine, LCS | Today we headed south towards Los Coronado’s and found a huge pod of Pacific Common Dolphins. We also got incredible views of a Chilean submarine headed towards San Diego. This particular submarine was fueled by diesel, so we could see the exhaust. We also had awesome views of an LCS. The sun was out and the ocean was calm. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 6/29/21 | Blue Whale, Coast Guard Helicopters, Sea Lions | We sailed back to the canyon today. Although we didn’t see a breach, we found a very curious blue whale. Fathom thinks it’s the same one judging by its behavior. It swam right towards the yacht America. Unbelievable views of this gorgeous animal! |
| 6/28/21 | BREACHING BLUE WHALE, Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea lions, USS Michael Monsoor | We are completely shocked and still in disbelief. Captain Troy headed towards the canyon by Los Conorados in search of a blue whale. Relief captain, Fathom, saw a huge splash: “breach!” Since we saw a humpback a few days ago, everyone though this must be a humpback. We watched as it breached 7 times, with a huge splash each time. Guests also watched in anticipation. Once we got closer, our fellow whale watchers also approached and said it was a blue whale. There’s no way. Blue whales don’t breach. Once we got closer, we found it was in fact a blue whale. We stayed in the area for 30 minutes searching for another whale, but we only saw the blue whale. This whale was exceptionally curious and it was a full grown adult. We still can’t believe our eyes, but it’s the truth. Blue whales breach! |
| 6/27/21 | 3 Blue Whales, Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Captain Troy headed out to the canyon and found a blue whale cow and calf. We spent a lot of time watching this precious interaction. Then, we sailed north and found another blue whale! Such a great day on the water. |
| 6/26/21 | Blue Whale, Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today we spotted a southbound blue whale that was moving south very quickly. We also saw a ton of dolphins as well! |
| 6/25/21 | Humpback Whale, Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | There has been so many birds and dolphins in the water the past few weeks, it is no surprise that we saw a humpback whale today. Very exciting! |
| 6/19/21 | 2 Blue Whales, Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We saw a huge pod of Pacific common dolphins today! There were around 700 at one point. The ocean was as flat as a lake. It was a little overcast in the morning, but the sun burned it off by the afternoon. We had a wonderful time sailing with the dolphins. We headed south and found a huge blue whale traveling west, it was quite a sight. After several great views, we had to turn around and go home. We found a second blue whale on our way back. What a fantastic day on the water! |
| 6/18/21 | 2 Blue Whales, Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today we found a pair of blue whales swimming together. They were absolutely beautiful! Their dives were short, 6 minute cycles. It was amazing watching these two animals swim together. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 6/13/21 | Blue Whale, Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Captain Troy and crew were completely shocked by the depth where we discovered this blue whale. In only 200 feet of water and two miles off Point Loma, everyone watched in awe as this blue whale continued swimming east. At one point, we were even in 180 feet of water, watching this blue whale. Eventually, this curious whale turned south and headed southwest into deeper water. While we were watching this whale, a huge pod of dolphins swam right towards us. They settled on a bait ball that the birds were also feeding on. After a five minutes, the dolphins continued north. Later, we sailed up to the dolphins and watched them swim alongside the boat. There must be a lot of food in the water. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 6/12/21 | Blue Whale, Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Spoiled once again. We saw a huge blue whale take a deep dive and show up his tail. Such a gorgeous view. There was also a large pod of dolphins that swam with us too. The sun was out and the water was just the most vibrant blue. Looking forward to tomorrow! |
| 6/11/21 | Blue Whale, Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Another wonderful day on the water. With a high of 74 degrees, it was sunny and beautiful the entire day. As crew member Mike said, “it was a no jacket day!” We spotted a beautiful blue whale that showed off its flukes every dive. We are going to compare videos and see if it was in fact the same whale as yesterday. On our way back in, we spotted a scattered pod of Pacific Common Dolphins. What a great way to kick off the weekend! |
| 6/10/21 | Blue Whale, Pacific Common Dolphins, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | This blue whale put on an incredible show for us. It showed off its flukes every single dive, allowing guests to obtain fabulous photos. Did you know that a blue whale tail can be 25 ft wide? We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 6/9/21 | Blue Whale, Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, LCS | We had incredible views of a blue whale today! This whale was very curious about us and came right up next to the yacht America. The light was also just perfect so we could make out the vibrant blue color as the whale swam just under the ocean’s surface. We also came across a fantastic pod of Pacific Common dolphins. They were jumping so high. We can’t wait to sail again tomorrow! |
| 6/8/21 | Blue Whale, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today we headed south and found a huge blue whale. It’s so exciting to see these magnificent creatures right off our coast. |
| 6/7/21 | 10 Blue Whales, Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | I have never seen so many blue whales in such close proximity. There were blows in all directions. We counted at least 10 blue whales, there could have been more. The krill must be abundant right now. We even saw bright red whale poop as a whale took a dive. It was truly a magical day to be on the water. |
| 6/6/21 | Blue Whale Cow and Calf, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Although there is so much we have yet to learn about whales, a mother’s love is simply universal. Today we saw a blue whale cow and calf, which is incredibly exciting. We are so encouraged to see calves. Maybe there will be a day when blue whales are no longer endangered. |
| 6/5/21 | Blue Whale, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Another fabulous day sailing aboard the yacht America. We spotted a blue whale, the largest animal to ever be on the planet. We are so excited to see the blue whales off our San Diego coast. |
| 6/4/21 | Blue Whale, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a great start to the weekend! We sailed out and spotted a blue whale. Can you believe that these huge animals eat tiny krill? It was an amazing sight. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 6/3/21 | Minke whale, Pacific Common Dolphins, Bait Ball, Sea Lions | There is so much food in the water. We discovered a huge bait ball with so many active Pacific Common dolphins and sea lions. Suddenly, we saw a spout! There was a friendly minke whale feeding on the same food as the dolphins. We had some great views. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 6/2/21 | Fin Whale, Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Submarine | As we left the San Diego Bay, we had a great view of a Los Angeles-Class coming into the bay. We spotted a large pod of Pacific Common Dolphins feeding on a bait ball. There were some adorable little babies in the mix as well! After sailing out west, we found a fin whale. We had some amazing views. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow. Thanks! |
| 6/1/21 | Minke Whale, Offshore Bottlenose, Pacific Common Dolphins | The ocean was as flat as a lake today. Although it was overcast, it was a perfect day to be out on the water. We sailed out to the bank and found at least 50 offshore bottlenose dolphins. We started our journey east and found another large pod of Pacific Common Dolphins. Suddenly, Diana called “spout!” and sure enough we found a minke whale. This was a friendly minke that gave us a great show. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 5/31/21 | Humpback Whale, 200 scattered Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Such a treat! We saw a humpback whale swimming with a large group of scattered Pacific Common Dolphins. There is an abundance of food in the water, bringing in so much life. The ocean was also incredibly flat! |
| 5/30/21 | 2 Fin Whales, 100 Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Submarine | Another splendid day on the water. We saw two fin whales and dolphins. There is so much food in the water! It was great to get out of the busy bay into the wide open ocean. There was also great views of a submarine. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 5/29/21 | 1 Blue Whale, 200 Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The ocean was beautiful and flat today. As soon as we left the harbor, we saw a large pod of Pacific common dolphins. We sailed out west to the nine mile bank and saw an Independence Class LCS. Suddenly, we saw a large blue whale! We were able to get some incredible views of this massive animal. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 5/28/21 | 3 Fin Whales, 200 Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What an incredible day on the water! We had a very curious juvenile fin whale that swam around the yacht America. The water was so clear that we could see the white color under its jaw! There were several bait balls with a ton of dolphins. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 5/9/21 | 2 Fin Whales, 200 Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Happy Mother’s Day! We saw a beautiful pair of fin whales. We also saw a lot of whale poop on the surface, it was bright red. The kids really got a good laugh seeing all the whale poop. The seas were calm with 1-2 ft swell. Gorgeous day! |
| 5/8/21 | 3 Fin Whales, Humpback Cow and Calf, Sea Lions | Today was an incredible day. Diana spotted blows in the distance and we went to investigate. We found three huge fin whales feeding. At one point, we had fin whales close on our starboard side and the humpbacks close on our port side. The two species split so we watched the fin whales for several cycles and then headed down to the humpbacks. The calf breached! It was a glorious day on the water. |
| 4/27/21 | 1 Fin Whale, 300 Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, LCS | Captain Troy headed down to the Coronado Islands and we found a very curious fin whale! This particular whale actually swam several circles around the yacht America, providing guests with incredible views. We said goodbye to the whale and headed home. On our way, we spotted 300 Pacific Common Dolphins, it was wonderful to sail with them. We can’t wait to sail on Thursday! |
| 4/25/21 | 6 Fin Whales, Offshore Bottlenose, Sea Lions | The fin whales are here to feed and they are certainly congregating here in San Diego. We spotted a fin whale west of Point Loma, but it was elusive so we headed down to Los Coronados. We found two fin whales, one which proceeded to lunge feed. I have never seen a whale swim so fast. It was incredible to watch it lunge in the water. It took a long dive, so we headed north. We came across a trio of fin whales that swam right next to each other. Captain Troy put the yacht America in the perfect position so everyone got a fantastic view of these whales. It was an amazing sight. We can’t wait until Tuesday. |
| 4/24/21 | Fin Whales, Bait Ball, Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We had two trips on Saturday and found fin whales on both trips. There were scattered dolphins throughout the day. We also came across a huge bait ball with Pacific Common Dolphins and a lot of sea lions. There were probably at least 200 birds diving on this bait ball. There is a lot of food in the water. |
| 4/23/21 | Two Fin Whales, Pacific Common Dolphins, Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a thrill! We found our first fin whale of the season. These endangered whales come to San Diego to feed. Their spouts are massive, reaching 10 feet up into the air. We also sailed with Pacific Common Dolphins and Offshore Bottlenose. |
| 4/8/21 | Gray Whale Cow and Calf, USS Lincoln, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today was an extra special day. We saw a beautiful Gray whale cow and calf swimming north 8 miles off of Point Loma. The water was very clear so we could see the mom’s tail just under the surface. On our sail in, we sailed next to the USS Lincoln aircraft carrier. It was amazing watching Lincoln Nation cruise right past us. Another great day on the water. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 4/6/21 | Humpback, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We saw incredible views of a humpback whale today. There was even an impressive peduncle throw. We sailed away and saw a huge pod of Pacific Common Dolphins. They were scattered, but there were probably at least 500. There is a lot of food in the water right now! |
| 3/12/21 | 6 Gray whales, several thousand common dolphins, Sea Lions | There was a group of four and a separate pair of Gray Whales. Although it was fabulous watching these wonderful creatures, the dolphins truly stole the show today. We saw several thousand Pacific common dolphins. It was the largest group of dolphins we have seen this season. Truly incredible sight to see, we can’t wait to see if they are still out tomorrow! |
| 3/8/21 | 5 Gray whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | We headed out to the ocean and found three northbound gray whales. We stayed with this triple for quite some time. We also saw a single gray whale that stayed close to shore. Off in the distance, we saw a fifth whale breach! It was quite a gorgeous day. We can’t wait to next weekend. |
| 3/7/21 | 2 Gray whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today we saw a pair of gray whales swimming north together. It was a gorgeous sight! |
| 3/6/21 | 2 Gray whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Another gorgeous day on the water. We saw two separate single gray whales heading north. We also watched as the common dolphins played on the bow of our beautiful vessel, the yacht America. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 3/4/21 | 3 Gray Whales, 1 Humpback, 500 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It is my favorite time of the year. There was so much life in the water! We saw three gray whales mating which was very exciting. There was lots of rolling, pectoral fins, and even rare views of whale reproductive parts. It was really incredible to see these views. We also saw a humpback whale in the same area. Throughout our trip we were surrounded by dolphins. It was an amazing time. We can’t wait for this weekend! |
| 3/1/21 | 11 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today was the best case of the Monday’s! We saw a group of 4 gray whales and another group of 6 gray whales. We also saw a gray whale all by itself. We stayed with the group of 4. All 11 of these whales were traveling north. There have been Pacific Common Dolphins the past few days swimming around the yacht America for the entire trip. There must be a lot of food in the water. Spring is here! |
| 2/28/21 | 2 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Jump for joy, it is almost spring! One of these southbound gray whales breached twice, super close to the boat. Some water from the breach even splashed the deck of the boat. This whale was quite comfortable and guests truly had an experience of a lifetime. Wow! |
| 2/27/21 | Humpback, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The humpbacks are here! Typically we start seeing humpback whales in the spring, so we are thrilled to already see a humpback in these waters. We can’t wait to see more of his friends. |
| 2/26/21 | 3 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It is definitely a great time to go whale watching! We saw 3 northbound gray whales. We are now in the middle of the season where there are both northbound and southbound whales. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 2/11/21 | 2 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions, Pacific White Sided Dolphins | We headed south towards the Coronado Islands and found a pair of southbound gray whales. They were traveling around 4 knots and came up to breath every 3.5 minutes. We even saw some heart shaped blows. This was the perfect sight for Valentines Weekend! We also saw some Pacific White Sided dolphins on our sail south. See you tomorrow 🙂 |
| 2/7/21 | 1 Gray Whale, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | First, we headed out west and then traveled to the north. There was a marine layer in the morning but it burned off by the afternoon. We linked up with a southbound gray whale that came up to breath every 4 minutes. This whale swam in a straight line and was very comfortable with the yacht America. Guests were able to get fabulous views. We sailed next to it for a least 40 minutes, but we finally had to say goodbye. We look forward to seeing you next week! |
| 2/6/21 | 6 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sided, Common Dolphins, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Another gorgeous day on the water! We saw several pairs of gray whales migrating south towards Mexico. We also saw a large pod of about 50 common dolphins. Later in the trip we spotted a few Pacific white sides. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 2/1/21 | 7 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, USNS City of Bismarck, 3 LCS, Navy Dolphins | Today was an action packed whale watching adventure! We sailed alongside the impressive USNS City of Bismarck as we exited the San Diego Bay. This ship considered a -class expeditionary fast transport (EPF) and is operated by the Military Sealift Command. It provides fast transportation of medium cargo loads to the Navy and Army. Once we made it out to the ocean, we saw a group of three southbound gray whales. We followed these whales as they traveled at four knots. One whale always tail fluked when it went for a deep dive, but the other two did not. We also spotted a single whale out to the west! We waved goodbye and sailed north to see what else we could find. We spotted another group of three whales. These whales swam in a very straight line, and every single one fluked which was so fun to see. While we were out at sea, we saw three Independence class Littoral Combat Ships (LCS). On our way home, we also saw a pod of Pacific White Sided Dolphins and a few sea lions. It was a great day on the water!
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| 1/31/21 | 3 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | The ocean was beautiful and flat today. We immediately found three gray whales and sailed with them for a long time. They were very consistent, coming up to breath every 3.5 minutes, and they swam in a straight line towards Mexico. We were able to capture gorgeous views of these beautiful creatures! |
| 1/30/21 | 3 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, 5 Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Degaussing of Military Sealift Command Ship | Blue skies and sunny days are always the best here in San Diego. Today was no exception. We had a fantastic day sailing out to sea and looking for whales. We immediately found a pair of gray whales heading south so we followed them towards the whistling buoy. They showed us beautiful tail flukes as they gracefully continued their migration down to Mexico. After 10 cycles, we headed north to see what else we could find. We spotted a juvenile gray whale making its way south. After a few views, we finally had to say goodbye. On our way home, we saw a Military Sealift Command Ship undergoing degaussing, which is a process by which the metal in the ship is demagnetized. It was fascinating to see how this takes place. We can’t wait for next time. |
| 1/22/21 | 11 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, USS Anchorage | Despite some big clouds, it proved to be an amazing whale watching day. We found a single pregnant female traveling south towards Mexico. Then we saw another single whale traveling south. As we turned north, we saw a group of three whales. Then we saw two more groups of three whales. At one point, all nine whales were up at the same time! It was such an incredible sight. Today broke the record for the most whales spotted in one day. We can’t wait to go whale watching next time! |
| 1/16/21 | Gray Whale Cow & Calf, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was such a stunning day on the water today with a high of 71 degrees. Can you believe it’s January? We sailed out to find that the ocean was very calm and flat. We headed south and found two gray whales, a mom and a baby! This cow and calf pair was too darn cute. There were a lot of other boaters close by, so we reminded everyone to stay behind the whales and maintain 100 yard distance. Once everyone understood the safest whale watching guidelines, we were able to watch this mom and baby make their journey south towards Mexico. At one point, we even saw the pair link up with a pod of Pacific white sided dolphins. These dolphins played with the cow and calf which was just amazing to watch. Be sure to check out the photos of the calf. The fetal folds are just starting to disappear, so we estimate that this calf was just two weeks ago. They have another week until they reach Mexico. Wishing them luck on their journey! |
| 1/9/2021 | 9 Gray Whales, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions, Around the Islands Sailboat Race | Today was such a gorgeous day. We are in the height of our gray whale watching season, so it’s wonderful to get out and see the whales. We had enough people to go sailing today and gosh, we had such an amazing experience. We sailed south towards Los Coronados and found 2 gray whales. These whales were moving fast, but we had some awesome views. We also spotted 2 more whales in the distance that were traveling quickly as well. We had finally had to turn around and head for home. Suddenly we saw 5 gray whales all swimming together. We were so excited to see such a big group, so we just had to investigate. Fathom got some great photos of 2 grays that were right next to each other. Be sure to check them out in our gallery. At this point, we were going to be really late so we headed for home. On our way, we got to see all the sailboats racing out to Los Coronados, which was a fantastic sight. Leading the race was Pyewacket, owned by Roy Disney. It was exciting to see this famous Transpac winner out on the water. All in all, it was another fantastic day aboard the Yacht America. We look forward to seeing you next weekend! |
| 1/1/2021 | Gray Whale, Bottlenose, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a great way to start off the New Year! It’s hard to believe that the ocean was in such turmoil just 24 hours ago. Today the ocean was as flat as a lake with blue sunny skies. We had amazing views of a southbound gray whale that fluked several times. We also saw three different types of dolphins feeding along with seabirds. It was a gorgeous way to start off the new year. We can’t wait to see you in 2021! |
- Chevron down 2020
| 12/31/20 | 1 Gray Whale, Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins, Navy Ships | Just like this entire year, the last day of 2020 was full of surprises. We sailed out to sea and headed south, looking for a spout. The swell started to build to be bigger than forecasted. Finally we found a spout from a southbound gray whale. We took a few looks and started our sail back home. Everyone was very happy once we got back into the calm waters of the bay. Since the views were not the best, we offered everyone a free trip. We had our second trip planned for the day. Since the seas were rougher than anticipated, Captain Troy gave guests the option to get a refund, rebook to a different date, or join us for a bay sail. Of course we wanted to go whale watching, but the seas were just too high to do so this afternoon. We did venture out to the mouth of the bay to do a final check, but we could see the swells breaking out at sea. We had a very nice bay cruise and sailed south of the Coronado Bridge. It was really cool to see all the navy ships being built and worked on. We also had fantastic views of an active aircraft carrier. All guests were offered a free trip as well to come back and join us for a whale watching trip in the future. |
| 12/30/20 | 1 Gray Whale, Common Dolphins, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Bottlenose, Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Due to our COVID-19 protocols, we have limited capacity. Typically, during this time, a lot of people come to San Diego to see whales. We wanted to ensure that everyone gets to see whales, so we are now offering two trips per day. Our first trip took us up to La Jolla where we found a southbound gray whale. Along the way, we saw a feeding frenzy where 500 Common Dolphins were feeding along with the seabirds. We also saw a small pod of Pacific White Sided dolphins as well. On our way home, we spotted 2 bottlenose dolphins just inside the mouth of the San Diego Bay. Our second trip took us straight out west where we spotted a southbound gray whale. We followed this whale and noticed that it was on 2 minute cycles. After several cycles, we sailed off to see what else we could find. We had a fabulous sail as the breeze picked up. We got a very close view of the sea lions on the way in and the Naval Dolphins did some great tricks for us. Both were great trips, we can’t wait to see you all tomorrow! |
| 12/27/20 | 3 Sharks, 12 Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions, Naval Dolphins | It was shocking that we didn’t see any whales today. That said, we did witness a really cool shark interaction. We saw three sharks feeding on a dead sealion. These sharks were very active, we saw their dorsal fins and caudal fin. The bottlenose dolphins were swimming very close to the sharks, less than 100 yards. It was fascinating! Everyone gets to come back for free. We will see you next time. |
| 12/26/20 | 3 Gray Whales, 5 Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Naval Dolphins | Talk about an action packed day! As soon as we exited the San Diego Bay, we saw a gray whale. We just saw it spout a few times, so we proceeded to find more consistent whales. We passed by a few Pacific Common Dolphins and continued our journey north. With the help of our wonderful whale watching community, we found a fabulous pair of southbound gray whales. They were traveling at 3 knots. They are so close to their destination. It is amazing to watch these animals, knowing that they will travel 5,000 miles over the course of 55 days. We had to say goodbye and headed for home. We can’t wait to sail tomorrow! |
| 12/19/20 | 1 Gray Whale, 500 Pacific Common Dolphins, sea lions | We saw a breaching gray whale! It was such a surprise, no one was prepared so unfortunately we didn’t get a picture. It was really cool to see! With the help of our incredible whale watching community, we found a gray whale following the kelp line by the Point Loma lighthouse. It continued its journey to the SD buoy and we sailed alongside, watching it come up for several breaths. We were just about to turn away when it started rolling. Suddenly we saw a huge pod of 500 Pacific Common dolphins! It certainly looked like this whale was playing with the dolphins. It was so cool to watch. Suddenly, the dolphins took off and stampeded towards the Coronado Islands in Mexico. It was a truly phenomenal day. We can’t wait to sail with you on Tuesday! |
| 12/18/20 | 1 Gray Whale, birds, Pacific Common Dolphins, sea lions, LCS | What an incredible day, it’s hard to believe it’s December. With a high of 68 degrees with sunny blue skies, it was the perfect day for whale watching. We headed up north and found a northbound gray whale off the coast of Pacific Beach! What a sight! This whale was traveling at 4 knots. W also saw a small pod of Pacific Common Dolphins. On our way home, we got incredible views of an Indepedence class littoral combat ship (LCS). We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 12/5/2020 | 2 Humpbacks, 1 Breach! birds, sea lions, navy dolphin | The ocean was as flat as a lake throughout the day. We had sun and no wind. Although it wasn’t the best day for sailing, it was an extraordinary day for whale watching. We headed out west and found a pair of humpback whales. It was gorgeous to watch them swim together. They often surfaced right next to each other. While we were watching a beautiful dive, the second whale breached! It was absolutely incredible to witness. What an amazing day for whale watching. We sailed home past the third Hot Rum Race here in San Diego and even got to cross the finish line. Another great day on the water. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 11/22/2020 | Common dolphins and Migrating Birds | Once again, we had a foggy morning. One extraordinary aspect of fog on the ocean is that the resulting water is extremely calm. If you were to drop a rock in the water in these conditions, you would see the rings expand outward just as if you were looking at a smaller pond. We headed south to 9 mile bank and found a great pod of common dolphins. To the west, we spotted a ton of dots on the water. We went to investigate. To our surprise, we saw thousands of birds sitting and flying on this calm water. I have never seen so many birds in one place on the ocean. It was a truly a magical experience for all aboard the Yacht America. |
| 11/21/2020 | Humpback Whale, Fin Whale, Dolphins, Birds | We have been experiencing a lot of fog in the mornings. Today was no exception. We headed out west into the fog. With the help of our fantastic San Diego whale watching community, we found a huge bait ball. This area had a ton of fish, giving rise to dolphins, an assortment of birds, and hungry whales. We saw a humpback whale and a fin whale! It was quite a site to see these creatures feeding along with the birds and dolphins. |
| 11/14/2020 | Humpback Whale, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, F18 & F35 | It is starting to get chilly on the water, even though the sun is out. Don’t forget to bring a jacket. The weather was gorgeous and clear today, but it was a good day for a jacket. We headed north and found a large group of 40 Pacific white sided dolphins. We stayed with them for 20 minutes and then spotted a southbound humpback whale. We followed the humpback whale as it continued its journey south. Suddenly, we saw it breach! This whale was just west of the kelp forest, so we were relatively close to shore. It was finally time to say goodbye, so we headed home. We saw a plethora of F18 and F35 jets throughout our trip as well. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 10/24/2020 | Humpback Whale, Sea Lions, Naval Dolphins, V-22 Osprey, USNS Guadalupe | What a wonderful day on the water! The ocean was very flat and the winds were calm. We sailed out west and found a very active humpback whale. We even saw two separate perduncle throws and several tail slaps. This humpback whale was slowly swimming south towards Mexico. Once we waived goodbye, we headed back to the San Diego Bay. We were greeted by a V-22 Osprey flying overhead and a great view of the USNS Guadalupe. We even caught some views of naval dolphins training at their base. It was an action packed day. We can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 9/9/2020 | Sea Lions, USS Michael Monsoor, Navy Dolphins | Today we had an incredible view of the USS Michael Monsoor as it departed the San Diego Bay. This is the second of our newest ships, the Zumwalt class of guided missile destroyers, with an an impressive length of 600 feet. This ship cost approximately $1.4 billion to build. It is named after the brave and selfless war hero, Michael Monsoor. He was a US Navy SEAL who threw himself onto a grenade on September 29, 2006 in Iraq without hesitation, saving his comrades from serious injury and death. He died 30 minutes later from the resulting injuries. It was a honor to watch this ship while remembering this young war hero. During our trip, we were called1/14/ by the Coast Guard to assist a vessel in distress. We approached the vessel and made sure they were in no immediate danger. Although we did not see any whales, it was an action packed trip. We can’t wait to have everyone aboard to fulfill their whale watching guarantee. |
| 9/7/2020 | Rough Seas, Bay Cruise Navy Ships, Coronado Bay Bridge | The weather forecast predicted 10 knots of wind. When we got out to the ocean, we experienced 15-20 knot gusts with choppy waters. Although the Yacht America can easily handle such winds and swells, the ride is not particularly pleasant in these conditions. We quickly turned around and headed for the calm waters in the San Diego Bay. After checking in with all our passengers, everyone still had a taste for adventure so we sailed towards the Coronado Bay Bridge. We got to see active aircraft carriers, the USS Midway, the San Diego skyline, and we even passed under the Coronado Bay Bridge. We sailed south past multiple littoral combat ships (LCS), the Zumwalt, LHD’s, and destroyers. It was a great tour of the San Diego Bay! Everyone will get to come back for free to go whale watching as well. |
| 9/6/2020 | 30 Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | The temperature hit an all time high of 95 degrees Fahrenheit on the coast today. We were thankful to get out on the ocean and feel a nice breeze. We sailed out to the canyon and found an abundance of sea otters. We even sailed around the Coronado Islands, but unfortunately we did not see any whales. Everyone gets to come back for free! |
| 9/5/2020 | 300 Common dolphins, Sea Lions, C130 | The ocean was the coolest place to be, literally! The temperature on land was 91 degrees Fahrenheit which is very unusual for San Diego. Usually the hottest it gets during this time of year is 80 degrees. Everyone was relieved to get out on the water and enjoy some cool breeze. Right at the beginning of our trip, we saw a huge C130 fly right over the boat. We spotted a large group of 300 Pacific common dolphins down by the Coronado Islands. We even got to see them stampede as they rushed their prey, it was quite a site. We look forward to getting back out on the water! |
| 9/4/2020 | Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | We sailed out towards the Coronado Islands but did not find any sea life in the ocean. We didn’t even see any birds, which is exceptionally unusual. It was a beautiful day for sailing, but the animals seemed to be quarantined. Maybe they are looking for masks that fit their faces. Everyone on this trip will get to come back for free so we can find them some whales! |
| 8/31/20 | Offshore Bottlenose, Sea Lions | The ocean was extremely flat today with swells only only 1 ft at most. We came upon a large pod of offshore bottlenose dolphins that were very curious about the Yacht America. We had great sightings of these beautiful dolphins. |
| 8/30/20 | Blue Whale, Sea Lions, Bottlenose | We sailed south towards the Coronado Islands. Although it was very sunny, the wind had a slight chill. Don’t forget to bring your jacket because it can be chilly on the water. Once we were above the canyon by the Coronado Islands, Fathom spotted a blue whale! This beautiful animal decided to swim north and Captain Troy skillfully sailed alongside, keeping a safe distance. This blue whale was extremely punctual, coming up to breathe every 10 minutes. We even saw its fluke just barely come out of the water on one occasion. On two separate occasions, this whale decided to come up right next to the Yacht America. That was very exciting, guests could smell its whale breath! We said goodbye to this whale and headed for home. We can’t wait to go whale watching tomorrow. |
| 8/29/20 | Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Bottlenose Dolphins | It was another gorgeous day on the water with wind blowing 10 knots. We sailed out to 9 mile bank, but didn’t even see any birds. We headed north and found a fabulous nursery pod of Pacific common dolphins. There were so many cute little calves in the mix, it was beautiful to see. We continued our journey to see what else we could find. Suddenly we spotted a huge pod of 200 common dolphins stampeding west. We caught up to them and sailed with this very active group. We finally had to turn around and head home. Everyone on this trip will get to come back for free to fulfill their whale watching guarantee. |
| 8/22/2020 | Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Bottlenose Dolphins | It was a beautiful sunny day today. You know it’s a great day when the wind is still warm. The wind was out of the southwest which meant we could get down to the Coronado canyon very quickly. The Navy dolphins did a bunch of flips for us which was so much fun to see as we headed out to the ocean. We spotted a pod of Pacific common dolphins along the way. Once we reached the canyon, Fathom went 80 ft up the mast to look for whales. We found a large pod of Pacific common dolphins and sailed with them for a long time. There were some adorable little calves in the mix. Although the visibility was fantastic, we were not able to find any spouts. Unfortunately, we did not see whales today, but we look forward to sailing on Monday! |
| 8/21/2020 | Minke Whale, Megapod Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The ocean was calm today with a small swell of 2 feet. We have been feeling a lot of humidity lately due to a tropical storm down by Baja. The marine layer was thick this morning, but the sun burned it off, making the visibility wonderful. We headed south to the Coronado Islands and found a huge megapod of common dolphins. We sailed with them for a long time and then found a minke whale. Although minkes are difficult to track, this one proved to be quite friendly and stayed close to the boat. The guests got some great views. We can’t wait to go sailing tomorrow! |
| 8/20/2020 | Blue Whale, 2 pods of Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a fantastic day! We sailed out to the Coronado Islands and found a massive blue whale. We had an incredible view as it came up to breathe several times. We then went to check out a very active pod of common dolphins. Some were doing back flips in the air! We finally had to head home, but we ran into another large pod of dolphins. Be sure to check out our gallery for pictures. We can’t wait for tomorrow. |
| 8/17/2020 | Megapod Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Captain Troy sailed out to the canyon and found a small pod of common dolphins. Suddenly, everyone could see other small pods of dolphins swimming towards the Yacht America. As the pods joined together, the pod started to get bigger and bigger. Within a matter of minutes, the Yacht America was in the middle of a huge megapod of dolphins. Thousands of dolphins started stampeding together. It was truly incredible to see such a big group act with such precision and coordination. Captain Troy has never seen such a small group of dolphins suddenly turn into a huge megapod so quickly. Such a great day aboard the Yacht America, we can’t wait to sail on Thursday! |
| 8/16/2020 | Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The winds really picked up today. It was another hot day on land, so the winds were warm and very pleasant. They were some puffs up to 15 knots! With so much wind, we actually sailed for 80% of the trip with our engines off. It was a fabulous day for sailing. We saw some common dolphins as well as a destroyer cruising at 15 knots. Since we didn’t see any whales, everyone gets to come back for free. We look forward to our trip tomorrow! |
| 8/15/2020 | Blue Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a phenomenal day! On land, San Diego had a high of 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Everyone was excited to get out on the water and cool off, the cool sea breeze was welcomed by guests and crew alike. We headed south to the Coronado Islands and found a massive blue whale. We watched in awe as it came up to breathe several times. Everyone was also able to clearly see its small dorsal fin as well. We then saw a large pod of dolphins stampeding towards us, so we went to investigate. There were many calves in the mix, they were just too cute. It was so fun watching all the sea life in the ocean today. We can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow! |
| 8/14/2020 | 300 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It is starting to get pretty hot here in San Diego. Today, it was a high of 86 degrees Fahrenheit on land. Of course out on the water, it cools off quite a bit, so don’t forget to bring your layers. We started our journey north, but then heard of a report that there was a lot of action by the Coronado Islands. We headed south and found a huge pod of active common dolphins feeding on fish. We also saw a lot of birds as well. The dolphins started swimming north, so we followed them up the canyon. We looked for whales, but they eluded us today unfortunately. Everyone gets to come back for free. We can’t wait to find whales tomorrow! |
| 8/12/2020 | 500 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We sailed south towards the Coronado Islands and found a large pod of Common Dolphins. They were very active and put on a great show for everyone to watch! |
| 8/9/2020 | Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | It is rare, but possible to not see much wildlife. Today was one of those days unfortunately. Despite all of our efforts, we struck out and did not find large pods of dolphins or whales. The winds were perfect for sailing, however, so we still had a fantastic day on the water. |
| 8/8/2020 | 200 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today was another gorgeous sunny day with warm winds. We sailed out west and found a bait ball with 200 common dolphins. There were some adorable calves in the mix as well. These dolphins dispersed, so we continued our journey south to the 9 mile bank. We did not see any whales, so we headed for home. The weather cooperated, so we were able to cut the engines and get some great sailing in today. We look forward to tomorrow! |
| 8/7/2020 | 700 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was such a beautiful day today with a high of 77 degrees Fahrenheit, the wind was also warm. We sailed out past Point Loma and started heading south. To the north, we saw a huge group of birds. Fathom looked through the binoculars and just barely saw some movement in the water. We went to investigate. It turned out to be a huge pod of common dolphins feeding on a bait ball along with sea lions and a large array of sea birds. The dolphins split up, so we followed the largest pod north. They lead us to 4 more bait balls with more and more common dolphins. We saw at least 700 dolphins in total. There is a lot of food in the area. We kept a close eye out for whales, but unfortunately we didn’t find any. Everyone will be able to come back for free to fulfill their guarantee. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow. |
| 8/2/2020 | Humpback whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today we sailed out west past the Coronado Islands in Mexico. We broke the record for the most distance traveled one way: 14 miles south west. We found an elusive humpback whale. Guests got a fantastic view of its fluke, but it did not spend too much time on the surface. We finally had to sail home, but we saw a huge bait ball with lots of dolphins. All in all, it was another beautiful day on the water. See you next weekend! |
| 8/1/2020 | Blue Whale, Offshore Bottlenose, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The wildlife was out today! It was super hot inland, which brought in a very heavy marine layer. Even though it is warm on land, always remember to bring your layers as it can be chilly on the water. Today was no exception. As soon as we left the San Diego Bay, we saw a bait ball with common dolphins, pelicans, and sea lions. After watching them play for a bit, we sailed west to 9 mile bank. With the help of our whale watching network, we found a large pod of at least 100 offshore bottlenose dolphins. These dolphins were swimming south towards the Coronado Islands. We followed them south along the bank for at least 20 minutes. Suddenly, Captain Troy spotted a spout to the west. We went to investigate and found it was a blue whale! We got a fabulous view of its tail fluke, be sure to check out our photos. After watching it for a few cycles, we headed home. The fog was so thick we couldn’t even see Point Loma as we passed next it to. It made for a very mysterious ride home, we had so much fun. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow! |
| 7/31/2020 | Navy Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today, most of the marine life decided to go into quarantine. Unfortunately we did not see large pods of dolphins or whales. It was quite strange. That being said, we did turn off engines and enjoyed a lovely sail in the San Diego Bay. It was a beautiful day on the water. We had a great look at the sea lions on the bait barges while fishermen delivered bait fish. We look forward to seeing what we can find tomorrow! |
| 7/28/2020 | Megapod Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Although we did not find a whale today, we did find a megapod. At first, we just spotted a bait ball where pelicans and pink-footer shearwater birds were diving. Dolphins and sea lions were also in the mix, it was quite a commotion. We sailed west with the dolphins and noticed another pod coming down from the north to join. As the pod grew, we saw a third pod swimming in from the west. As all three pods joined, we found ourselves in the middle of megapod with at least 1,000 dolphins. It was absolutely amazing! We can’t wait to go sailing on Friday, see you then. |
| 7/26/2020 | Blue Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What another perfect day on the water. Everyone had great sightings of a very friendly blue whale that was particularly curious about the Yacht America. After watching it come up to breath several cycles, we headed home. On our way, we ran into a small pod of common dolphins. It was a wonderful day on the water. |
| 7/24/2020 | Common Dolphins, USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Essex, Sea Lions | Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. The water was extremely flat in the morning, you could even see the ripples when a bird landed on the surface. We sailed south towards the Coronado Islands and found a large pod of at least 400 common dolphins. They started to swim north, so we followed them along 9 mile bank. We continued our journey north and sailed home. Along the way, we were able to watch the aircraft carrier, USS Lincoln, leave the San Diego Bay. This ship is 1,092 feet long and weighs 99,790 tons. As we sailed in, we stopped and watched the USS Essex motor into the San Diego Bay. This 844 foot LHD (Landing Helicopter Dock) carried five Osprey helicopters. Check out the pictures in our gallery to see how the wings and rotors are folded so that these helicopters can be carried side by side. It was fascinating to witness! We look forward to seeing you next time. |
| 7/23/2020 | Blue Whale Cow & Calf, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We headed up north today and found a blue whale cow and calf. It was amazing to watch these amazing creatures. Did you know a blue whale can be up to 23 ft long at birth and weigh 6,000 lbs? This baby will then nurse on his mother’s milk, 50 gallons per day. Now that is a big baby! We also saw some common dolphins as well. Fantastic day on the water, we can’t wait to sail again soon. |
| 7/20/2020 | Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Unfortunately we did not see any whales. However, we did find two huge pods of common dolphins. There were some very active members in the group, jumping at least six feet up in the air. They definitely stole the show. We also spotted some calves in the mix as well. We can’t wait to sail again soon! |
| 7/19/2020 | 1 Blue Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Finally, we spotted a blue whale! We watched this magnificent creature breathe three separate cycles. We also saw a large pod of common dolphins. |
| 7/18/20 | 30 Risso’s Dolphins, 500 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today, we decided to go south and sail under the bright San Diego sunshine. Much to our delight, we found large group of Risso’s Dolphins. We have never seen a group this large. Typically, this species is quite shy but this pod happened to be very friendly. Everyone was able to get great views of these fascinating dolphins. We also found a group of at least 500 Pacific Common Dolphins that were actively feeding and playing. Guests and crew alike watched and listened to tail slaps, whistling, clicks, and jumps. Although we didn’t find whales, it was a fabulous time on the water! Plus, everyone gets to come back for free whenever they are in town to find whales. |
| 7/17/2020 | Offshore Bottlenose, Sea Lions | The sun was shining as we sailed out of the San Diego Bay today. Captain Troy decided to head south towards the Coronado Islands. We found a large group of 40 Offshore Bottlenose that were extremely playful and friendly. Seeing such large dolphins jump and play was truly a wonderful sight. Unfortunately we didn’t see any whales, but we can’t wait to take everyone sailing again so they can fulfill their whale watching guarantee! |
| 7/14/2020 | Navy Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions, USS Bonhomme Richard activity | It was a beautiful day to go sailing as this summer weather has treated us very well. We eagerly looked for whales and dolphins, but unfortunately all of these animals were in hiding. We did see sea lions and the naval dolphins during our voyage. We also saw the smoke from the USS Bonhomme Richard as it continued to burn in a fire. Naval helicopters carried massive buckets of water to put out the fire. It was incredible to witness this sight. Our prayers go out to the family and friends that were effected by this tragedy. |
| 7/12/2020 | 3 Blue Whales, 100 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We headed up north today and suddenly spotted two blows in the distance. Upon closer investigation, it turned out we had two blue whales. Everyone was so excited to see these massive creatures. To witness the largest animal on earth swimming in the vast Pacific Ocean truly inspiring. We saw a blow to our port side and realized that there were actually three blue whales in the area. Everyone watched these whales come up to breath several times and dive for 6-10 minutes. It is a guessing game to figure out where they will come up next, but Captain Troy always does a great job estimating their surface position. It was finally time to go home, but we saw about 100 very active common dolphins. They really put on a fantastic show. Another great trip aboard the Yacht America. See you on Tuesday! |
| 7/10/2020 | 2 Humpback Whales, 500 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Our adventures took us north today, all the way up to La Jolla. On our way, we passed by at least 100 common dolphins. With the help of our great whale watching community, we found two humpback whales. We got a very close look at one humpback. It had an interesting growth on it’s fluke. We sent a picture off to NOAA to see what they have to say about it. We finally had to head home and passed by several large pods of common dolphins. In total, we saw at least 500 common dolphins, possibly more. Several raced the Yacht America several miles along the coastline. The water was calm and the sun was out. We also noticed that the ocean was very green today. There is so much life and nutrients in the water, we can’t wait to go sailing on Sunday. See you then! |
| 7/8/2020 | 100 Offshore Bottlenose, Sea Lions | This was an absolutely gorgeous day on the water. We were so glad to go sailing and celebrate our friend’s wedding, congrats! Did you know dolphins are considered good luck by sailors? We saw a large pod of 100 offshore bottlenose dolphins. These dolphins are massive creatures, so they make quite a big splash when they jump and play. It was amazing to watch them swim next to us! Wishing the newlyweds the best of luck in their wonderful future together. We can’t wait to see you both again! |
| 7/7/2020 | 500 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Despite everyone’s efforts, we did not find any whales. That being said, everyone had an incredible experience sailing with at least 500 Common Dolphins. They even swam in a straight line alongside the Yacht America. It was a truly special experience. Everyone on this trip gets to come back for free and fulfill their guarantee! See you next time 🙂 |
| 7/4/2020 | Fin Whale cow & calf, Offshore Bottlenose, Sea Lions | Happy Independence Day! We had a wonderful day on the water and found the same fin whale cow and calf. We watched as they swam together, it was truly a special sight. To top it off, we even saw offshore bottlenose dolphins. What a great day, we can’t wait to see you next time. |
| 7/3/2020 | Fin Whale cow & calf, scattered Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Another gorgeous day out on the water! We headed out to see the same fin whale cow and calf. Today, the two whales were separated by a half mile. The mom was feeding while the calf waiting until the mom was ready to nurse. While we were watching the calf, it started to swim towards its mom. On the last cycle, we saw both whales join together and swim together as a happy pair. We also saw a mylar balloon floating in the water. Conner and Fathom were quick to use a net and grab the balloon out of the ocean! The winds picked up in the afternoon, so we had a great sail back to the San Diego Bay. We look forward to seeing you again tomorrow! |
| 7/2/2020 | Fin Whale cow & calf, 800 Spinner Dolphins, Sea Lions | Summer days just get better and better aboard the Yacht America. We heard a report of a fin whale so we immediately sailed out as fast as possible to 9 mile bank. To our delight, we found a fin whale cow and calf! Don’t let the word “calf” fool you, a fin whale newborn can be up to 18 feet long and weigh 4,000 lbs! The fin whale is listed as endangered, so it was very exciting to see a mom and her baby. We noticed that the baby would pop up on the left side of the mom, then the right side, then the left side again. It was absolutely fascinating to watch. On our way home, we saw a huge pod of spinner dolphins coming towards us. There were so many small babies in the mix as well. It was quite a sight, we can’t wait for tomorrow! |
| 6/30/2020 | 400 Common Dolphins, Humpback Whale, Sea Lions, Naval Helicopter Drills | Another spectacular day on the water! We sailed next to a nursery pod of common dolphins, which was just too darn cute. When a calf is born, it weighs around 22 lbs and is about 2-3 feet long. We saw several calves in the pod jumping alongside their mothers. Captain Troy sailed out west looking for whales. Relief Captain Fathom went up the mast to get a better view. She saw another pod of 200 dolphins in the distance, so we went to investigate a second pod of common dolphins. There must be a lot of food in the water! Suddenly, Fathom called out “Thar she blows!” She saw a big spout in the distance, so we headed north where we found a humpback whale. This whale was extremely playful as it was playing with kelp on its snout (which we call a rostrum). It even spy hopped right next to the boat. We had to finally say goodbye to our new friend and head back home. On our journey back, we saw a naval helicopter performing some drills. We even saw someone jump out of the helicopter and then get hoisted back into the helicopter. Needless to say, we had an action packed day aboard the Yacht America. We can’t wait to sail with you Thursday! |
| 6/26/2020 | 200 Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins, 1000 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was a beautiful summer day with a cool breeze in the morning. Unfortunately we did not find any whales, but we did see an abundance of dolphins. We headed south towards the Coronado Islands and sailed with 200 offshore bottlenose dolphins. We continued west and saw at least 1,000 common dolphins. Although this pod was scattered, it was magnificent to watch the dolphins jump and play. We are not sure where the whales went, but there is a lot of food in the water. The sail home was wonderful, we can’t wait to see you tomorrow! |
| 6/25/2020 | 3 Blue Whales, 1 Fin Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today was the ultimate whale watching day! The morning was pretty chilly, so don’t forget to bring your layers out on the water. We headed out west to 9 mile bank looking for baleen whales. Thanks to our fantastic whale watching network, we found a huge blue whale right away. Right as we spotted the spout, the sun came out. A large pod of common dolphins swam to the same area and played around the blue whale and the Yacht America. They put on quite a show, jumping and tail slapping in order to stun the fish. We also spotted another blue whale and went to observe this magnificent creature. Suddenly, we saw another spout to our port side! We were surrounded by blue whales, common dolphins, and birds. While sailing next to one of the blue whales, we spotted a fin whale several boat lengths away. It was an action-packed whale watching adventure and everyone aboard had such a blast. We can’t wait to go whale watching tomorrow to see what else we can find in our beautiful ocean. |
| 6/24/2020 | 1 Blue Whale, Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a fantastic day! We sailed down towards the Coronado Islands and found a large pod of offshore bottlenose dolphins that were extremely playful with the boat. They played on the bow and swam in our wake. We headed north along the ridge and found a beautiful blue whale. It was certainly a magnificent sight to see this 300,000 lb creature swimming west. It was a nice day to get out of the heat and enjoy a cool breeze. We can’t wait to go sailing tomorrow! |
| 6/21/2020 | Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions | Unfortunately we did not see any whales today despite huge efforts to find them out at 9 mile bank. We did pass by a large pod of offshore bottlenose dolphins which was very exciting as we don’t see them too often in San Diego. Everyone on this trip will be able to come back for free to fulfill their whale watching guarantee. We can’t wait to see you next time. |
| 6/20/2020 | Humpback whale cow & calf, Risso Dolphins, Sea Lions | We were so happy to find a humpback whale cow and calf swimming north out at nine mile bank. The calf looked very healthy. Look closely at the pictures in our gallery as there are a few with both the mom and the baby swimming together. Do you see the little dorsal fin? It was truly such an incredible sight. We also saw some Risso Dolphins swimming in the same area, but they swam away before we got a closer look. We were an hour late getting into the dock, but it was worth it to spend time with this wonderful mom and baby. See you tomorrow! |
| 6/19/2020 | Mega pod Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It is great to be back at sea! We have worked hard during COVID-19 quarantine to varnish the Yacht America, it looks absolutely stunning. Today was a fantastic day even though we did not see whales. As soon as we hoisted sails, we saw a group of 300 dolphins that were swimming north. We followed them as they joined another group of 400 dolphins. The two groups turned south, but we saw a third group of 600 dolphins swimming down! All three groups joined together to form an incredible mega pod. The videos on our facebook page (Next Level Sailing) do a great job capturing the moment. We look forward to sailing tomorrow! |
| 3/18/2020 | Rough Seas | The forecast proved to be a little off today. NOAA said it was sunny, but there were actually patches of rain. We sailed out to Point Loma and tested the ocean to see if the predicted sea state was accurate. Unfortunately, it was also incorrect. The seas were too rough to go out whale watching. We turned back into the bay and our guests enjoyed a tour of the San Diego Bay. Don’t forget, our guests are entitled to a whale watching guarantee in the future! We look forward to seeing them again soon. |
| 3/16/2020 | 6 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was a small group today, only 12 guests booked for our trip. Since our deck is completely outside, everyone breathes fresh ocean air the entire time. Whale watching aboard the Yacht America is truly one of the safest activities in San Diego during this COVID-19 pandemic. With our small group, we saw a total of six Gray whales. We headed ten miles out and had incredible views of San Diego, La Jolla, and Coronado. It was fantastic visibility. |
| 3/15/2020 | 3 Gray Whales, 500 Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions | We spotted a group of three friendly Gray whales and we stayed with them for several cycles. They dove several times, so we saw fantastic tail flukes. Captain Troy went to investigate a report of a large group of dolphins. We ended up seeing 500 bottlenose dolphins! A pod this size of bottlenose is simply unheard of, so we were positively thrilled to see such an amazing sight. What another great day with Next Level Sailing! |
| 3/14/2020 | 15 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We sailed out of the San Diego Bay and saw a single Gray whale one time. Then we saw another single just once, so Captain Troy decided to go west. By the end of the trip, guests saw a total of fifteen Gray whales! Some were even playing with common dolphins. It was truly a day for the books. |
| 3/13/2020 | 2 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | There was a little rain in the morning, but it cleared during our trip so we had a wonderful sail! We found two northbound Gray whales that displayed a considerable amount of rolling. There were also dolphins swimming around the whales and playing with the boat. The visibility was fantastic. We passed by the sea lions on the bait barge and there were a lot of cute pups. Overall, it was a great day. |
| 3/9/2020 | 2 Humpback Whales, Megapod Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was such a beautiful day today. The sun was out and the ocean was flat. We had to cancel the trip tomorrow because of heavy rain, but we are sure glad that we were able to sail today. We sailed out past Point Loma and found two humpback whales. This dynamic duo was feeding with a megapod of common dolphins! There were at least 5,000 dolphins feeds in the area, the pod was five miles across. Some of the dolphins even stampeded. We followed the two humpback whales for a long time. We were even able to see their gorgeous tail flukes when they took a dive. One whale did a huge tail slap as well. It was a fantastic day on the water. |
| 3/8/2020 | 2 Humpback Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The humpback whales are here! Today we saw two more humpback whales feeding in San Diego. We were in deep water, so we were able to watch these magnificent animals. Several years ago, we did not see humpback whales on a regular basis. The past few years, however, we have seen humpback whales in the spring and fall. It is great to see them out in the water already. We also saw common dolphins as well. What a fabulous day on the water! |
| 3/7/2020 | 3 Gray Whales, 1 Humpback, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The first whale that was spotted came up close to the boat, about 100 yards. This friendly Gray whale spouted three times, then took off. Captain Troy headed west to deeper water. On the way, we found two northbound Gray Whales. Once showed off it’s gorgeous tail! We also saw a humpback whale in these nutrient rich waters. This was the first humpback whale we have spotted in 2020! Common dolphins were also feeding as well. Another great day in San Diego. |
| 3/6/2020 | 2 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | There were two separate southbound Gray whales. They were moving around 4 knots. We also spotted friendly common dolphins that decided to join our sail. They decided to ride on the bow of the Yacht America, it was wonderful. Another great day with Next Level Sailing. |
| 3/4/2020 | 1 Gray Whale, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions, LCAC | We found a very friendly southbound Gray whales just off the coast of Point Loma. We sailed with this friendly whale down to the Mexican border and then sailed back to San Diego. On our way home, we got super close views of military LCACs leaving Coronado Beach, which was super exciting. We also were incredibly lucky to sail next to Dennis Conner on the way back to our dock. He sailed up to us on his racing boat and said hi. It was very exciting to see him out on the water! |
| 3/3/2020 | 3 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today was a fantastic day. Since it was stormy last night, it was incredibly clear in all directions. We even had a few locals aboard who could not believe how clearly we could see the mountains to the east. As soon as we left Point Loma, we spotted two Gray whales heading north. We followed these whales up along the kelp line and then spotted another whale to the west. Upon closer investigation, we found it was a single adult heading south. This older adult was in no hurry, swimming at just 2.5 knots. It was amazing to watch this wise older whale slowly making its way down to Mexico. Just a wonderful day on the water, see you tomorrow! |
| 3/2/2020 | 5 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was a windy day today, perfect for sailing. We cruised out to the open ocean and sailed nine miles off the coast. Crew member Cody spotted a spout a mile off our bow! After lining up the whales, we discovered that there was not just one whale but three Gray whales. What a spectacular site! We could clearly see their turquoise body under the water. These whales snorkeled for a long time so all of our guests enjoyed wonderful views. One of the whales went down for a deep dive, so we were able to see its tail. We started to head back and Capt. Troy spotted another spout in the distance. Upon further investigation, we found it was a cow/calf pair. We could clearly see the body of the calf. |
| 3/1/20 | 3 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions | We were the only whale watching boat to see a whale today! With Yacht America’s large size, we were able to cut right through the swell with ease. We saw the most interesting whale behavior yesterday. The crew spotted a pair of southbound Gray whales which were very consistent. Then we saw a single whale swimming from the north at rapid speeds. It linked up right next to the pair and all three whales swam together for two cycles. Then, the single decided to take off and it swam away at a rapid speed as it continued the southbound migration. It was so interesting to watch. We wonder, did they have a quick conversation? What did they talk about? Another fantastic day with Next Level Sailing! |
| 2/29/20 | 5 Gray Whales, Risso’s Dolphins, Sea Lions | The weather has started to cool off with a high of 67 degrees. The sea is still incredibly calm, it was as flat as a lake today. Captain Troy decided to sail out to deep water 9 miles off our San Diego coast. He made the right choice as we spotted a group of five Gray Whales swimming north together! It was spectacular to watch this large group come up to breath and dive down together. Many of the whales showed us their tails as they took a dive. One particular whale had a very large white spot on its left side, at least 1.5 ft in diameter. We are going to blow up some pictures and try to figure out more about that white spot. While we were sailing with these whales, we spotted a group of twenty Risso’s Dolphins off our port side. Risso’s are very shy, but it was wonderful to get a few close looks. We even saw a calf in the mix as well. Another great day out on the water! |
| 2/28/2020 | 2 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Another gorgeous day out on the water. The sea state is very calm, the swell is 0-1 ft, so it feels like you are on a lake! As soon as we got off the dock, we felt the refreshing ocean breeze. As soon as we exited the San Diego Bay, we spotted two southbound Gray Whales. These large adults were very consistent and fluked on every dive. They were traveling around 4.5 knots. We sailed with them towards Mexico and were pleasantly surprised when we spotted some dolphins swimming towards the whales! A mixture of Pacific White Sides and Common Dolphins were swimming with the whales. It almost seemed like they were playing with each other as we witness the whales rolling. Typically we see rolling when the whales are mating, but it takes three whales to mate. It just seemed like everyone was having some fun in the water! After sailing with these whales down to the border, it was time for us to turn around. On our journey home, we saw someone parachute out of a C-130, very cool! The wind was at the perfect sailing angle so we were able to shut off our engines and sail home. That’s a wrap for another fantastic day with Next Level Sailing. |
| 2/27/2020 | 5 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was a warm day with a high of 81 degrees with fantastic visibility. We even witnessed a mirage as the Coronado Islands in Mexico looked very unusual. We headed up north along the coast and found two southbound Gray whales. This pair was moving slow, around 2-3 knots. They were very friendly and swam right up to the Yacht America. We saw a spout off our starboard side so we went to investigate. It turned out to be a northbound cow and calf! The baby had such a cute little spout, we tried our best to capture pictures but it was very small. Typically northbound whales travel faster than southbound whales. This cow/calf pair was no exception, swimming around 5 knots. Off our starboard we spotted a group of 20 Pacific White Sided Dolphins. so we went to sail with them. Suddenly, a Gray whale popped up right next to the boat. It surprised everyone, but we got a fantastic view as it swam south. During our journey home, we saw a cool navy ship called the USNS City of Bismarck. Another great day aboard the Yacht America. |
| 2/25/2020 | 4 Gray Whales, 200 Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today our guests and crew battled a heavy marine layer. It was a sunny hot day on land, but out at sea there was thick fog that settled on the ocean. We slowly sailed through this mysterious fog and watched the water for any sign of life as the fog burned off. It turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day once guests and crew could see! Guests got to see naval personnel parachute out of a C-130, how cool. We suddenly spotted two northbound Gray Whales. Everyone had great views of these whales for three cycles, but then they decided to be coy and disappear from our view. We were probably the first boat they have seen since they left the Mexican lagoons. Captain Troy made a turn for home port when Fathom spotted hundreds of common dolphins! It turned out to be a nursery pod with a ton of cute calves. We sailed with this active pod, but finally had to leave as we were running late. About a mile from Point Loma we passed by a Gray cow and calf. We also saw five Risso’s dolphins. We could not stay otherwise our trip would turn into a sunset sail. Although we were an hour late getting in, we had an action packed sail with amazing wildlife. We were also the only boat to see whales today. We will see you on Thursday! |
| 2/24/2020 | 2 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions, Navy Ships | We were about to finish raising sails when someone yelled, “Thar she blows!” A pair of Gray Whales popped up right next to the Yacht America. We quickly slowed down and turned south so we could sail next to this dynamic duo. They certainly had a pattern of their own as they swam south at a good pace of 4 knots for several cycles, then stopped to hold their position for a cycle, then continued south. We were lucky to find these whales as soon as we exited the San Diego Bay. Every day is different, we never know when or where we will find whales. We sailed with these large adult whales several miles off the coast. They delighted guests and crew alike with a perfectly synchronized double tail. Be sure to check out our gallery to see these great views. It is not every day we see a pair fluke at the same time. The wind was at our beam so we had a fantastic sail home. We also saw Fort Worth exit the San Diego Bay in addition to two tug and tows. What a wonderful day with Next Level Sailing! |
| 2/23/2020 | 2 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sides, Sea Lions | Today, we sailed north in search of Gray Whales. Off the coast of La Jolla, we found a pair of southbound Gray Whales that proved to be very active. One whale was a juvenile who decided to breach four times! It was extremely exciting for everyone aboard the Yacht America. Since we wanted to stay and watch all the action, we did return back to the dock thirty minutes late. During our sail home, we came across some Pacific White Sided Dolphins. We also sailed by the sea lions as well. Another fantastic day with Next Level Sailing! |
| 2/22/2020 | 1 Gray Whale, Pacific White Sides, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Rain was a big concern for today’s trip. After closely monitoring the weather, Captain Troy decided to delay the trip a few hours. This allowed for the rain to pass prior to the trip even starting. Once everyone was aboard the America, it was a fantastic day with no rain. Although we just found one Gray Whale, it was very friendly and fluked its tail many times. We also sailed with Pacific White Sided Dolphins and Common Dolphins. It turned out to be a wonderful day! |
| 2/21/2020 | 2 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sides, Sea Lions | We found a fantastic pair of Gray Whales headed south. They both really liked to show their tails, so be sure to check out our gallery to see some epic photos. We also came across a small pod of playful Pacific White Sided Dolphins. Of course we sailed by the bait barge and got some close views and smells of the sea lions. Another great day with Next Level Sailing. |
| 2/20/2020 | 2 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions | As we left the San Diego Bay, we spotted a five Bottlenose Dolphins. We noticed there was a baby in the mix swimming with its mom, too cute! The sea state was very calm and the high was 73 degrees. We found a pair of southbound Gray Whales and sailed with these friendly whales for quite some time. Everyone was able to get great photos and the whales showed us their tails as well. It was finally time to head for home, but the wind was in our favor so we sailed all the way home with engines turned off. We even sailed by the sea lions on the bait barges. It was a spectacular day for everyone. |
| 2/19/2020 | 2 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions | Sunny days in San Diego are the best. At 73 degrees, it is hard to believe we are in February. We found two large adult Gray Whales and the wind was just perfect to witness a heart shaped blow. Guests could clearly make out the barnacles on these whales as well. Since we were sailing, it was so quiet we could hear the whales breathing. What a fantastic day! |
| 2/18/2020 | 3 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was a small group today, only 16 guests! We saw a group of three Gray Whales, swimming south. The weather was a beautiful 72 degrees, guests were able to get some fantastic pictures. A crew member spotted some dolphins, so we went to get a closer look. It turned out to be Common Dolphins! Captain Troy topped off a perfect trip by a close view of the bait barge so everyone got great views of the sea lions. We will see you tomorrow! |
| 2/17/2020 | 4 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions, Navy Ship | One of the best parts about sailing from San Diego is that we get to see naval activity during every whale watching trip. Today was no exception, especially since it was a Monday. It was the start of the work week. From helicopters and naval ships to submarines, we get to see it all during our whale watching trips. Once we were out to sea, we saw two separate pairs of Gray Whales swimming south. One pair was very consistent, so we were able to sail with them for a long time. Another fantastic day! |
| 2/16/2020 | 3 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Whale watching is truly a splendid Sunday activity, especially during the height of whale watching season. Don’t forget you can bring your own picnic lunch and drinks. With a high of 72, it was the perfect day for family and friends to spend some quality time together out on the water. |
| 2/15/2020 | 2 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions | Guests enjoyed an active pair swimming south towards Mexico. These friendly whales spent a large amount of time on the surface so guests could get great views. |
| 2/14/2020 | 4 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Happy Valentines Day! Today was amazing, especially because we saw a Gray Whale breach several times. This phenomenon is very rare, especially for a Gray Whale. This active Gray Whale was swimming with another Gray, it was great to see such a dynamic duo. To see such activity on Valentines Day was extremely special. Be sure to check out our photos in our gallery. We also passed by a single southbound Gray Whale. During our sail home, we also passed by a single northbound Gray Whale. During this time of year, we are beginning to see southbound and northbound whales passing through San Diego. Guests spotted some dolphins and it turned out to be a megapod of Pacific Common Dolphins. Although these dolphins were scattered, it was very special to see so many hundreds of dolphins. Another great day aboard with Next Level Sailing. |
| 2/12/2020 | 3 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions, USS Nimitz | What an incredible day! Not only did guests see a pair of southbound Gray Whales, they also saw a single Gray Whale. All three were swimming south toward Mexico. In addition, everyone witnessed the USS Nimitz heading out to sea. This massive aircraft carrier is quite a sight, it was magnificent to sail close to this vessel. |
| 2/11/2020 | 3 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | We spotted a group of three Gray Whales swimming south together. It is always amazing to watch how they swim synchronously with each other. We also saw a large group of common dolphins on our way back to San Diego. |
| 2/9/2020 | 5 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Navy Ship | Another fantastic day with Next Level Sailing. Guests saw a total of 5 Gray Whales swimming south towards Mexico. These whales were swimming around 4-5 knots. |
| 2/8/2020 | 4 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions | Just a great way to spend the weekend! These Gray Whales were very friendly and guests had fantastic views of these friendly whales. |
| 2/7/2020 | 5 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions, Navy Ship Crossing | The whales were a bit elusive today. We headed out west and didn’t spot anything, so we chased some southbound whales. There was a group of three moving quickly down to Mexico. It was such a clear day, so we could see their blows miles away, but it took us some time to catch up to them. Once we did, the group seemed to separate. We kept with one Gray Whale and watched it breath several times. We went to the other Gray Whale and watched it as well. The third Gray Whale was too far away to catch. We headed north and found a pair swimming together just off of Point Loma! Although we were late, we sailed with this pair and got some fabulous close views. Eventually, we finally had to go home. On our way, we saw an LHD and Guided Missile Destroyer cross each other in the channel. The two saluted each other and we cheered for both ships. |
| 2/6/2020 | 6 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was a calm and sunny day out on the water with clear blue skies. We could even make out the buildings in Mexico several miles away. Captain Troy spotted a blow, so we headed south. Suddenly we were surrounded by Pacific White Sided Dolphins swimming next to the Yacht America. We found two Gray Whales migrating together. They were swimming at 4.3 knots. We also saw two blows in the distance, but these whales were several miles away in Mexican waters. With this in mind, we headed north to see what else we could find. We spotted another pair of Gray Whales, but they split ways. One took a beautiful dive. Our journey continued north and we spotted another pair. The two stayed together and we got a fantastic view. Another great day with Next Level Sailing! |
| 2/2/2020 | 4 Gray Whales, 500+ Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | It was a little overcast today, but the sun peaked out for our guests. We passed by a single Gray Whale on our way out west. Several miles off the coast, we found three Gray Whales swimming south. Guests enjoyed very close views as these were three friendly adults. They were swimming around 4 knots. We sailed away to see what else we could find. Captain Troy spotted dolphins in the distance. After sailing closer, we found at least 500 Common Dolphins. They played with the Yacht America and circles around the ship. We sailed with them for quite some time, but eventually had to head for home. We stopped by the bait barges and got a close view of the sea lions as well. Another great day with Next Level Sailing! |
| 2/1/2020 | 5 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions, Harbor Seal | Another beautiful sunny day in San Diego. With a high of 79 degrees, it was great to get out on the water. Guests saw close views of the Naval Bottlenose Dolphins on our way out to sea. Once we made it to the ocean, we passed by a single Gray Whale and continued West. Suddenly, we spotted four Gray Whales migrating south! All whales were healthy adults that looked like that had a great summer feeding in Alaska. Everyone enjoyed great close views. Check out our to see all the fantastic photos. We even saw a cute harbor seal, which we rarely see in San Diego. The wind was perfect for sailing home and we passed by the sea lions. During our sail in, a couple got engaged! Congratulations to the happy couple. What a great day with Next Level Sailing. See you tomorrow! |
| 1/31/20 | 6 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions, LCS and LA Class Attack Submarine | Today was a blue bird day. Not a cloud in the sky and the sun was out with a high of 79 degrees. The wind that we felt on the water was very refreshing. While we were raising sails, we passed by a LA Class Attack Submarine that was entering the San Diego Bay to replenish supplies. We passed closed to the SD Buoy and saw a single Gray Whale. We pressed on and found a very friendly cow and calf pair. This female Gray Whale did not quite make it to Mexico to have her baby, but the duo was swimming along at a constant pace. Both mom and baby seemed healthy, which is just great to see! We headed out west and found three adult Gray Whales swimming south. All three had an abundance of barnacles on their bodies. We had some fantastic views of these three whales as well. It was finally time to head for home. On our way back, we passed by a few Pacific White Sided Dolphins. We also saw an LCS Independence Class headed outbound. We wrapped up our trip with a view of the sea lions on the bait barges. It was another perfect day! |
| 1/30/20 | 10 Gray Whales, 300-500 Common Dolphins, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Lions | It is truly the peak of the Gray Whale Migration. We saw a pair of Gray Whales, then another pair of Gray Whales to the west. After some great views, we saw a huge line of something shiny in the distance. Upon closer investigation, we found 300-500 Common Dolphins! This was such an incredible sight. We sailed north with the dolphins and then saw another pair of Gray Whales. We were out of time, so we started our journey home. Just when we least expected it, four Gray Whales popped up right next to the boat! What an incredible sight. The wind was blowing in the perfect direction so we sailed all the way back to La Playa. What a fantastic day with Next Level Sailing. Be sure to check out our to see some of the great photos from today! |
| 1/27/20 | 6 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions | As soon as the Yacht America passed Point Loma, we saw a pair of Gray Whales migrating south. These whales were traveling just under 5 knots. After several views, we decided to see what else we could find. We sailed out west and saw several blows at the same time. With a closer look, it seems that we found two cows and two calves! The young whales had the smallest blowholes compared to their mothers, it was just too cute. In total, we saw six Gray Whales today. We headed for home and saw about 20 Pacific White Sided Dolphins. They were very active! It was another fantastic day with Next Level Sailing. |
| 1/26/20 | 7 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions, Common Dolphins | Did you know the Navy trains dolphins? U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program is right in our backyard and we sail by their base everyday. For instance, we saw some Bottlenose Dolphins training today. As soon as the Yacht America sailed out to sea, guests saw a group of seven Gray Whales. This large group split into a group of four and a group of three. Captain Troy decided to stay with the group of 4 and guests enjoyed fabulous views of these whales. The crew spotted a bait ball in the distance. The Yacht America sailed closer and found Pacific White Sides, Common Dolphins, and Sea Lions feeding on bait. Another great day with Next Level Sailing! |
| 1/25/20 | 6 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions | Despite a foggy morning, it turned out to be a very nice day aboard the Yacht America. As soon as we rounded Point Loma, we found a pair of Gray Whales. This friendly duo swam at a steady 4 knots and we had wonderful close views. Guests could even hear them breathing. We decided to see what else we could find. BLOW! A crew member saw a blow in the distance. Once we got closer, we found four Gray whales swimming side by side. What an incredible sight! This group was also very friendly and popped up right next to the Yacht America. On our way home, we spotted some Pacific White Sided Dolphins as well as Sea Lions. It was a great day with Next Level Sailing. |
| 1/24/20 | 6 Gray Whales (+), Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Naval Ships | There were so many whales that we couldn’t get to them all. Just off of Point Loma, we saw a female Gray Whale with her young calf. They were traveling at about 4.5 knots. The calf’s little blows were so very cute! Dolphins started to swim our way, so we sailed with the dolphins. In the distance, a crew member spotted a single Gray Whale so we went to say hi. This whale showed us his tail several times, everyone got some gorgeous pictures. Further south, we saw three Gray Whales so we went to check them out. A large pod of about 100 Common Dolphins swam up to the Yacht America, so we followed them north. We saw three separate blows during our sail north. In addition, we passed by several warships and the USS Nimitz out at sea. It was a very active day for the military. All in all, it was a great day with Next Level Sailing. See you tomorrow! |
| 1/22/20 | 6 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today, we headed south. It was a clear sunny day with a high of 63 degrees Fahrenheit. We passed by a few bait balls filled with Pelicans, Cormorants, Sea Lions, and Dolphins. Suddenly, we saw a blow just off our port side. Another blow! Then, another blow! Finally a fourth blow! Four Gray Whales swimming side by side right next to the Yacht America. It was absolutely spectacular. The whales fluked as they went down for a dive. They were down for 8 minutes. They came up again, but this time to the north of us. We headed up that way and watched as they came up for several splendid breaths. Again, they went down for a dive. We watched them for several cycles. From their behavior, it seems most likely that we witnessed three Gray Whales courting a single female Gray Whale. It was spectacular to see all four whales swim so close together, breath and dive at nearly the same time. We also spotted a single Gray Whale out to the west of this group. Finally it was time to say goodbye, so we headed home. We passed by another southbound Gray Whale along the way, making our total count six gray whales. During our sail home, we stopped by some playful Common Dolphins and Pacific White Sided Dolphins. What another great day with Next Level Sailing. We will see you on Friday! |
| 1/20/20 | 6 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, Common Dolphins, Gray Whales | We knew it would be a good day when we saw Bottlenose Dolphins on the way out to the ocean. As soon as we got out, we saw 3 Gray Whales swimming together, heading south. All the guests were able to get great views of this group. Did you know that it takes 3 whales to mate? This did not look like a mating group, but always keep that in mind if you see 3 whales swimming together. There was also a single Gray Whale ahead of the triple, but we just spotted this whale in the distance. We saw Pacific White Sided Dolphins swimming with the whales. It was finally time to go home. We saw a large bait ball with Common Dolphins and Sea Lions. Suddenly, a pair of Gray Whales popped up right next to the boat. Another fabulous day with Next Level Sailing. |
| 1/19/20 | 3 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions | We encountered a tricky whale today. We headed south towards the Coronado Islands and spotted a Gray Whale. We held our course and speed, but this whale made a complete stop! With the wind pushing us, we had to circle back and move at a snail’s pace to get good views of this whale. Our patience paid off because this Gray Whale came right up to the boat. Everyone was even able to hear the whale breath. It was a spectacular sight. We saw a single blow off our beam also headed south to Mexico. It was time to go home, so we went to see what else we could find. We saw another Gray Whale on our way back. We also saw a huge bait ball with Common Dolphins, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions, and Pelicans. There was so much life. It was a fantastic day on the water. |
| 1/18/20 | 6 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions | There were so many Gray Whales swimming south today! We saw two singles off the coast of Point Loma that changed direction from south to east. Then, we went closer to the lighthouse and found a mom and a calf slowly swimming south. We made a turn and headed south. We found two more singles! We also saw Common Dolphins and Pacific White Sided Dolphins, as well as a group of Sea Lions. It was a fantastic day. |
| 1/17/20 | 2 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions, USS Roosevelt | Although it was raining in the early hours of the morning, it turned out to be a beautiful clear day. Early in the trip, we saw a pair of Gray Whales swimming together towards Mexico. In addition, we also saw a large group of Common Dolphins and Pacific White Sided Dolphins. After looking closer, we realized that the Pacific White Sided Dolphins were swimming with their small babies. Captain Troy took the Yacht America in the San Diego Bay to get a close look at the USS Roosevelt. This aircraft carrier was deploying, so we wanted to pay our respects and salute the crew. We saw all the sailors lining the decks on their way out to sea. We also saw other ships that were joining the strike group. It turned out to be another gorgeous day on the water. |
| 1/16/20 | 1 Gray Whale, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Today we saw a magnificent single Gray Whale heading south towards Mexico. It was a gorgeous day. We also saw Common Dolphins and Pacific White Sided Dolphins in large, probably at least 200 swimming together. There were a lot of babies in this group which was just too cute. |
| 1/15/20 | 2 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, USS Nimitz | We ventured out early today as all of our guests were early today. More time on the water for everyone! It was a brisk sunny day with great wind for sailing. We hoisted sails while sailing next to the outbound aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz. The Yacht America sailed alongside the USS Nimitz until we reached open ocean where the Nimitz anchored and her crew performed routine drills. We saw a large group of about 100 Cormorants just floating on the ocean. We then spotted two Gray Whales headed towards Mexico. This pair consistently went down for four minutes and then came up to breath a few times. We even saw them both dive at the same time, so we saw a double tail! Common Dolphins came to join the party. We saw some baby dolphins in the mix as well. The dolphins made a turn towards Point Loma, so we followed them home. They also lead us to a bait ball that had Pelicans, Cormorants, Seagulls, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions, and Common Dolphins. After checking out the bait ball, we turned off our engines and sailed into the San Diego Bay. A Supply-Class Fast Combat Support Ship passed us, as well as some Navy Seal stealth boats. What a fun filled day! |
| 1/14/20 | 4 Gray Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, LA Class Attack Submarine, USS Nimitz | What a sunny day! It’s just amazing that it is January. Guests are always smart to bring layers, but the sun it just wonderful. We saw a pair of Gray Whales swimming together, so we followed them for the majority of the trip. Once we turned around, we saw two separate single Gray Whales also making their way south. We also saw active Pacific White Sided Dolphins that played with with the Yacht America. On our way in, we saw an outbound LA Class Attack Submarine. We also had a very close view of an inbound aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz. It is just a blast sailing out of the San Diego Bay because there is just so much to see, it is fun for the whole family. See you tomorrow! |
| 1/13/20 | 2 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | As soon as we left the San Diego Bay, we spotted a southbound Gray Whale. We followed this Gray Whale for several cycles, it fluked as well. The whale looked very healthy. We then headed south and linked with some active Common Dolphins. As we followed these friendly dolphins, we noticed that there were some baby dolphins in the mix as well! These little ones are just too cute. As we started to head home, we saw an inbound submarine and and outbound LCS (Littoral Combat Ship). A guest spotted another whale blow, so we went to check out this second Gray Whale. It was also very healthy! At this point, we had to turn home. On our way, we were able to witness a very close encounter with an Ohio Class Submarine. Another fantastic day with Next Level Sailing! |
| 1/12/20 | 1 Gray Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Just another fantastic day aboard the Yacht America. Clear skies and moderate seas made it easy to spot a Gray Whale spout from far away. Guests enjoyed close views of this southbound whale, they could even make out the individual barnacles on its back. We also spotted dolphins and sea lions during our voyage. Just another perfect day! |
| 1/11/20 | 1 Gray Whale, White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lion | The ocean was extremely calm today, it almost looked like a lake. There was great visibility and sunny skies. We sailed alongside a friendly Gray Whale who came up right next to the boat. On the last cycle, this whale turned so we could see the width of this whale. It looked like it had a very successful summer feeding in Alaska! We sailed off to see what else we could find and spotted a bait ball in the distance. There were so many birds, sea lions, and White Sided Dolphins actively feeding. What a great day! |
| 1/10/20 | 3 Gray Whales, 2 Humpback Whales, Common Dolphins, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions, Bottlenose Dolphins, Ohio Class Submarine | We saw so many species of sea life today! The trip started out with a three Bottlenose Dolphins swimming close to Point Loma. The Yacht America headed south towards Islas De Los Coronados. After following the birds, we started to see splashes and whale spouts! We saw a total of three Gray Whales, two of which were very close views. In addition, we also saw two Humpback Whales with a large pod of Pacific White Sided Dolphins and Common Dolphins. On the way home, we had a very close view of an Ohio Class Submarine exiting the San Diego Bay. In addition, we saw an Independence Class Littoral Combat Ship entering the San Diego Bay. Another great afternoon on the water! |
| 1/7/20 | 4 Gray Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions, Ohio Class Submarine | Guests had great views of Gray Whales today! They were in groups of two, traveling south towards Mexico. In addition, guests saw Common Dolphins and Sea Lions. Everyone also saw an Ohio class nuclear powered submarine perform some cool maneuvers while entering the San Diego Bay. |
| 1/4/20 | 1 Gray Whale, 2 Fin Whales, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | In a week, we have seen four different species of whales. Next Level Sailing truly offers the best whale watching in San Diego. Today, guests spotted a single Gray Whale. In addition, guests also spotted a pair of Fin Whales: a cow and her juvenile. Fin whales are the second largest species on Earth (first being the Blue Whale). They come to San Diego to feed, but we never know exactly when we will see them. Dolphins and sea lions were spotted during the trip as well. There was a naval destroyer at the fuel dock which was fun for everyone to see. |
| 1/3/20 | 1 Gray Whale, 1 Pygmy Sperm Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The weather was gorgeous, it is hard to believe it is January. The sun was out and the sky was clear. Early in the trip, guests saw a single Gray Whale migrating south towards Mexico. After sailing with this whale for a while, crew spotted another whale in the distance. The Yacht America sailed over to this whale for a closer look. The crew and guests were all surprised to see a small whale with wrinkly skin. This whale also had some pink patches on its back. We have never seen a whale like this during our whale watching cruises. We did our best to identify this whale as a pygmy sperm whale, but we are not completely certain. Not only is San Diego the best place to go whale watching, it is also the best place to see naval activity. Guests and crew were thrilled to see a Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) zoom by. Dolphins and sea lions were spotted on the sail back into the San Diego Bay. |
| 1/2/20 | 1 Gray Whale, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Sea Lions | Another fabulous day aboard the Yacht America. The sails were truly able to harness the wind and sail as fast as 12 knots. Guests enjoyed close views of a Gray Whale migrating south. This Gray Whale was very friendly and spent a considerable amount of time on the surface so guests were able to get incredible views. Everyone could even make out individual barnacles. We then spotted a group of Pacific White Sided Dolphins who were extremely playful. Typically, these types of dolphins are relatively shy but these dolphins swam right towards the Yacht America. Guests were able to see great views of these dolphins swimming on both sides of the boat. Everyone enjoyed a smooth sail back to San Diego. What a great whale watching experience. See you tomorrow! |
- Chevron down 2019
| 12/31/19 | 4 Gray Whales, Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Beautiful day with four Gray Whales. Guests witnessed one whale rolling and the group even stopped to maintain the same position for 15 minutes. Such rolling action often indicates that the whales are mating. We saw a beautiful tail flukes as the whales went down for a dive. The winds were at the perfect angle, so we were able to sail all the way back to the San Diego Bay. Overall it was a fantastic day! We look forward to our next trip on January 2nd. Happy New Year! |
| 12/30/19 | 5 Humpback Whales, 500 Pacific Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Humpback Whales off the San Diego coast in December? We are not joking, that is not a typo! Next Level Sailing has never seen Humpback Whales in December. That is really saying something since we have been providing whale watching trips since 2008. Captain, crew, and guests were all delighted to watch a massive group of 500 dolphins hunting with five Humpback Whales breaching, lunge feeding, and tail slapping. We saw several beautiful dives with flukes in full view. One particularly active whale breached 5 times. Two Humpback Whales were very curious and popped up right next to us. Everyone aboard was excited by this fantastic experience. Truly a trip to remember aboard the Yacht America. |
| 12/29/19 | 6 Gray Whales, Sea Lions | There were so many Gray Whales spotted today! We are in the height of the southbound Gray Whale migration, so it is a great time to come out sailing. Guests enjoyed close views of an active group of three Gray Whales. This friendly group was comfortable with the Yacht America and swam alongside the vessel for a long time. In addition, we spotted three separate single whales that were also swimming south. The waters were calm and the weather was fabulous. |
| 12/28/19 | Sea Lions, Navy Dolphins | Another gorgeous sunny San Diego day. The winds were a bit chilly, but the sun was out and the sky was clear. Despite all of our efforts aboard the Yacht America and with fellow whale watching operators, no one was able to find a whale. Fathom was even hoisted 80 feet up in the air and searched for an hour, but unfortunately mammals were not spotted. There was an abundance of birds feeding on bait close to the water’s surface. Guests got a great view of dolphins training at the Naval Dolphin Training Facility. Guests also enjoyed a close view of sea lions relaxing on the bait barge. Everyone on this trip gets to come back for free to fulfill their whale watching guarantee! |
| 12/27/19 | 1 Gray Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Blue skies and big white puffy clouds! Although it rained all night, today proved to be beautiful weather with very clear skies. It was a gorgeous day aboard the Yacht America with great views of a gray whale. The light breeze was the perfect wind direction for guests to witness a heart shaped blow. The Gray Whale swam as slow as 1 knot, then proceeded to speed up to 5 knots. This Gray Whale was accompanied by a pod of Common Dolphins and birds. |
| 12/22/19 | Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | The Gray Whales proved to be elusive today. There was a large active group of Common Dolphins that delighted guests with their jumps, twists, tail slaps, and clicking sounds. Our boat pup, Walter, especially enjoyed the dolphin show too (check out his page on Instagram @walterswhales). The sea lions were sunning themselves on the channel markers enjoying a lazy Sunday. |
| 12/21/19 | Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Although the trip struck out on finding Gray Whales, guests did enjoy very playful Pacific White Sided Dolphins and Common Dolphins. It was a beautiful day at 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Everyone on this trip will get to come back for free to fulfill their Whale Watching Guarantee. |
| 12/20/19 | 1 Gray Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Clear sunny day on the water, guests could see all the way to Islas Los Coronados. The Yacht America sailed next to a submarine leaving San Diego. Scattered Common Dolphins swam close to the Yacht America. We spotted our first Gray Whale of the season migrating south, just off of Imperial Beach. It measured about 26 feet long and showed guests its tail flukes as it went down for a dive. |
| 12/15/19 | High Seas | Due to high seas that were not predicted, the Yacht America did not sail past Point Loma. Seas were 11 feet at 8 seconds. Guests enjoyed a San Diego Bay sail that included the USS Midway Museum, Coronado Bay Bride, Active Naval Ships, and the San Diego Maritime Museum. |
| 11/23/19 | 7 Humpback Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | A group of 5 joined a group of 3 Humpback Whales, resulting in an astounding sight of 7 Humpback Whales traveling south. We had some close views of these whales, and then they took off swimming south to Mexico. Guests also had great views of Common Dolphins and Pacific White Sided Dolphins. |
| 11/17/19 | 1 Humpback Whale, Dolphins, Sea Lions | This whale watching trip offered an extra special experience as guests were able to witness a pregnant female Humpback Whale. When her baby is born, it will weigh about 1.5 tons and be between 12-15 feet long. Carrying a baby this size would definitely give her a baby bump! |
| 11/16/19 | Dolphins, Sea Lions | Although we were eluded by whales today, we still had a fantastic day on the water. We saw Common Dolphins jumping and playing. We also got a good view of sea lions as well. Everyone on this trips gets to come back for free to fulfill their whale watching guarantee! |
| 11/15/19 | 1 Humpback Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | What a gorgeous day on the water! The sun was out, the water was calm, and we found a Humpback Whale! We also saw some Common Dolphins and Sea Lions along the way. |
| 11/11/19 | 1 Humpback Whale, Pacific White Side Dolphins, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | An extra friendly Sea Lion followed the Yacht America during our whale watching trip. The Humpback Whale that we found swam very close to the boat. To our great surprise, we were able to witness a rainbow spout! This only happens when light hits the spout at the right angle. What a lucky view for our guests. We caught a photo of it, check out our |
| 11/10/19 | 4 Humpback Whales, Dolphins, Sea Lions | Beautiful views of 4 Humpback Whales, Common Dolphins, and Sea Lions. The water was so clear, guests could peer 10 feet down into the water and clearly see kelp and sea life. |
| 11/4/19 | 1 Humpback Whale, Common Dolphins, Sea Lions | Another sunny day aboard the Yacht America. We found a large Humpback Whale who swam so close, we could hear it breath. We also had a pod of Common Dolphins swim right up to the boat and give us a great show. |
| 11/3/19 | 2 Humpback Whale, 100+ Common Dolphins | Today we saw two Humpback Whales surrounded by 100+ Common Dolphins. We went south towards the Coronado Islands that was teaming with sea life. We found the whales and were able to watch it for over an hour with it swimming close by the boat and even swimming beneath. We turned off our engines and sailed with the whales. Dolphins were scattered as far as you could see in all directions. They were even mating! There were also sea lions and sea birds. Everyone was amazed with the day! |
| 11/1/19 | Humpback Whale, Dolphins, Sea Lions | We enjoyed a calm day sunny day with a beautiful humpback whale, dolphins, and sea lions. The humpback took some magnificent dives so we had a clear view of the flukes. |
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San Diego Whale Watching
How to Watch Whales Around San Diego, California
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San Diego a good place see ocean-faring mammals at their finest. In fact, during whale watching season in San Diego, you'll find plenty of ways to see the migration.
With a large kelp forest just offshore that attracts the ocean-going mammals, whale watchers don't have to go far. Most whale watch trips around San Diego are reasonably short, and some companies guarantee that you can go again for free if you don't see any whales.
These tips will certainly increase your chances of seeing whales show off their tail—and more.
Best Time for Whale Watching in San Diego
Whale watching season in San Diego runs from mid-December through April, and migrating gray whales are the most common species. To see females with their calves, go late in the season as they take their babies back north with them.
To find out what all those wonderful creatures look like up close (and what they look like when you see them from a whale watching boat), check out the California whale watching guide .
Whale Watching Cruises From San Diego
You'll find plenty of ways to enjoy whale watching season in San Diego. Don't end up in the wrong spot when it's time to go. Be aware that while many of them depart from the waterfront downtown, others do not.
These are listed in rough order based on reader reviews online:
- Flagship Cruises : With Birch Aquarium Naturalists on board, they guarantee a sighting, or you go again for free.
- Next Level Sailing : This whale watch cruise comes with a bold guarantee: Not only will they take you out again if you don't see a whale, but they're confident that you won't get seasick riding in their stable sailboat. If your day is spoiled by motion sickness, they will provide a gift certificate to a local restaurant. It's an odd compensation for making someone nauseous, but a nice gesture. They also have a slightly longer season than other whale watching companies.
- OEX La Jolla : You'll have to propel yourself - in a kayak - to take this tour, but organizers say it allows guests to paddle as close gray whales, seals, and sea lions as you can get without upsetting the animals.
- Xplore Offshore : This company uses a specially-built "ocean raft" that's closer to the water and goes faster than the bigger whale-watching boats - so you can go further from shore. One look at their videos and you may be hooked.
- Hornblower San Diego : With naturalists from the Natural History Museum and stabilized boats that minimize seasickness, this is one of the most comfortable whale watching options.
- San Diego Natural History Museum : They offer the longest whale watching cruise from San Diego, a six-hour expedition that goes south to the Coronado Islands Marine Sanctuary.
If you're looking for a whale watching discount, you may find one using online services like Groupon. But beware sacrificing quality to save a few dollars. Many whale-watchers who complain in their online reviews are unhappy about hidden costs and poor quality. In general, the poorer the quality of the trip, the more likely you are to find it sold for a discount.
Whale Watching From the Shore Around San Diego
If you'd rather not go out in a bobbing boat to see the whales, you can also see them from the shoreline.
A couple of the best whale watching spots for landlubbers: In La Jolla, try Ellen Browning Scripps Park just above La Jolla Cove, the Birch Aquarium, and Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve .
Other great spots to watch the migration are the heights around Whale Overlook and Old Point Loma Lighthouse at Cabrillo National Monument .
The whales are easiest to see from from shore between mid-December and mid-February during the northward migration when they swim closer to the shore. Other times of the year, they are usually too far from the shore to see, even with binoculars in hand.
No matter where you watch the whales, the basics are the same.
Get tips for picking the best company and ways to have the most enjoyable experience in the California whale watching guide .
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Watch: ‘Spectacular’ video shows dolphins leaping out of water off San Diego coast
Dolphins seen leaping out of water in video goes viral.
A whale-watching company’s stunning footage of multiple bottlenose dolphins leaping high above waters off San Diego went viral on social media. (Credit: @gonewhalewatching/@erica.sackrison via Storyful)
Oh, to be a dolphin leaping out of the ocean with other fellow dolphins on a warm summer day.
Awesome video captured during a whale-watching excursion captured a pod of dolphins leaping high above the waters off the coast of San Diego on August 12.
The footage has been viewed over 7 million times as of this report.
Still image taken from video showing dolphins leaping out of the water during a whale watching excursion off San Diego's coast. (Credit: @gonewhalewatching/@erica.sackrison via Storyful)
"You could just see them jumping like, 20 feet in the air, and everybody on the boat just started pointing and I’m like, ‘What is everybody looking at?’" Erica Sackrison told local news media.
Sackrison, who captured the footage, operates Gone Whale Watching.
"Almost feels like they were doing Olympic-style jumps, like they were just all trying to be like Simone Biles and just touch the sky and come down. It was awesome," she added.
"You know, when these things are going higher than the wheelhouse … it’s spectacular," Sackrison said.
The company regularly posts similar encounters to its Instagram page.
Watch dolphins perform 'Olympic-style' jumps
The video, which shows the marine mammals skimming over the water and bursting out of the water high into the air, has already been viewed more than 8 million times.
Gone Whale Watching founder Dominic Biagini told KFMB that it may have been abundant food sources drawing the ebullient dolphins to the area.
"Anchovies are really, really popular food source, especially for the common dolphins. But we've also been seeing bottlenose dolphins in bigger numbers, and the bottlenose dolphins are the ones that you see in those spectacular videos, leaping into the air. And often times when we see bottlenose dolphins here in numbers like that, it's because there's a lot of squid in San Diego waters. So most likely, we have an influx of squid right now," Biagini told KFMB .
Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at [email protected]
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Take part in San Diego whale watching with Next Level Sailing for an experience of a lifetime. Aboard our beautiful, 139 ft yacht, you are able to take part in a highly faceted adventure. Not only are you being exposed to the exciting world of sailing, but are given the opportunity to meet an abundance of wildlife, including: sea lions ...
This whale watching tour in San Diego is all about making incredible memories while you marvel at these amazing animals. Quick Details. January 1, 2024 - April 14, 2024 Duration: 3.5 Hours. Boat Capacity: Max ... It was a great whale watching trip. The 42-foot sailboat carried 6 passengers plus Captain Greg. Seeing whales on the open ocean in a ...
Whale Watching Tours at Next Level Sailing San Diego's Highest Success Rate! Summer Whale Watching: Blue Whales, Humpback & Fin Check out our whale watching report, it is updated daily. Availability: One trip per day Duration: 3.5 - 4 hours Check-in between 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM. Depart by 11:00 AM, return by 3:00 PM.
Whale Watching returns December 2024 - stay tuned for schedule updates! San Diego is among the world's top destinations for viewing marine wildlife. During whale watching season, mid-December through April, more than 20,000 gray whales migrate along our coast. For the thrill of a lifetime, cruise alongside these magnificent whales in their ...
YOU'LL BE LEFT IN AWE! Our signature whale watching tour departs daily at various times depending on the weather. With a 6-32 passenger limit depending on vessel, these are the most intimate whale watching tours possible in San Diego! We spend approximately 2.5 hours exploring the San Diego coast looking for any and all signs of wildlife.
With informative commentary from Captain Phil, you will be able to observe San Diego's marine wildlife in its natural habitat without the congestion of large-group tour boats. Each year, more than 20,000 gray whales make a 10,000-mile round-trip journey from Alaska to the lagoons of Baja California, where the females give birth to their calves.
Southern California's Legacy Whale Watch tours are located in the iconic Seaforth Landing in the Mission Bay area of San Diego. We offer 3-hour Whale Watching tours, Private Charters and Custom Pacific Wild Life Excursions. ... stable, well-equipped 80 ft. fiberglass boat with two decks and ample seating. With windows throughout both decks, the ...
Overview. Set sail on this marine life tour and embrace the opportunity to spot dolphins, sea lions, pelagic sea birds and migrating whales on this eco-friendly cruise on a 40-foot sailboat. With no more than six passengers per cruise, enjoy a personalized, intimate cruise off the coast of San Diego. Half-day animal watching sailboat cruise ...
It was a great whale watching trip. The 42-foot sailboat carried 6 passengers plus Captain Greg. Seeing whales on the open ocean in a small sailboat was great fun. It was a windy, choppy day but the Captain knew just how to handle it. ... The whale watching trip with Sail San Diego was simply awesome! The captain performed his duties ...
In addition to offering whale watching cruises in San Diego, Sail JADA Charters provides a variety of excursions on our beautiful sailing yacht. Private or public yacht charters could include sunset cruises, weddings on the bay or memorials at sea. Call (858) 222-9479 to learn more today. There are no upcoming events. View Calendar.
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Located in San Diego's Mission Bay, we're closer to the ocean than other whale watching companies, which means you spend more time searching for whales and dolphins! Check Schedules & Availability. . . We offer a premier whale watching experience in Southern California. See the amazing whales and dolphins off of San Diego's beautiful coast.
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Whale watching can be an exciting adventure so our team here at San Diego Sailing Tours has put together a guide on what to expect when venturing out to (619) 786-0173 [email protected]. Facebook; X; Instagram; Facebook; X; Instagram; Private Sails. Private Signature Sailing Tour ...
Next Level Sailing - Whale Watching. Price: Adults from $85; kids from $51. Duration: 3.5 to 4 hours. The yacht America, a 139-foot yacht used for this excursion, sails daily throughout the year ...
A: Whale-watching tours in San Diego cost between US$50 and US$180, depending on the type and size of the boat. More economical tours tend to accommodate larger groups, while more expensive options have fewer passengers. You can even book a private tour just for you and your family.
Combine the excitement of whale watching with the allure of sailing along the Pacific with a San Diego Whale Watching Sailboat Cruise! On either a 40 foot Catalina or 26 foot Panga Offshoer vessel, a maximum of six guests will have an experience of a lifetime. Get a great view of whales, dolphins, sea lions and seabirds in their natural environment on this exciting San Diego tour.
San Diego Whale Watching & Charters - Next Level Sailing, 2050 Shelter Island Dr, San Diego, CA 92106, USA. ... The Next Level Sailing Whale Watching cruise on July 14, 2021 was truly one of the highlights of my life. In addition to the opportunity to sail on this beautiful, historic boat being taken care of by a wonderful, interesting ...
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Everywhere we looked, we saw gray whales. It was a whale of a time whale watching here in San Diego! 1/13/22: 2 Gray Whales, Risso's Dolphins. Common Dolphins, Sea Lions: Today was absolutely spectacular! The seas were calm. Dogs Marie and Baxter had a great time whale watching today. They found 2 gray whales for us!
Best Time for Whale Watching in San Diego. Whale watching season in San Diego runs from mid-December through April, and migrating gray whales are the most common species. To see females with their calves, go late in the season as they take their babies back north with them. To find out what all those wonderful creatures look like up close (and ...
Whale Watching. Our most popular tour! Embark on an exciting, 2.5 - 3 hour Wildlife Safari that will take you out into the ocean on a search to get arms-reach away from whales, dolphins, sea-lions, and other marine wildlife. This tour can be booked as a public tour with other passengers or as a private tour with just you and your group.
Meeting point. San Diego Whale Watching & Charters - Next Level Sailing. 2050 Shelter Island Dr, San Diego, CA 92106, USA. Open in Google Maps. Check in opens an hour before departure time and closes 30 minutes before departure. Check in flag located across the street from the Best Western Island Palms Hotel and Blue Wave Bar & Grill.
A post shared by Gone Whale Watching San Diego (@gonewhalewatching) Watch Related: SeaWorld gives kids from Rady Children's chance to swim with dolphins (Sep 18, 2023) Close Ad
Video captured during a whale-watching excursion captured dolphins launching themselves above the water off the coast of San Diego. The footage was captured on August 12 and has gained over 7 ...
Sea World, an amusement park with a variety of thrilling rides, whale and dolphin shows, and animals on display, is only a 15-minute walk. Located just a 5-minute drive away, Seaforth Sportfishing has a variety of fishing packages, whale watching and guided boat tours for everyone.
A whale-watching company's stunning footage of multiple bottlenose dolphins leaping high above waters off San Diego went viral on social media, a local TV station reported.Video filmed by Erica Sackrison, who operates Gone Whale Watching, filmed the footage as the dolphins swam near their boat on August 12.The footage had been viewed over 7 million times by August 20."You could just see ...
Footage of a pod of dolphins leaping through the air is going viral after it was taken by a San Diego whale watching company. Reports: Robert Kennedy Jr. expected to exit presidential race, back ...