Absolutely amazing and deeply fulfilling time on the water on 4/15/26 with Captain Kyle. He was the most delightful and educational captain, tour guide, environmentalist and fun person you could hope for. We saw an uncountable number of 4 different kinds of dolphins, a fin whale and many California sea lions. The small boat was very safe, amazingly nimble, fast and would never want to experience anything on a boat any bigger. I am prone to seasickness but was never even a remote issue. Thank you for an amazing time!!!!! read more

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We went February 15, so during fray whale migration. Saw a pod of five whales, lots of dolphins, and sea lions. Our tour guide Rick was great, clearly loves the wildlife which is what we want . I would bring a blanket for your legs during the winter and bring hats/hoodies. The ride can be chilly, they do tell you to wear layers and we were glad we did even with 60 degree day. read more

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What an awesome and amazing adventure. Captain Rick is an outstanding and well seasoned boat Captain that has an amazing knowledge of the sea, the boat and the ocean wildlife. His seamanship is head and shoulders above the rest. He ensured that safely was paramount and that we were well taken care of. The seas were a like rough but he navigated the boat expertly. We witnessed a breach of a hump back whale that was close aboard and saw well over 500 common dolphins that were at close quarters to the boat. Adventure whale watching is the absolute very best and has my highest recommendation! read more

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My nephew and I had such a wonderful Sunday afternoon outing. It started out pretty quiet without a lot of nearby wildlife activity. We were quietly prepared for just a lovely afternoon on the water, but Capt Rick didn't give up and followed the signs (birds) to the right area. We soon found 100s of playful dolphins and a majestic whale and spent a long time respectfully marveling at the activities of both. Could not have asked for a better adventure. The intimate size of the boat with just 6 passengers and the proximity to the ocean life made it so much better than a big boat. Would absolutely recommend this outing. read more

Adventure Whale Watching - What a great adventure! - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

We enjoyed the fast moving - small boat on this adventure. Felt safe and it was clear Captain Kyle cared about the environment, conservation and the wildlife. Highly recommend! read more

Our group had an amazing time seeing and learning about the long and short beaked common dolphins. Captain Kyle was very knowledgeable and made sure we all had a blast. We were lucky to see so many calves in a nursery pod of over 200 dolphins, and it was truly an amazing experience. I highly recommend Adventure's tours if you're in the area. Their boats are an ethical way to experience the local aquatic life. read more

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Chris is absolutely incredible! From the moment we stepped aboard,his expertise, enthusiasm and deep knowledge made the trip so much more than just a boat ride. It was an adventure! He's extremely knowledgeable about marine life, but also thoughtful and considerate, especially with my son, making sure he was comfortable engaged and engaged throughout the journey. Thanks to Chris. We had a rare breathtaking opportunity witness hundreds of dolphins playfully swimming alongside us and even spotted a few majestic humpback whales! It was truly an experience we will never forget. If you're looking for a skilled, personable and passionate captain to guide you on an amazing Waeil watching trip, Chris is the one I highly recommend! Thank you, Chris for such an unforgettable day! read more

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What a perfect day with Captain Dave and his expertise and respect of the water and the whales ! Thank you!!! read more

Adventure Whale Watching - Our group... personal and amazing ! Thank you - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

What a great adventure!! We did not see any whales on this trip but we got to become part of a pod of over a 100 common dolphins. Captain Rick was the best and so knowledgable. I would strongly recommend this to everyone. It was absolutely amazing looking left and right and being surrounded by dolphins. read more

Adventure Whale Watching - Dolphins on both sides of our boat. - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

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My friends and I had so much fun and saw a whale with its newborn baby! And we loved captain Rick he was so knowledgeable and fun, would definitely recommend. read more

Fantastic morning trip with Captain Sam! Beautiful weather, saw a momma and calf grey whale and an amazing pod of common dolphins. Also, got to see the old Schooner! Captain Sam was very knowledgeable and friendly. Highly recommended! Great fun! read more

Adventure Whale Watching - Grey whale and calf in front of the old schooner - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

I've gone on whale and dolphin ocean safaris with Adventure Whale Watching twice now. As one of the rare San Diego residents and repeat customers (since most people are from out of town), I enthusiastically recommend this experience for visitors and locals alike! You know those big, slow nauseating whale watch boats with a hundred passengers and a captain talking on the loudspeaker like it's the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland? Yeah, this isn't that. On this adventure, the captain will take you and five others ALL OVER the San Diego coast, speeding around in search of whales and dolphins. The decommissioned Navy boats they use are small, fast, and smooth. Honestly, I would pay for the boat ride on its own without the possibility of seeing whales, that's how fun it is. Yesterday morning, Captain Kyle took us out, and we were the only whale watch boat to see baleen whales -- we saw several minke whales, which are rare for this season, not to mention generally elusive. We also saw several hundred dolphins. Another reason this is better than the big whale watching boats is because you're so much closer to the water. Seeing dolphins swim right under you and jump right in front of you is a pretty magical experience. It was a great time, and I appreciated Captain Kyle's enthusiasm and expertise. Sadly no blues, but I'm glad we saw some whales! I also went two years ago during blue whale season, and we didn't see any whales that time. We did see probably one thousand dolphins though, which was incredible. Since I'm a local, I'll have to keep coming back in the summers and trying to see blue whales! (To be honest, if the price were lower, I'd probably be back almost every weekend!) read more

Do not count on this company. Only 90 minutes prior to our reservation, they called to tell us that they had not met the minimum number of passengers and were canceling the trip. We had based our entire trip from the east cost to California around this experience. On the last day of our trip, when we could have done a multitude of other things, they called to cancel. To add insult to injury, all other companies were either full or not taking reservations at this point. I can't even begin to express the lever of my anger, frustration and pure disappointment. I understand that businesses have to make a profit, but sometime you need to eat the loss. I'm sure the experience would have been wonderful as they have many great reviews. But certainly do no count of them to honor your purchase. (We did get a refund). read more

Our family of 5 went on the 3:30 tour on July 3, 2024. Our captain Kyle Hargrave was full of knowledge and made the whole family feel comfortable. The ride out to the whale area was fast and unexpectedly smooth. When we arrived we stared to search for whale spots. To our excitement we found two and were able to watch two rare blue whales swimming. After watch these beautiful creates for a while Kyle took us out further to a large pod of dolphins jumping and playing. Kyle got the dolphins to swim right along side the boat, so close we could have touched them. We then returned to the whale area where we were able to see one of the blue whales again before returning to the marina. This fulfilled our dream of seeing whales with our kids! I would highly recommend adventure whale watching to any family or group that wants to have a more personal experience that exceeded our expectations. read more

Adventure Whale Watching - The rare blue whale! - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

Our captain Kyle was very knowledgeable on the area and animals we saw! There were lots of dolphins he took us to see and we found a whale! Highly recommend! read more

We went on a whale watching trip just off the coast of Point Loma with Capitan Rick! Let me tell you great captain with plenty of years of experience! 42 years to be exact! We went on a 10 person boat what was used to be a military boat. Very comfortable boat ride with padded seats. Captain Rick was very engaged and very informative with all the sea life we were trying to see while out at sea we seen 3 grey whales. And also seen a bunch of sea lions! At the very last part of the ride we unexpectedly seen a few bottlenose dolphins! Then to find out we were in the middle of a few pods of bottlenose dolphins which could have been around 15-20 dolphins! Had a blast and I know the kiddos and the rest of the family had a blast!!! I would totally recommend 10 out of 10 read more

Picked a perfect day to go whale watching. Made my reservations about 2 months ago, after emailing and talking on the phone with Joann. She was very helpful in getting us the information we needed to make the reservations. We made the reservations for today, March 12, for the 9am ride. We were greeted by the Captains and Joann, filled out some paperwork and we were off. The boats are comfortable, fast and fun to be in, much better then those other companies with the big ships. read more

No whales. The boat rides was so fun though. I could see why people would say it was "rough" but that's the way it goes in this part of the Pacific and on a fast boat. TOTALLY fun but most importantly safe. It's cold you guys! They give you a suit which is warm but dress accordingly. Captain Sam was fantastic and put safety first. He didn't rush us, had great music playing, and had the best sense of humor. We saw several different dolphin pods, birds, and seals. So worth it. Hoping to see whales next time. read more

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Captain Rick was an excellent guide. He was extremely knowledgeable about the sea life and was able to get us close to the whales. My picture doesn't come close to how amazing our adventure was. I was so busy enjoying the journey that I didn't get the best whale shots. I highly recommend this adventure! read more

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I purchased a seat on their six-person fast boat tour and it was an amazing experience. The small boats allowed us to quickly move to new locations where we spotted three blue whales. We were also surrounded and followed by large pods of dolphins twice during our three hour trip. Our guide was incredibly friendly, knowledgeable, and determined to provide us with the best experience possible. I rented one their GoPro cameras and was able to get an incredible clip of the dolphins swimming alongside our boat! Highly recommend if you're looking for an exciting closeup whale watching experience. read more

Fantastic time. Was somewhat leery of booking as my 6yr old is scared of the ocean. Captain Kyle was great with him and he got to see hundreds of dolphins. We missed the whale watching season but kids had a blast seeing the dolphins and didn't get seasick. Definitely booking again next time in town. read more

Adventure Whale Watching - Dolphin air time. - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

We booked our trip on a Monday the week of the July Fourth holiday. Booking online was super easy and they have two boats so you have plenty of time slot to choose between. They provided directions through text to their exact location. I love going whale watching on the smaller boats they can get you closer (within proper distance) to the whales. Captain Rick is extremely knowledgeable and experienced at his craft. We saw 3 different Blue whales, our first time with these enormous creatures. We saw Common dolphins and sea lions on our 3 hour outing. It was a spectacular experience and I highly recommend this company. I would recommend wearing long sleeves and pants with a hat and light jacket, it does get windy and it is chilly as you race to the nearest sightings. You will enjoy your time on the water. read more

Such an amazing 3 hour tour today with Captain Rick! 2 humpback whales and a pod of at least 200 common dolphins!! We highly recommend Adventure Whale Watching with their RIBs. Professional, kind, and happy people who enjoy sharing their love of the Ocean and its amazing creatures! read more

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We had a breathtaking experience being so close to this beauty! I actually choked up & got tears at how beautiful this creature was when we saw the tail so close. I highly recommend this company as opposed to the bigger boat companies. This boat was smaller with a 360° view & more intimate & you can hopefully get closer to the whale. We even saw a sea turtle! I had no idea they were in San Diego but they are! Our trip was on July 13 and I guess there was only about one whale in the area. Captain Kyle knew exactly where to go to find her & it was awesome! Super friendly & shared a lot of great knowledge about the ocean! Thank you so much for being a part of this special memory! Even the receptionist was friendly & super helpful. 5 stars! Highly recommend. Tip: Wear lots of sunscreen especially on the top of your thighs! Oh yeah and make sure to tip your Captain read more

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Captain Kyle was amazing. Drove the extra mile to make sure we saw some blue whales!! Was a trip of a lifetime. Will be back. read more

Adventure Whale Watching - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

I am writing and posting this review because I feel that this company was negligent and far more interested in making money than showing their passengers a great time. It's hard to give a whale watch company a better score than two stars when the result of the morning's effort resulted in a total skunking. Being a professional wildlife photographer who has gone on many expeditions - most of which were phenomenal ... but also some that were average or total failures, I understood and accepted the risks involved when embarking upon this adventure ... a tight rope between reasonable expectations and the wild unknown. We arrived in San Diego, having had a wonderful experience with a different whale watching company out of San Diego a few years ago, we hoped for the best but understood that we might not see anything because no animals were around - not because we were in a total fog. Had they taken us out in good weather and we had still not seen any marine life, I still would have written a great review. We believe this particular mess could have been avoided. When we arrived at the boat, the captain went through safety checks and rules and told us about what we may or may not see. Once we boarded the small inflatable boat, we headed out of the harbor and towards the open ocean. The captain had received notification from other boats that the marine layer was indeed thick and everywhere ... unavoidable. I believe I heard the other captain on the radio say - we can't see twenty feet in front of us. Shockingly, we ventured out into this massive cloud anyway. A three hour whale watching trip ended up being a two hour and forty five minute ride in fog and about fifteen minutes of clear once it dissipated. Naturally even if animals were around - we sure wouldn't have seen them. But we stayed the course for the entire time. Here's where I have a problem... the captain and company knew that the marine layer was in well before going out. And while they also knew it would eventually lift and the company said that they had no mid-afternoon trip booked - which meant that since everyone had already said that they had no plans that afternoon, we could have at least waited a couple hours until the fog lifted and gone out last and at least had the chance to see whales and dolphins if they were around. Instead - again ... we saw nothing but fog. The company should never be responsible if animals aren't present but they have been doing this for decades and they knew that this was going to be a problem - yet took us out anyway. At the end, I was the only one to still tip the captain because I understood that he at least tried but the company and he could have offered a delayed trip or rain checks due to weather. Very disappointing but next time we will sort these issues out prior to going out and wasting our time and money. read more

When planning our trip to San Diego, we knew we wanted to do a whale watching tour. We are so happy we chose Adventure Whale Watching. The smaller tour size really enhanced the experience-we had so much fun on our tour! Rick was our tour guide and he could not have been better! He was so informative! 10/10 recommend while in San Diego! The pictures posted do not give the experience justice! We were lucky to see two blue whales, 2 different pods of common dolphins and snoozing sea lions. Thank you to the entire Adventure Whale Watching team! read more

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Omg this was so much fun! We live here But this was our first time. Worth every penny. Captain Rick was also amazing as well he know exactly where to take us and we saw so many dolphins! Thank you!! read more

Adventure Whale Watching - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

My wife and I had the most memorable first anniversary with Adventure Rib Rides. This was my wife's first time on a boat let alone a Rigid Inflatable Boat and she loved every single minute of it although she she did have some reservations about going on an inflatable boat when I bought the tickets but Captain Rick was the best and needlessly say we will be doing this again the next time we're in San Diego. Being on a RIB was definitely hands down more enjoyable than being crammed on a larger boat with a hundred or so people try to jockey for the best spot on the boat just to get a glimpse of a whale or the other sea life that we encountered. Thanks again Captain Rick and all the staff at Adventure Rib Rides for an anniversary we'll never forget. read more

Adventure Whale Watching - Dolphins swimming next to our RIB - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

Was amazing!! Saw blue whales, dolphins and a few ocean sunfish. Of course sea lions too. Capt. jack was so informative and knew the best ways to get the best views without impinging on the animals. Did the smaller rib. Would go again. In a heartbeat!! read more

Adventure Whale Watching - Blue whale - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

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Even though we didn't see any whales on this trip, which was very disappointing, we had an amazing time. It was fast, it was scary, it was fun. Our captain was great. He made sure we saw dolphins. So many dolphins. We had a great time. Definitely will come back again in hopes of seeing whales read more

Adventure Whale Watching - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

From the excellent information and reservation with Grace, to the sunshine that is Brittney and the most wonder adventure with Capitain Kyle this was the best birthday present and checkmark off of my bucket list I could have given myself! Perfection from start to finish! Thank you! read more

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BEWARE OF REFUND POLICY I visited San Diego recently with my son. We had a short 4 day stay and we were so excited about this adventure. Sadly, we had to cut our trip a day short due to severe weather in the midwest that was going to delay our return flight. I called the company one day prior to inform them of this and they explained that there is a 48 hour no refund policy, no exceptions. We were already very saddened that our vacation had to be shortened. Adding to the the blow was the fact they kept our entire $257.00 and we got nothing for it. I understand refund policies. But respectable businesses show grace when there is extenuating circumstances. read more

Captain Rick was awesome! Very knowledgeable, extremely outgoing and friendly. You could really tell he cares about the whales and loves what he does. We were lucky enough to see some gray whales too! Awesome job Captain Rick! read more

We rented a private boat ride for our family of 5, and were so looking forward to this. Unfortunately were sorely disappointed. While the company was aware that they were in a "transitional" period over the last couple of weeks - with barely, if any whales passing through San Diego - they did not inform us about this prior to our trip. The captain only told us afterwards. While I understand the reason for a "no wildlife guarantee" - because they can't summon the wildife to appear - I feel totally cheated that they knew there were no whales out there, but took us out for a 3 hour boat ride anyway, pretended to be a bit surprised / disappointed we didn't see any, and then said "well, sorry about the whales, but I hope you enjoyed the beautiful day." And to think they had a group lined up to go out for "whale watching" right after us! What a racket! Advice to future customers: you might want to ask them explicitly how many whales / other wildlife they have seen in the days leading up to your boat ride. read more

RIB boat + Captain Spence= pods of playful dolphins, sleepy sea lions, and deep diving gray whales. Captain Spencer's wealth of knowledge made all the difference. It's always refreshing to meet people who care about preserving the planet and all living things on it. I will never go whale watching on a regular boat again. read more

Adventure Whale Watching - Captain Spencer and gang. - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

Wonderful experience with this group. Saw multiple blue whales, and the school of nursing dolphins among other sea animal :-) the crew was great, they kept us informed of everything going on, and told us with plenty of time where to look in the ocean for whales. Great experience. read more

i wish I could post more than a 5 star rating. We had a fabulous adventure yesterday with Captain Kyle. What a day. We saw pod after pod of dancing dolphins and took so many pictures, We were entertained with sea lions and many, many birds. My grandchildren loved it. My six year old grandson quietly said as we pulled into the dock..."I really enjoyed that!". My granddaughter was cheering the dolphins (her favorite sea animal) all day with her aunt. What a wonderful day. Thank you Captain Kyle. We are coming back. read more

Adventure Whale Watching - Captain Kyle took these and forwarded them to us. Thank you Captain Kyle - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California

Cant say enough about how great the experience with Captain Rick and the Adventure Whale Watching crew was this morning! They give you snowmobile suits to keep you warm, but it was such a gorgeous day we didn't need them. Our boat had 6 people in it so everyone got great views of everything, and we were even lucky enough to catch a blue whale cow and her (giant) calf! Highly recommend Adventure Whale Watching if you're in the area and looking for an up-close experience with whales, dolphins, and California sea lions! read more

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I have gone of two tours with Adventure Whale Watching, and each trip has been an incredible experience. There is no need to be hesitant or nervous about the size of the boat; it feels extremely spacious and the company ensures the boat is not overcrowded. Additionally, the boat is very sturdy and chops through the waves with ease. Captain Ricky is extremely knowledgeable and takes his time to explain everything. Even though he has undoubtedly seen hundreds and hundreds of these gorgeous animals, you can tell he finds great joy is bringing others to these animals. The size of the boat allows for you to get respectfully close to the animals, and you can tell that they are very comfortable with the vessel in the water. They provide all-weather jackets since it does get a little chilly. If you're looking for an opportunity to see dolphins and whales, I highly recommend this tour group. read more

Adventure Whale Watching - A dolphin jumping clear out the water as we found a pod. - Boating Near Me - San Diego, California