Holy moly what can I say....? Captain Sean far surpassed my expectations, he is literally a…read moremachine. He saved me from my office prison for the last 3 days and it was by far the best experience of my life. We had so many premium spots to anchor in, it was like a private resort. We went diving, snorkeling, kayaking, spear fishing, you name it. You better believe I am coming back to Sean for round 2. Captain Sean thank you!!!

We chartered a memorial at sea with Captain Sean and he was so kind and compassionate. He was very…read moresensitive to our families event and made the time enjoyable and personable. He was very easy to work with to book the sailing journey. We highly recommend Captain Sean and Channel Islands Charter!

Matteo is a most accommodating and hospitable captain. His vessel is clean and comfortable. He…read moremakes everyone feel like family. What a great opportunity to see the Channel Islands and be a tourist in my own city.

From the owner: Welcome to Whales & Co., your destination for eco-friendly whale watching tours. Join our crew for…read morean unforgettable experience at the Channel Island National Marine Sanctuary off Anacapa Island. Come and share our love for the Oceans and enjoy a great day at Sea onboard our Research Vessel. Spend half day off Anacapa Islands with your family and friends to discover the beauty of our Whales and Dolphins or spoil yourself with our tasty snacks and wine selection while cruising at Sunset. Our tours are designed with your Enjoyment, Comfort and Safety in mind. With room for private parties up to 6 passengers, treat yourself with an adventure in the World Whale Heritage waters of the Santa Barbara Channel.

One of the best experiences of our life!!! The boat super…read morecool and comfortable, and our tour guide was awesome. We got to see a big bank of Dolphins, Sea Lions and a Blue Whale. We are definitely coming back, this really was a fun experience.

We went on the 1.5 hour morning outing and saw two separate pods of dolphins which swum around us…read morefor a long time and got up right next to the boat. The boat was small enough to be fast, exciting and close to the animals but large enough to be comfortable and feel safe. We also saw sea lions and heard about the area from our boat captain. I've been on several whale and dolphin boat rides/cruises and this was definitely one of the best. I only took video of the dolphins around the boat and unfortunately, Yelp won't let me post a video. But I added a couple of other pics.

My husband and I booked the EPIC (an accurate description) Sea Caves tour and what an incredible…read moreexperience it was! There were so many great moments and high points, including a playful pod of dolphins that leaped in and out of the boat's wake (and alongside us); kayaking among a large nursery of leopard sharks, both babies and adults; in one of the sea caves, the phosphorescence was lit up like a bright neon blue light along one wall of the cavern; and finally, snorkeling in a gorgeous kelp forest was beyond words! SO many fish (and one seal that sped by us like a bullet train). Our deepest gratitude to the crew, Roger, Cameron and Cooper for their kindness, humor and far-ranging knowledge of marine and island life. It's plain to see they love what they do and we were lucky to be a part of it.

If you're thinking about taking this tour just do it! From the moment you arrive these guys treat…read moreyou like your best friend visiting the islands for the first time. They show you all the cool stuff answer all your questions. It's been a few days and we're already missing them! They are truly lovely to chat with. When it was time to hit the activities they went to work showing their skills and knowledge. FYI we're vegetarian and the lunch was lovely- so make sure you order that too! Thanks Captain Dan and crew! It was a bucket list day we won't forget!

My wife and I had an amazing two-hour sail in Oxnard with Captain Dan and Nico. Honestly, the…read moreentire experience hinged on whether they'd be great company--and they absolutely were. Captain Dan's quiet 20 years in the Navy made us feel in expert hands, and the conversation was just as enjoyable as the sailing. We laughed, learned a bit about the sea, and left wanting more time out on the water! (J&N)

We took the ASA 101 Sailing Course with Capt. Dan and it was absolutely superb! Wiley is a lovely…read moreboat and the perfect vessel to train on. Capt. Dan was incredibly thorough, communicated directly, and is an excellent teacher. He also did a terrific job of tailoring the lessons to the skills of his students. Any day out on the water is a good one, but the four days we spent with Capt. Dan were truly some of our best on the water to date! Can't wait for the 103!

Booked a whale watching trip for the family on a weekday. The boat was half empty, it was not…read morecrowded at all. They had food and drinks on board to purchase. We tried the breakfast burrito and it was okay, not anything great. That's not surprising. The boat was decent, not rundown or dirty. Just getting a little older. Bathrooms were available on board. Service was good. We saw some finback whales, a sun fish and a lot of dolphins. It was pretty overcast and gray when we started. But the sun came out eventually.

We went out on the Speed Twin. This one is good for nullifying the choppy water (and it was). We…read moredid the half day. The deck hands were flying around the boat helping everyone. That was great. It was $115 per person and $40 for the rod, reel, and bait rental. Well worth it. We came home with about 12 lbs of fillets. Mostly ocean white fish. Some bass and sculpin. Will definitely go out again. Good job, guys!

I used this company to transport me to Anacapa Island for an overnight stay. They were extremely…read morehelpful through the entire process. I thought the trip was kind of pricey, but they offered excellent service! We saw an amazing pod of dolphins on the way back to the mainland -- I've never seen them jump so high, and they came right up to the boat! It was a magical moment that filled everyone with so much joy. I was especially grateful for Dan, who made everyone feel at home.

We used Island Packers to go on their Anacapa Island boat tour where they take you around the North…read moreshore of Anacapa Island. As this is one of the only ways you can experience Channel Islands National Park and we were on a time crunch, I felt the 3 hour boat tour was our best option (they offer other Channel Islands exploration options as well). Our guides were amazing and they did a great job of pointing out wildlife and when we got to Anacapa, Felicia was really informative. My husband and I really enjoyed our time on the boat!

Rachel is awesome! Super knowledgeable of the ocean, water, marine life, and history of the area…read more What a rad human being to have guiding the tour. As it turns out, all of the harbor seals, and sealions have names. We befriended one named Steve, he is much better at swimming than I am. He also taught me secret techniques to paddling. This one Pelican named Parry got into a barking match with some sealions, which is a fight he wasn't gonna win, let's be honest. Though I was hoping to see an M-A-N-A-T-E-E ... next time! If you're gonna go down on Haley street, where the dogs are easy and the sun is cheap, you never know just who you'll meet, on Haley. (But hopefully it's Rachel from the Santa Barbara Adventure Company, and you get her kayak tour; shout out!)

This would have been a 5 star review, however, I felt like just a few things could be improved on,…read moreso it's a solid 4.5 stars experience for me. For almost a decade now, I've been wanting to visit The Channel Islands National Park as it's one of the more unique US national parks which require a ferry ride to get over to the islands, so does require some planning. I booked the Santa Cruz Island kayak and snorkeling tour online and the process was simple and all instructions for the tour was laid out clearly and simply. It does recommend that you're intermediate level for both activities. On the day of tour, you do need to make sure you book your ferry tickets that coincide with the tour. You need to be on the 8am ferry out to be in time for the kayak and snorkel tour. They do have a harbor side 7:30am orientation and provide you with clear instructions on what to do as soon as you reach the island. Once on the island, another staff greets you, gives you another orientation and then you head over to the gearing up area. This took about 90+ minutes as you had to find the right wet suit, hood, mask, snorkel, fins, life vest, kayak jacket, and helmet. Note that a lot of the equipment is pretty well worn and I didn't have the best pair of fins (and forgot mines at home) as side clasps were sticky and not working properly. Masks also kept fogging up (and wished I had remembered my own mask). Wet suit was bit tighter than I like. You can use your own gear and next time when I come back, I'm bringing my own. Once everyone gears up, which does take awhile, everyone heads down to the shore and that's when we launch our kayaks, there are solos and tandems available. Kayak tour was great and we got to see at least 5 or 6 sea caves, a lot of fun! These sea caves are some of the most numerous in the world. I really enjoyed one of the sea caves that has a Green Room, water was gorgeous and so clear. Got to see plenty of cormorants, pelicans, sea kelp. I did get yelled at by one of the tour guides as he told me it was his fourth time having to tell me to zip up my life vest. I think it was a couple of times and not 4 but ok, I get it, safety first. It made me feel like a school kid again. I'm a pretty safe person and wished he could have been nicer about the information he needed to communicate to me. We then had lunch on a small beach and then geared up to snorkel. The water is fairly cold, probably around 60ish, so a 7mm wet suit and maybe more would be good. I wished I had some gloves and forgot my booties, which would have kept me a tad warmer. We snorkeled/swam for about a mile, saw snails, sea urchins, fishes, anemone, etc. We sort of lost time at the end of the tour and really had to rush to get back to our original point and we all had to kayak pretty quickly back. And to top if off, had to really work fast to get out of all our gear and wet suits are never easy to get out of. Made it in time for the ferry but barely and got stuck with some of last seats available on the ferry back. I feel like the timing of that could have improved. Overall, a very good experience just with some issues that could be improved one. Highly recommend this tour! I would do it again!

Well, I do have to say, the marketing for this "excursion" is very well written. Too bad the actual…read moreevent wasn't nearly as exciting. Our loading time was 12:00, waiting for about 5 minutes to see if anybody else was going to join us. Captain Dave then took all boarding passes, payments, vouchers, etc. Also tried selling some Pirate gear for an additional $5.00 each - things that you can get at the Dollar Tree--all which took another 5 minutes or so. All the kids received pirate stickers though. While leaving, (12:10) the narration started - "see the seal", umm yeah-he's been swimming around for the last 30 minutes. Didn't narrate anything else, other than tell 3 pirate jokes and pointed out the fishermen on the rocks and what could possibly be caught. Rode up to the the break water, blew the horn to scare the birds so they could fly, the Captain says it's like being in the movie "The Birds". Turned around and floated by the kids beach, Coast Guard Station, the fueling dock, then he let the kids drive the boat for about 45 seconds each. Not really narrated much of anything - mainly because he was on the phone most of the time. We got back to the dock at 12:37. So--with leaving late and coming back early - I would say we were shorted 15 minutes. This company either needs another person go along on the rides or stay at dock to answer the phone and actually write down who and how many are coming for the next trip. Dave took about 6 business calls, pretending to write down the name and how many in the party; took 2 personal calls and made additional calls. Too busy to narrate anything that way. This 30 minute tour was nothing like what we were expecting. Captain Jack Sparrow would be embarrassed. AAARRRRRRRGH!

This was a great first boat ride for our baby boy. It's only 40 minutes so we didn't have to worry…read moreabout bringing anything or about the kiddo being on the boat longer than he would want. It was really laid back and chill; no scary pirates, only a funny one. While we were waiting to board, we saw fish, crab and a small octopus, about 15 inches long- so cool! The captain was really nice- even helped me on the boat with my baby. He told some really cute pirate jokes and pointed out birds and dolphins as we slowly cruised the harbor. Then he let the kids take turns at the wheel, letting them wear his pirate hat. Wasn't too cold, as the front windows are covered. Would do this again for sure!