These guys saved us. Another company canceled on us -- as their bus was taking us to the boat -- because they didn't want to go out with only 4 people. We called 5 or 6 other companies, but by this time it was already 6pm or so, and they had all closed up. Eventually one of them recommended HiTime, who were nice enough to agree to take us out whalewatching during their dinnertime.
The boat is small, but since they're limited to 6 passengers, I felt like we had a lot of room. After a short safety talk, they took us out and almost immediately found a pod of humpback whales. It was just amazing. And, in addition to boating they also do some amateur photography, so they helped me with the SLR that I am not yet master of.
Even thought it was late, it was the summer, so there was still plenty of light. They got us close to the whales, but not so close that we were in any danger or would disturb the whales. On the day we went out, the pod we found were bubble-netting, blowing bubbles to force the herring to the surface, and then surfacing themselves to gulp in the fish. I got some spectacular pictures of the feeding whales. We were even lucky enough to see two of them breach!
All-in-all it was a great time. I'm thankful that they postponed their dinner so that we could get to see such a spectacular show. read more