We went on a whale watching tour with Byron Bay Dive Centre in mid-July and it was a great. Our…read moreexperience was in part to do with the great weather (sunny, little wind) but the crew had its hand in it too. We saw too many whales to count, including a calf with mom, multiple breaches, a curious whale that passed under our boat, and fin slaps. Also dolphins, a turtle, and a petrel (large avian). The whole trip lasted 3.5 hours of which 2 hours were on the boat. The rest was inductions and transport on land. The launch is from the beach so you'll get wet feet going on and off board. The ship's crew (3 for 10 passengers - max 12) was knowledgeable about whales and other marine wildlife, gave interesting info prompted and unprompted, was continuously on the lookout, and was pretty funny to boot.