Tona Rowett
The whale-watching cruise completely exceeded our expectations! Fortunately, we had a beautiful day—hardly a cloud in the sky. The waters were very calm for January. I saw more humpback whales on this cruise (4 total), than I did on a similar cruise in Alaska! Two of the whales even put on a quite a show, "mugging" the boat for more than 40 minutes. I found the Rudee team to be very respectful of this wildlife, following guidelines to keep a safe distance from the animals. These two whales were literally doing circles around the boat, very close to the sides! We had incredible views of all fins, the blowholes, and the tails. You could even smell the "whale breath" from their exhale. We couldn't proceed until they decided they had seen enough of us and moved on. I realize the Rudee crew can't control when or where the whales are. Our sightings actually happened toward the end of the cruise. You are guaranteed to see marine wildlife, and trust me, even the bottlenose dolphin would be enough. (I also highly recommend the Dolphin Cruise during the summer.)
