Great whale watching and tour of fyord - Great trip out of baie st Catherine. Smaller ship for fyord cruise meant greater visibility and maneuverability to see the animals. Fyord portion was beautiful views and immediately saw large pod of beluga! Saw harbor seals on the rocks and jumping in the water. On the river portion of the tour, we saw multiple minke whales and grey seals. Enjoyed a hot chocolate on board.

Magical marine protected area - We had an amazing experience on the large ship, great for families with children! Within a few minutes we were in the middle of hundreds of large seals and a pod of beluga whales went by. It is really special that Canada has protected such a large marine area and being in the middle of it all was magical. They can't control nature, I feel bad for people who didn't see whales but I prefer to stay with operators who are careful and don't chase down or harass wildlife. Our captain/narrator was really great and my kids are old enough to thoroughly enjoy the facts & stories.

Fun time whale watching - very enjoyable. staff went out of their way to make sure we had a great time. would recommend any time

Exit to the river - Very nice, beautiful walks, we saw belugas, harbour seals, grey seals and minke whales. Lots of explanations from the Guide, very interesting.

Disappointed & Not worth it - We had purchased VIP Lounge tickets for baie de Ste Catherine boarding. We arrive an hour early as the company recommended. That morning we had unexpected fog and very light rain. It cleared once our boat arrived. Boarding took a very long time and delayed our trip. Once we left the dock, the fog returned. Near the dock, they pointed out two belugas which were somewhat near. We were in the VIP area which was quite nice. Our views were always obstructed by non VIP guests and we needed to go outside on the upper deck for a better view. There were many non VIP guest already on upper deck. It was our understanding that only VIP guests had access to the upper deck which was also roped off. There were over 10 non VIP members. Perhaps friends/ family of crew members. It also annoyed us is that a few of them wouldn’t allow us to take photos of ourselves and our children. The chairs up there were also taken by these individuals. Very disappointing as we did pay quite more for tickets. The VIP Lounge included drinks and a plate of appetizers per person. Our drinks with alcohol (sangria) and coffee were very terrible. Our server managed to make the worst coffee that I had ever tasted from a Nespresso machine. We were even ignored when we requested a second drink. We did find that to be quite horrible as we even requested water and were again ignored. Besides the two belugas, we also saw a seal. Other than that nothing else was seen. We could barely see the lighthouse due to fog. For some odd reason the boat sailed very close to shore. Furthermore, the boat travels only a bit down the St Lawrence River and then turns back. The same route was taken a few times. We were quite dissatisfied and disappointed with both the experience and service. We would not recommend this to anyone. We even had to purchase food for our children as nothing at all was offered to them in the VIP area. I would recommend taking the free ferry to Tadoussac and exploring there. On a clear day you can see more whales and seals, as well as enjoy local foods. The Ferry runs 24 hrs a day.

An expensive disappointment. - We went twice: First on a Zodiac on July 16th. It was a foggy day--they did not warn us that we were very unlikely to see anything on a foggy day, but went ahead (after a good hour of standing in line and suiting up). We spent two very cold wet windy hours on the boat (though it had been 83F on land before we left), and saw nothing. Six seagulls. Though we'd booked a tour in English, very little English was spoken (including not for the safety instructructions). They did not offer us a refund or chance to go again. So we paid again, to try one more time (we had driven all the way up there to see whales). Booked the big boat in the picture so we could at least be warm and comfortable this time. After waiting in line for half an hour, they announced that there were mechanical problems and the boat was not going. They would send another boat. So we were left waiting, without any options, in a shadeless parking lot for about an hour and a half. Eventually a small boat came up, about 1/3 the size of the boat we had booked on. They crammed us all in there (likely exceeding the safety regulations of the new boat). Most of us had to stand the whole way or sit on the floor. There was not space to move about, so if a whale was seen on the opposite side of the boat--too bad, no chance to see it. And the people with strollers or mobility impairments really had it tough, as we entered on the top deck and left (via a steep staircase) on the bottom. We did see a few Minke whales, lots of grey seals, and distant belugas, and the commentary by the naturalist was informative (and regularly translated to English). So it was not a complete loss, though we spent over $800 for a family of four to go twice. But not an impressive company to work with--it just felt like they were determined to keep your money at all costs. If you are near Tadoussac, I would try another company. If you haven't yet booked your vacation, I would not suggest coming here for whale watching. Have had much better experiences elsewhere. Though there are many (13) species that allegedly can be seen here, the individual whales are few and far between, and just briefly surface (because they are busy feeding).

Avoid misty mornings - We made a whale expedition of 2:30 in the morning in Tadoussac. The mist was great on the river when we left but we were confident. Visibility was 2 or 3 meters, but we thought the mist would clear, otherwise the excursion would have been postponed. Well, no. Almost 2h30 of navigation in the mist. Obviously difficult to see a whale in these conditions. The ride was not pleasant since you could not even see the coast. We were all upset on board. In addition, I am still looking for the expedition in the fjord announced in the description... The problem is that AML knew perfectly well that nothing would be seen, neither the coast nor a whale's tail and maintained its boats despite the fog. How can we see a whale tail 🐳 with visibility within 3 m? At this level, it's almost a scam. $120 for a big ride in the mist and see seals... So yes, there is the famous whale guarantee. So we are offered a place on a big boat to go see the whales, but impossible to use since we only stay one day or two on site. Or we are offered a cruise to Quebec or Montreal worth $50 to book urgently in an already organized trip. So yes I have shifted my entire program to Quebec City to do the cruise, because I do not want to get fooled more than it has already been. Morality: Avoid morning shipments in case of mist.

What a disappointment! - What a disappointment! AML sells a very poorly organized cruise pack + bear watching, without information about the fact that bears are only visible 6 hours after the cruise return... AML teams don’t just provide a “non-refundable benefit”, without benevolence or help... in the country where people are adorable. The disappointment is double... even triple because the rare marine animals are only seen from a very long distance. Avoid AML, it's much better!

Run away! - Problem with tickets and incomplete service, no help, no refund and the staff does not care and does not try to help. Shame especially in a country where people are adorable and all our experiences have been fantastic. They sell you on the internet a cruise pack whale + Bear departure 10:15 for a total of 3 hours. Once paid they announce that the bear is at 6:30 pm. You are not available on a well-organized roadtrip to finish the performance not 3 hours later but 10 hours later. And they send you to fuck you and say “well no we don’t pay the bear back” Of course it was nowhere marked at the time of Reservation that the bear’s schedule was so far from the 3 hours announced. In addition the cruise takes place at a very far distance from the marine animals it is not worth the cost on overloaded boats. Run away! There are other much better companies a priori. Very bad experience!

Busted boat and inferior replacement boat cancels our desire for whale watching cruise. - We were booked for the earliest whale watching cruise (9:45) on the boat on July 18th. We boarded a shuttle (nice touch) from a prearranged spot near their office, and once at the pier, we waited longer than our departure time. They said they had mechanical problems with their engine, and were calling another boat to come, but we'd have to wait about 30 minutes. Okay, things like this happen. We'll wait. The boat arrived, and it was way too small for the amount of people there. We would've been one of the last groups to board, but I could see people crammed in, standing room only on the upper deck. I am not able to stand for 3 hours. They started offering alternate dates or times for the cruise, (which was also nice), but we asked for a refund. We were directed where to go for our refund, which was processed quickly and efficiently.