Recently Viewed
San Diego Bay Whale Watching: Wildlife and Landmarks
4.2
136 Ratings
San Diego
Experience San Diego’s marine life up close on a whale and dolphin watching adventure. Capture stunning photos and enjoy a narrated tour by experts.
Duration:
4 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
learn more
Highlights
- City Cruises San Diego Whale Watching & Harbor Tours - Whale and dolphin watching. As we cruise, we’ll see up-close views of the bay’s wildlife as well as iconic landmarks from a new perspective. Onboard our staff will provide live narration and details about the aquatic life and landmarks we pass for a truly memorable experience. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to capture all the sights in photos and video.
What's Included
- Expert narration by Captains and Volunteer Naturalists from the San Diego Natural History Museum
- Spectacular views of the city skyline and local landmarks, including whales, dolphins and sea lions
- All fees and/or taxes
- Three Hours (Dec-April) Four Hours (June-Sept) Whale Watching Cruise on the San Diego Bay
What's Not Included
- Food and drinks (available to purchase onboard)
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Additional Information
Enjoy the best sightseeing on the San Diego Bay—with a professionally narrated tour provided by The San Diego Natural History Museum of San Diego’s whale-watching hot spots. Join us on the water as we search for Gray Whales (winter), Blue Whales (Summer), Minke Whales, Fin Whales, dolphins, sea lions, marine birds and much more!
As we cruise, we’ll see up-close views of the bay’s wildlife as well as iconic landmarks from a new perspective. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to capture all the sights in photos and video.
If some type of whale is not sighted on your whale watching cruise, you will receive a pass good to return for a Whale Watching Cruise or Harbor Cruise from City Cruises San Diego.
NOTE: The whale watching vessel cruises in the open ocean. Our yacht is the most comfortable yacht in San Diego, due to stabilizers that greatly reduce the yacht’s motion.
- There are Personal Floatation Devices on board for all guests, as per Coast Guard requirements. You do not need to wear life vest or the provided PFD’s during the course of this cruise. However, if you would prefer to have children wear the PFD’s during the course of the cruise, please advise so at the time of booking in the Special Requirements box.
- Please let us know if you require a wheelchair accessible cruise so that we can confirm that your requested cruise date has wheelchair accessible departures.
Location
City Cruises San Diego Whale Watching & Harbor Tours
North Harbor Drive
Boards at Pier 2 with ACE parking lots on the pier next to the USS Midway Museum.
Winter Whale:
Morning | Board 9:15am Cruise 9:30am - 1:00pm
Afternoon | Board 1:15pm Cruise 1:30pm - 5:00pm
Summer Whale:
Morning | Board 8:45am Cruise 9:00am - 1:00pm
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.2
(136 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
Cindy_z
Sep 4, 2024
Whale watching first time - Even though we didn’t see a whale, it was a great adventure on the water. Saw several groups of multiple kinds of dolphins. Staff and volunteers were very friendly and knowledgeable and greatly enhanced the experience. I would go again tomorrow!!
Review provided by Viator
Tonik292
Jul 20, 2024
Was worth it!! - We did the cruise and was not disappointed! We saw what we were promised! Dolphins swimming and jumping along the boat, just like at Sea World, and a mama & baby Blue Whale! She surfaced 4 times and showed her tail . Captain and crew were great! Great narration of San Diego!!! A must
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Onwardtheygo
May 26, 2024
Best Trip of our lives! Loved every minute. - Visited: 19/06/2023
We took a chance on doing this excursion on our GoCity Pass as we had researched and found there weren't due to be any around this time of year. We were blown away! Sea lions on the way out and back into harbour. We had a humpback whale jump 26 times, we had 2 different species of dolphins surround us in the hundreds, and about 7 blue whales including a mother and calf.
We actually cried it was so beautiful, and there were so many that the volunteers gave up counting them .
We are so happy we took the chance on going anyway, as it was really worth the visit out, and made our entire trip in San Diego the most memorable.
Plenty of food and drinks on board, the staff were super friendly and as excited as the passengers. Always take something warm to wear as it gets cold out at sea despite our glorious sunshine.
Would 100% recommend this tour. We wish we could give it more than 5 stars.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tatum_b
Mar 16, 2024
Super fun experience!! - I really enjoyed the commentary from the captain, and they had people from the history museum on board to educate us on the whales and so we could ask questions. The company also donates to the history museum so in return the well trained whalers come on the boat. The boat was big and even though we often get motion sickness we were completely fine! They also gave us information on our way out of the harbor about San Diego. I can’t recommend them enough!!
Review provided by Viator
Richardff9973jl
Mar 16, 2024
Great day on a he ocean - Obviously the best part was seeing three whales on the trip. We spent about 30 minutes chasing the pod around. It was amazing. At first it seemed like we would just have a nice sea cruise. Captain Rick and First OfficerBrian did a nice job narrating the sights out to Point Loma. The sea was rather calm, although a couple people were feeling sea sick. Take Dramamine if you get seasick!! Overall it was a very fun experience. I highly recommend it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Billy_b
Mar 10, 2024
Fun 4 hour Excursion - We got to see whales migrating toward Alaska. We were charged for 4 people; but Viator refunded the charges for 2 people back to our credit card. So, this is $63.46 for 2 people!!! Parking is next door and is $15.00 for 6 hours on the Midway pier.
Review provided by Viator
Globetrotting72202
Jan 30, 2024
A "must do" activity in San Diego - don't miss it - locals and tourists alike! Go with City Cruises! - I booked a whale-watching trip for my daughter and four of my grandchildren after seeing a reference on the Natural History Museum website. The trip was fantastic - comfortable boat with excellent staff, Natural History Museum volunteers on board were very informative, and Captain Rick kept us informed and entertained. The children, aged 10 to 17 years loved it. We all live in San Diego and it's been on my bucket list forever.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Richard_w
Jul 31, 2023
Blue whale sighted - We lucked out and found a blue whale. We had multiple sightings. Captain and crew were great. Also saw several pods of dolphins. Great experience.
Review provided by Viator
64jamesh
Aug 12, 2023
Nice excursion - Boat was nice and clean. Crew helpful and informative. We did see many many dolphins but unfortunately no whales. We were given a voucher for a free return trip good for a year
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Amy_s
Aug 19, 2024
Horrible!!! - We received texts and emails from this place saying the look forward to seeing us at the 9am tour Sunday August 18th. We left a hour early and the ride there said 11 minutes according to google maps. We were 4 minutes from the destination downtown San Diego and there was a marathon that day! The streets were blocked off every where! We tried calling the company which the only phone it went to was th viator number. We had no direct communication to this company! They had all my information and could have reached out to me letting me know there was a marathon that was happening and couldn't take the directions the map was telling us to go and gave us a different route to get there! What business would do this? I'm sure most people who go on these tours are not from the area and would have no idea that a huge event was happening and would effect the way to get there! I'm wondering if this business really exists! Absolutely no communication! So needless to say they took my money! And I still can't get a hold of this so called company!!! I would never recommend this to anyone! Just plain terrible!
Review provided by Viator
