Whale Watching

During the Spring-Fall (March-November) season, the Santa Barbara Channel is teeming with life due to upwelling. High winds push out warm surface water, bringing up cold, nutrient-rich water from the ocean depths, creating a bloom of life. The phytoplankton explosion is so significant that it can be seen from space, providing a food source for anchovies and krill, which in turn feed the magnificent creatures we are searching for. Our summer whale watching season offers an incredible opportunity to see a variety of whales and dolphins, including Humpback whales, Blue whales, Minke whales, Common dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins, and Risso's dolphins. It's an extraordinary experience to witness these creatures in their natural habitat, and we prioritize safety and respect for both the animals and our guests during our tours.

Whale watching in the winter (December-February) is all about migration! Whales are moving to and fro, as they travel from their feeding grounds to their breeding grounds and back. We're lucky here in Santa Barbara to get to experience the longest mammalian migration on planet earth as Gray whales scoot past our coast. Data shows that we also have the best chance of encountering killer whales during this season.