Whale Watching - Dominican Republic
Discussion
Haven't done it in DR but have in Cape Verde. Humpbacks are there between March and April. I've been out all day on boats twice and only saw three, a very long way away. Ironically, sat outside a beach bar we saw a huge pod relatively close to shore, some breaching and all traveling from left to right across the bay.
It's pure luck of the draw and if you're happy chilling in a boat all day with the mindset that seeing whales is a bonus then it's worthwhile but any tour company worth its salt will warn you that there's no guarantee (unlike TUI).
It's pure luck of the draw and if you're happy chilling in a boat all day with the mindset that seeing whales is a bonus then it's worthwhile but any tour company worth its salt will warn you that there's no guarantee (unlike TUI).
Did a WW trip a couple weeks ago in Canada (set off from Vancouver) bit dissapointed as wasn't made aware until basically stopping the boat where whales had been spotted that they were not allowed within 200m of the whales!
spotted a pod of Orcas and acouple of humpbacks but only having a phone on me to take photos this is abut the best I could get...
The humpbacks are social and will sometimes swim up to the boats and breach etc but on my trip they were heading away as I guess not in the mood, as mentioned, it really is pot luck if you see and/or get good photo opportunities
spotted a pod of Orcas and acouple of humpbacks but only having a phone on me to take photos this is abut the best I could get...
The humpbacks are social and will sometimes swim up to the boats and breach etc but on my trip they were heading away as I guess not in the mood, as mentioned, it really is pot luck if you see and/or get good photo opportunities
TwigtheWonderkid said:
As above, not done it in the DR, but have done whale watching twice, Reykjavik & Seattle. Not a single bloody whale seen. 
That is a pity. We've been lucky whenever we've gone whale watching (from Alaska to Antarctica, but also Mexico and Iceland) and always seen at least one.Someone has mentioned the distance the boats are supposed to stay away from the whales, in Mexico no one had told the whales so they were surfacing much closer than we should have been from them, which was fun.
For the picture below, I just had to stand on the balcony of our cabin on our Antarctic cruise... but that is an extreme extent to go to get to see them!
Not done it in the Caribbean, but done twice off the N. American Pacific coast and once off NZ South Island.
NZ (Akaroa) we didn't see any whales and only a few Hector Dolphins, who sadly weren't in the mood to play - as others have said, it's a lottery.
Vancouver island went out in a powerboat - double high-power outboards, about 30 seats - the return journey was VERY entertaining as we'd stayed out too late. Saw loads of sea lions, pod of Orca and a Grey with calf.
California (Moss Landing, nr Monterey) went out in a mid-sized (40ft?) cruiser, but only ~15 of us on it. Guys knew their stuff, and we lucked into a super-pod of dolphins (probably 200-300 - could easily see 50+ on the surface at any one time) who hung with us for ages as we cruised along, sea lions pretending to be dolphins, and 4 or 5 humpbacks, inc. one with calf (at a distance) who both breached multiple times. A smaller RIB managed to luck into being right up close with the last pair, but we couldn't close.
First 3 below from CA, bottom two from Canada - click to embiggen. And yes, those dolphins ARE doing what you think they're doing...
Victoria_244 v1 by martin-dc2, on Flickr
Victoria_374 v1 by martin-dc2, on Flickr
NZ (Akaroa) we didn't see any whales and only a few Hector Dolphins, who sadly weren't in the mood to play - as others have said, it's a lottery.
Vancouver island went out in a powerboat - double high-power outboards, about 30 seats - the return journey was VERY entertaining as we'd stayed out too late. Saw loads of sea lions, pod of Orca and a Grey with calf.
California (Moss Landing, nr Monterey) went out in a mid-sized (40ft?) cruiser, but only ~15 of us on it. Guys knew their stuff, and we lucked into a super-pod of dolphins (probably 200-300 - could easily see 50+ on the surface at any one time) who hung with us for ages as we cruised along, sea lions pretending to be dolphins, and 4 or 5 humpbacks, inc. one with calf (at a distance) who both breached multiple times. A smaller RIB managed to luck into being right up close with the last pair, but we couldn't close.
First 3 below from CA, bottom two from Canada - click to embiggen. And yes, those dolphins ARE doing what you think they're doing...
Victoria_244 v1 by martin-dc2, on FlickrVictoria_374 v1 by martin-dc2, on FlickrEdited by havoc on Thursday 25th September 10:34
Edited by havoc on Thursday 25th September 10:34
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