Whale & wildlife watching tour

Zip out into the Salish Sea to spot the humpback, grey, minke whales and orca that flock to the area.

The waters around Victoria and the Gulf Islands are home to resident pods of orcs, humpback, grey and minke whales, along with much more marine wildlife. On this tour, you’ll venture out into the waters surrounding Vancouver Island to try and spot the local wildlife. You’ll be able to enjoy a longer, more relaxed tour to ensure you get the best sightings possible.

The tour departs from Fisherman’s Wharf, and we recommend heading to the wharf for a delicious fish and chips for lunch, depending on the time of your tour. You’ll be kitted out with gloves, jackets, hats, blankets, sunglasses and sunscreen before boarding the small but spacious open boat and jetting off.

The tour tends to last three and a half to four hours, but it will depend on where the whales can be seen. Your guides will use radios to communicate where whales have been seen, and travel as far as they need to make sure you see whales, meaning they have a 98% success rate.

This is one of our preferred trips, and staff have witnessed humpback whales swimming directly under the boat and surfacing on the other side, feeding groups of humpbacks, pods of orca as they move through the bay, and humpbacks leaping from the water. There’s an on board hydrophone as well, so you can hear the whales communicating beneath the water.

We’ve chosen to work with an award-winning company that takes pride in its sustainable credentials. They’re carbon neutral, Biosphere Certified, use low-emission, low-noise boats, and participate in 1% for the Planet, among many other efforts.