Whale Watching Excursion in Seattle

[cuatthesea]

We will be taking a cruise in May 2022 to Alaska out of Seattle, but are coming in several days early.  Since we have a little time, we were considering taking a whale watching excursion out of Edmonds (4-5 hours).  Has anyone done this?  We have a couple are concerned they may get "seasick" on a smaller boat.  Thank you for any suggestions or information.

 

[princeton123211]

59 minutes ago, cuatthesea said:

Since we have a little time, we were considering taking a whale watching excursion out of Edmonds (4-5 hours).  Has anyone done this?

You're sort of bringing sand to the beach-- the whale watching will be more plentiful and better on the Alaska section of your cruise in all likelihood. 

 

1 hour ago, cuatthesea said:

We have a couple are concerned they may get "seasick" on a smaller boat.

If you want to save some time (assuming you are staying in Seattle proper and not Edmonds in which case nevermind) they run whale watching trips right from downtown that go up to Friday Harbor. You have a 2 hour stopover at Friday Harbor so that may allay your friends fear of seasickness. When we took this trip it was on a boat similar to the Victoria Clipper-- high speed catamaran that was pretty stable. 

[Dan G]

victoriaclipper.com

is the catamarran from downtown Seattle

pugetsoundexpress.com

is the co from Edmonds.  The whales natural habitat is close to Vancouver Island (Victoria area) so your going to spend a lot of time in open water to get there.  If you have a day stop in Victoria this may make a better location.  

I have heard good things about the Edmonds tours and Clipper has been around forever.

[Gardyloo]

I would also bear in mind that the resident orca pods in the Salish Sea (the inland waters of Puget Sound and the southern BC Gulf) are endangered and restrictions on whale watching are likely to be increased as time goes by.  I honestly think that if you're cruising to Alaska both you and conceivably the whales might be better off if you do your whale watching tour during a cruise stop.  

[cuatthesea]

Thank you so much for all the info.  You've definitely given me a better insight to whale watching in Seattle or Alaska.  Your help is greatly appreciated.

[rj59]

Agreed, the native Orca pod in Puget Sound just had further recommendations to keep a greater distance, since a couple of the whales are pregnant. They also just lost a grandmother, another sign of their challenges. I just saw a video of a whale watching cruise in Juneau, and they saw plentiful humpbacks, but also an orca pod up close. I saw the whale watching ship in Edmonds a few weeks ago, and it was just full of people on a rather small boat, and I've been on similar ones that took all day to come across some orcas, so I think there are better ways to spend limited time, especially since whale options are better in Alaska. I think you'd have more fun riding ferries from Seattle to Bremerton or Bainbridge Island, or from Edmonds to Kingston, or taking a tour on Argosy cruises of the Seattle harbor or the Ballard locks and Lake Union. 

[cuatthesea]

Gardyloo and rj59 you have convinced me 🙂.  Just read about L47 from Puget Sound Whale Sightings site.  it was sad to read.  I think we'll be happy with a ferry ride and a day trip Gardyloo previously suggested.  You are the best!!!  Thank you again.