Whale Sightings on Cabo Coastal Cruise?

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I was going to book the whale watching excursion on Princess' website and discovered that they are no longer showing either the regualr whale watching or Zodiac Tours for our Jan. 19 sailing!:eek: I assume this means it is sold out?

 

I went ahead and pre-booked the Coastal Cruise which is described as seeing the highlights of the coast, including Los Arcos & Lover's Beach with time out for whale watching. Does anyone know if we should have a good chance of seeing whales on this cruise? Or are there any other private tour operators offering whale watching that are good? Mom is 78 yo & really does not want to do the Zodiacs.

 

Thanks!:)

[SDPadreFan]

I believe the "Coastal Cruise" will be on a catamaran and yes, you should get to see some whales. The difference with the zodiac's is how close you can get to them. Cabo's Pirate Ship also does whale watching as well.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I was looking at the Pirate Ship. Is this a good tour? I am considering the coastal cruise with Princess or the Pirate ship. The Pirate ship is a lot less money, so that has me interested!:D

[SDPadreFan]

Can't really comment on the Pirate Ship other than to say that it was out on the water with us (we were in a zodiac) during our whale watching trip. My guess is that you will be higher up than you would on the catamaran, but it is just a guess. Personally, I think I would pick the catamaran over the pirate ship given the choice of the two. Unfortunately, nothing quite compares to the zodiac's.

[CCruisin]

Leaving Cabo September 15th we saw many whales, spouting, breaching and tales. In fact the water was teaming with activity as we headed north out of Cabo we also saw large rays, and playful dolfin.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Was this while you were on the ship heading out of Cabo? Where is the best place to be as you leave? We have a starboard side balcony - would we be seeing a lot from our balcony?

[PACURN]

Sunny Az. You may get lucky and see them when you are on board the ship, course getting close will be an issue. The DH and DS were out fishing a couple of weeks ago and saw them off the SD coast. It's a little early for them but it was cool.

 

SD Padre Fan - Love the picture. Is that Niagra Falls?

[cruisevacationsrock]

We are going late January on RCCL, and would like to do whale watching in Cabo. Any suggestions on what company to use. I would like to book independent if possible. Any suggestions are appreciated.

C

[SDPadreFan]

Sunny Az. You may get lucky and see them when you are on board the ship, course getting close will be an issue. The DH and DS were out fishing a couple of weeks ago and saw them off the SD coast. It's a little early for them but it was cool.

 

SD Padre Fan - Love the picture. Is that Niagra Falls?

 

Yes, we were there in July this year as a part of a Philadelphia - Hershey - Niagara Falls - Cooperstown, NY (Baseball Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony for Tony Gwynn & Cal Ripken, Jr.) 10 day vacation. The picture is of the American Falls (from Canada) after we got off the "Maid Of The Mist".

 

 

Also PACURN: do you know about the free tour of the Celebrity Infinity coming up on 28 Oct. It's supposed to show all of the public areas as well as all the different categories of staterooms. We signed up figuring it's the only way we'll ever see any of the penthouse suites. Unless we win the lotto.

[SDPadreFan]

We are going late January on RCCL, and would like to do whale watching in Cabo. Any suggestions on what company to use. I would like to book independent if possible. Any suggestions are appreciated.

C

 

We used "Ocean Riders" (they have a website) in March of this year and had a great time. Zodiac boats. We will be using them again next February when we are at our timeshare in Cabo. They have 4 departure times daily, believe 2 1/2 hrs. each trip.

[cruisevacationsrock]

Thanks for the info!! I will check them out!

C

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Back to my original question - since my mom is very nervous about the Zodiacs & since Princess does not have any regular whale watching tours scheduled (as of yet) for our cruise I signed us up for the Cabo Coastal Cruise which is a 2 hour cruise that goes to Los Arcos, Lands End, Lover's Beach & then says it "dedicates a portion of the cruise to whale watching". Is anyone out there familiar with this particular cruise? How much time is dedicated to whale watching? Or would we have a pretty good chance of seeing whales just by going to the places mentioned?

 

If Princess posts a dedicated whale watching cruise before we go, I will probably switch to that!:cool:

[CCruisin]

We also had a starboard side balcony and that is where we were when we saw the whales out of cabo. I think what you see, depends on how much time you spend looking at sea. DH spent a lot of time there. I can't speak to the dolphin tours as we were too sick to get off the boat in cabo:eek: . Another reason we spent a lot of time on the balcony.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I'm sorry that you got sick on your cruise! I had a cold on one cruise and I spent most of a day laying on my balcony watching the sea go by. I would have preferred to have felt better, but at least I didn't feel as if the da were wasted! Now if I didn't have a balcony it would have been wasted, lol!:)

 

I do think that being on our balcony as we sail out of Cabo would be best. With perhaps a room service snack...!:D

[cruisevacationsrock]

I checked out Ocean Rider's website, and it says that you can get off the boat and snorkel? We (my family and I) have never snorkeled, and I'm sort of nervous for the kids, not so much for myself or hubby. Would it be difficult to do this tour for first time snorkelers or can we stay on the boat?

Thanks!

C

[SDPadreFan]

I checked out Ocean Rider's website, and it says that you can get off the boat and snorkel? We (my family and I) have never snorkeled, and I'm sort of nervous for the kids, not so much for myself or hubby. Would it be difficult to do this tour for first time snorkelers or can we stay on the boat?

Thanks!

C

 

Are you sure you were looking at Cabo's Ocean Rider web site. They do not offer snorkeling with the whale watching tour. They do have a separate "Beach Hopping" tour that allows for snorkeling I believe. Snorkeling in Cabo is marginal at best. There is some snorkeling out by Lovers Beach but it is only "so-so". There are a couple of other spots along the "Corridor" (the area between Cabo and San Jose) which are pretty good but still nothing like the Caribbean, Central America, or Hawaii. If you do decide to go snorkeling, I have seen it suggested to bring a small waterproof container of fish food to really bring the fish close to you.

[cruisevacationsrock]

Thank you for that. I was not looking at the right website, but have emailed them and have gotten more info. Once I talk to the family, I'm sure we'll be using Ocean Riders. Thanks for the recommendation!

C

[Sunny AZ Girl]

From the descriptions I've read (not personal experience) is that most of the tours do whale watching 'in season' and snorkel stops other times of the year. That may be what the confusion is.:)