Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co

My family went on the whale-​watching tour and froze our butts off! None of us got seasick, and we were very lucky, because a lot of other people did. Over the course of four hours we saw a few porpoises, some seals, and one whale. And a TON of birds. I understand that the staff can’t magically make animals appear whenever they want, but they can give a little more information at the booking stand and to any hotels that book directly. Definitely bring warm clothes (long pants, covered shoes, a jacket, even hats and gloves) and be prepared for rough waters. Also, they charge cash-​only for snacks and drinks, so bring water and maybe snacks if you think you’ll get hungry. Wear sunscreen! In my opinion, it wasn’t worth the steep price for tickets, but if we had been more prepared for the conditions, we may have enjoyed the trip more.

took our whale watch on wed june 15^th, 2016. if you want to pick where you get to sit on the boat, arrive early to wait in line. we were there 45 min early and still had 5 – 6 families ahead of us. those coming right @ loading time didn’t have many options for seating. tour itself was informative, but we spent the majority of our time chasing the same minke whale in circles. we were given vouchers to come back anytime in the next 3 years, and they can’t really control what you see so it’s understandable. be aware that the temps out to sea are easily 15−20* colder and it’s extremely windy if you’re up top. we went when it was only 62* outside and it was quite frigid once we were moving. overall it was a decent experience, something diff/​new but it wasn’t anything super spectacular either.

My mom and I went on the lighthouse tour and it was amazing. A good amount of time on the water (almost 3 hours) and the tour guide was very knowledgeable. They show you all the cottages along the shore and describe their histories and who owns them.

Read Sam D’s review, he tells it how it is.
I went this morning, the experience started with the boat leaving about 30 mins late. We were told they had to wait for a tour of 80 people who were running late. I found this to be rude. Anyways the tour bus was all foreigners and at least 90% were puking their brains out within 20 mins. I would said 70% of the boat never even went outside.
All in all we saw no whales. One of the guides on board said they didn’t see any yesterday either, of course the company knows that but sells tix anyways.
Look, I’m from New England, I understand you can’t guarantee that I see a whale. I’m not asking you too but don’t give me my «money back» knowing that I can never use it, that’s insulting and your better off not guaranteeing anything. Tell people to take a Dramamine, the entire boat is just lined with puke. My whole group nearly puked hearing and smelling other people yack.
Wouldn’t go back and wouldn’t recommend it.

Our experience on our whale watch was life changing. Seriously.
We went first thing in the morning on the first day of September and we saw a young humpback whale with hundreds of harbor porpoise and even little baby ones! It was amazing and left our whole group in awe. The narration was excellent by the biologist who sounded as knowledgeable as he did compassionate about these animals and it was a perfect experience once the whale was sighted!
The ride was rough on the way there and back and I would definitely recommend the earliest charter like we took bc it wasn’t packed like the later ones are. I also encourage you to look into Sea Bands as they greatly helped those in our party in conjunction with some non drowsy Dramamine. It’s best to be prepared just in case the ocean is super rough like it was on our trip. It was worth the rough seas though and we are definitely going to do this again! I will recommend this to everyone as the elderly around us enjoyed it as much as the youngest of children so it’s perfect for families visiting Acadia!

3.5 stars…
When I took a whale watching ride in Cape Cod I saw a number of whales and got some great shots and had a life changing experience. When I came off this tour only having seen the dorsal fin of one whale a couple times and a few dolphins I wondered if it was because of the time of year or just the location. Then I remembered that in Cape Cod the whale watching company had a scout boat that passively kept track of where the whales were hanging out and they would communicate with the captain of the next tour. Our captain on the other hand seemed to just wing it, had no definitive devices to lead him and relied on those on the tour to keep their eyes out and point if they saw something. This would have been fairly acceptable if the tour was like $ 15 – 20 but at about $ 60 (tour is 3 – 3.5 hours) it’s really not worth it, especially if you’ve already gone on a successful whale watching ride before. On the plus side they did have a friendly and informative captain that shared a lot of information though it was hard to hear most of it through the speakers outside with the wind blowing past us. It’s also worth noting that if you want to see puffins the time to do that is May 22^nd to August 21^st. We came after that time so missed our chance. They do have a lot of seating inside and some snacks so if you don’t feel like standing outside in the wind and cold (and it is cold year around in the open ocean in Maine) there’s a decent place to hang out. When the captain finds a whale he’ll turn the boat around so hopefully everyone gets to see and because every one is typically in the front of the boat, going from the seating inside to the side of the boat to see something is an easy way not to miss anything.

Right from the get go they told us there was a possibility of fog and invited anyone who wanted to postpone to another day or cancel with full refund. Excellent boat crew with very informative and humorous narrator. The ships captain even turned the boat around when he spotted wild life so all aboard could enjoy the sites. A must do activity for all.

Planned to go on a Tuesday sunset whale watching tour. Arrived half an hour early to find out the tour was cancelled due to «off shore conditions». Not sure what those conditions were since we weren’t informed & the weather was relatively clear & nice. Tried to reschedule for the next day but all those tours were full. Rescheduled for Thursday. We went into town to watch them leave on Wednesday. Saw that the boat was absolutely packed to capacity. Woke up Thursday to fog, waited all day for the tour to be canceled again. I realize they can’t control the weather, but it seems to me they cancel more trips than they take. Don’t waste your time, go hiking instead. I wish we had!

Had a great time. We took the nature tour, which was a great two and a half hour tour of Frenchman’s Bay. Saw lots of Desert Island ranging from billionaire mansions overlooking the sea to peregrine falcons, bald eagles and harbor seals. A delightful way to spend the afternoon. Staff was friendly, the boat was comfortable and the guide knowledgable. Be sure to bring a jacket as it can get pretty cold out there. Enjoy.

Had the 1:00 PM whale watch tour booked for Wednesday June 24^th. It had poured like crazy the day before so I was excited to have a nice day and I was super duper excited to see some whales for the first time in my life. It was a perfect day. Sun was out and not a cloud in the sky and a perfect blue sky overhead. Get to the desk to pick up my whale watch tickets and find out the tour is cancelled due to turbulent weather out at sea. Seriously? They might as well have punched me in the stomach because that was one of the biggest disappointments I’ve recently been hit with. They offered to reschedule me for the friday whale watch tour. I was leaving Thursday so that wasn’t going to work. I ended up taking the nature cruise around Acadia National Park and seeing seals, a bald eagle, jellyfish, and a paracrine falcon in addition to seaside mansions and Acadia National Park landmarks from a different view. Okay it wasn’t a bad tour I admit but nothing and I repeat NOTHING was going to make up for not seeing whales.
While I did make the best of the tour I ended up going on I still am very VERY disappointed that I did not get to see whales. Especially with how nice the weather was that day. Perhaps next time I should look into a different whale watch company if possible.

Seeing whales in the wild is said to be a life-​changing experience that reaffirms your fundamental connection with the natural world.
But I wouldn’t know anything about that. I spent three hours sitting in a hold with 70 other tourists puking their guts out into the (thoughtfully provided) barf bags. The seas around Bar Harbor itself might be calm (that’s why it’s called a harbor, people), but the North Atlantic is a mean sea in any season. Expect to puke. Expect the 12 year old girl with the dolphin sweatshirt to puke, turn, look at you in the eyes, then puke some more. Expect the Asian grannies to puke daintily. Expect the good old boys from ‘Bama to puke horrifically. Puke. Puke everywhere.
As I desperately fought the urge to puke, I learned two things that turned my misery to fury.
When I called to book my trip, I asked «Will we see whales today?»
«We have a money-​back guarantee,» I was told.
1. The guarantee is not for your money back, it’s for a voucher for another puke-​filled whale watching trip on the same boat. You can’t even give it to anyone else, so if you’re not a masochist planning who lives near Bar Harbor, it’s completely useless. Otherwise it could make an excellent revenge gift for your worst frenemy.
2. The crew had goes out on this trip twice a day, and we were the second trip. They knew that there would be no whales, and they knew that everyone would puke, and they still went out anyway. That’s cold, Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co. That’s cold.

Good tour but very rocky ride. Lots of people got sea sick. It was a very long ride to sea. Saw some puffins, no whales this trip, some porpoises.

The staff tried really hard to find wildlife even though we went out in the cold and after a storm had cleared. The Seasick wristbands really helped my husband. Unfortunately, even though the captain covered over 120 miles of ocean we only got to see two porpoises. The crew however did not want us to feel completely jilted and took us to see a light house and a research island with starlings and puffins. Plus gave us a voucher for a return trip that lasts up to three years.
My only complaint was that they did not stock any of their merchandise. I would have totally purchased a headband. Dress warmly and protect your ears.

Our tour was canceled due to 5 to 7 foot swells. Went around acadia national park and bar harbor. Imagine our surprise when we saw the ocean and found out that the ocean was flat as a board.
On the plus side they called us before we left the hotel so at least we could make new plans for the day.
Decent customer service, but they seem to cancel trips at the drop off a hat.

We did the Puffin and Whale Tour mid August for $ 60 per adult ticket. The tour was about 3 hours with the boat going out about 20 miles from shore I think. We saw a large Blue Fin Whale and a Humpback Whale, as well as several harbor seals and harbor dolphins. The boat was very large and held a lot of people. The tour was narrated over the PA by a naturalist who seemed to be very knowledgeable about the local marine and wildlife. Much to my chagrin we saw 0 Puffins. On board amenities include a snack bar with things like hot chocolate, coffee, hot dogs, and hot soft pretzels. The snack bar staff are really nice and definitely ham it up a little bit for tips. The bathroom on board was very clean. I enjoyed my tour but was really disappointed not to see a puffin and a little overwhelmed by how many people were on the boat. I definitely recommend arriving very early to get a seat on the top deck which is the best view in my opinion. Parking is free on the local residential streets which are about a 10 mins walk away. And it does get cold on the boat so dress warmly and bring a hat, gloves, scarf, and sunscreen.

I mean ehh … the crew was cool and the boat was comfortable.
However, the price of the whale watch to watch 1 whale for 2 hours was ehhhh. I don’t think it was really worth it, but as long as my gf enjoyed the trip then it’s fine with me.
The crew seemed very knowledgeable about whales. In addition, the trip was cold out in the ocean so wear layers!!!

I’ve always wanted to see marine animals up close and personal since I was a child so when I found out there was an opportunity to watch whales and dolphins in their natural habitat while on a boat, I jumped at the chance. We decided to opt for the sunset whale watching.
Bring your hoodies. And hats. And wear long pants. The boat can speed up to what feels like 60mph with wind slapping your face and that is not fun. I also have a tendency to get seasick so I made sure to medicate with Dramamine so I didn’t get nauseous.
Getting a chance to see whales is a pure hit and miss. While the afternoon whale watch session was lucky enough to see multiple whales, dolphins, seals, and even puffins, we only saw ONE whale. It was basically a single whale the entire time that didn’t even breach but simply flipped its tail from time to time in the water. No other animal in sight. Fail.
One of the annoying parts was when the whale would show up on one side of the boat or the other, people were literally scrambling to opposite ends of the rails and pushing each other to see what was going on. We got tired of that scene fast and went inside for hot chocolate after about an hour of that.
I give up.
The Maine sunset was really beautiful though.

Excellent company. They obviously want their clients to be happy. The trip is advertised as 3 – 3.5 hours. The captain stated before we set sail that they were going to extend the trip to 6 – 7 hours to be sure we saw some whales. They even offered money back if they extended trip would not work for us.
Bonus was we saw lots of whales. Our trip was June 21.

Such a great tour! And we saw a few whales, sea lions and puffins as well! The ship is very comfortable and has great views from both the interior and exterior seating areas. Staff was really pleasant, friendly and informative too.
Must brings on the trip:
— Warm clothing, coats/​rain jackets, gloves, and hats… you ride out almost 1−½ hours out into sea so it’s dead cold out there even in summer!
— Seasick pills, bands, ear pressure point things, voodoo dolls: whatever that will keep you from upchucking because it’s a pretty choppy ride. They do provide barf bags
— Snacks: They have food for purchase onboard but the food area is at the bottom of the ship and if you have kids with you or are seasick it’s hard to get to while the ship is moving.

I couldn’t decide how to rate this experience! When we went on this whale watch in mid-​October, 3 out of 4 of us got pretty seasick even though we took Dramamine, 4 out of 4 of us were super cold (which we were prepared for) and we didn’t see any whales. The ride lasted like 4 hours and we were all really glad for it to be over.
BUT. We did see 5 dolphins and twice as many seals and some porpoises and puffins while we were out on the Atlantic. I was worried that it would be hard to see stuff, but there wasn’t a single person on the boat who wanted to see the dolphins who didn’t get a chance. The captain goes really slowly and somehow both sides of the boat and the front and the back all get a chance to see everything. I don’t know how that’s possible, but it happened. :) Plus we were out on the OCEAN which is pretty awesome and we got some lovely views of Bar Harbor and the mountains and we also saw lighthouses and on the way back we got to scope out some really awesome mansions, like Martha Stewart’s!
So, even though it will be a long time before I think about getting on another boat… this experience was overall A-​OK. The company is really as good as it gets because they were friendly, it’s a good value, and they do give you a free voucher to go again if you don’t see a whale. If your stomach can handle it. Bwahaha. So I would give the company a 5 and the experience of whale-​watching a 3 for a total of 4. ;)