San Juan Excursions

There are a lot of companies in the area that offer the whale watching exursions and they all are in the same ballpark for price. We choose this one which I would highly recommend. The boat had just the right amount of people on it that you could go from place to place and be able to see. The staff was incredibly friendly and highly knowledgeable. The boat is very stable so there were no issues in sea sickness. We ended up seeing more than 20 whales, 30+ sea lions and 15 – 20 dolphins playing in front of another boat we were near — they were trying to outrun it. It was amazing to see so many in one area all playing. And one of the great parts is that the staff take pictures along the way as well, which they are happy to email to you if you give them your email address (I haven’t received any spam as a result of doing this). Most companies would charge at least $ 10 for this service. So it was a nice extra. Plus the photos they took were much more amazing than the ones I got with my own Digital SLR.
I would definitely recommend this company over similar ones due to the great experience.

After my amazing trip last year I’ve been itching to go again. Had a friend come into town and decided that was as good a reason as any to go again. Just like last time it was FANTASTIC!
The staff was super friendly and helpful. We didn’t see any Orcas on this trip but did see a Minke whale (which I’d never heard of before) along with Humpbacks and a sea lion. Hard to complain when you see two new species of whale in the water for the first time.
Honestly even without the wildlife this would be an amazing trip. The San Juan Islands are one of the most beautiful places in Washington state, which in turn is one of the prettiest places I’ve ever been.
I’d recommend (and do) San Juan Excursions to anyone wanting to go whale watching in the area. I’d give 6 stars if Unilocal would let me, its that GOOD!
Just be sure you dress for the weather, not everyone realizes this but it tends to be about 10 degrees cooler out on the water than on land. While the waves aren’t real choppy you will get a little wet so try and avoid wearing all cotton.
Thanks again for an amazing experience! I’m already dreaming about my next trip :).

Our whale watching cruise was spectacular!
We left from Friday Harbor for our afternoon tour and followed two different pods of Orcas and they frolicked about and chased salmon. Picky eaters, these whales only dine on Chinook salmon. There were some huge whales in the pods along with some juveniles that were just going nuts. We saw a few spy hops and tail smacks along with the usual surfacing. An epic breach was about the only thing we didn’t see. Crew was helpful with pointers and we also saw many seals, bald eagles and bighorn sheep. What an experience!
The Odyssey had plenty of space for everyone aboard and many different vantage points to take it all in from. The crew was friendly and helpful and we had a great time. Highly recommended! My photos don’t do them justice, so here’s their link to our day.

So glad we decided to book this tour! It saved our trip to Friday harbor. We brought 4 kids and decided to book a whale watching tour since that’s what this place is known for. I called Saturday and luckily they had 13 spot available for our group. The yacht is a good size and has spacious seating inside and easy access outside to take pictures of whales when they’re spotted. Staff is very friendly and very informative!

It was awesome! We didn’t get to see orcas on the first trip, but were able to use the rain check to see them (both J and K pod including their new baby calf) and had another fantastic day on the water. Naturalists were excellent on both trips, very friendly and knowledgable. Great people! Trips out were beautiful, boat was comfy and very clean. They even put a hydrophone down so we could hear the orcas calling underwater as we watched them, how incredible! We will definitely be back! Thank you!

Loved everything about this adventure, especially how knowledgeable and interesting the staff was! Very good conversations were being held!
Bring a jacket & hat if you want to be outside! Polarized sunglasses are helpful.
Remember that the crew works hard are rely on tips too!
I caught some great pics, but the crew takes pics too to share in case you forgot your camera. :)

Enjoyed the girls (naturalists) and all the information they had to share.
The boat was comfortable, we saw Orcas– Excellent experience.

Awesome time with a very knowledgeable crew! We saw plenty of orcas and other wildlife and they even sent us the (professional quality) picture to our email!
Wonderful experience!

We called on Saturday morning to see if we could get on a Sunday trip. We were called that night and were thrilled to be told we were on! The ride on the water was smooth and all the naturalists were knowledgeable and friendly. It was wonderful to get 5 chances to see the two humpback whales before heading back. A wonderful benefit was the rain check to return since we didn’t see any Orcas at no additional cost! There are not many offers that never expire and we will be back to see you and the whales!”

Amazing!!! Such a great afternoon! Amazing tour guides, they even walked around all afternoon and educated us on whales. Afterwards, they told us how we can help sea animals, I really appreciated that. Great for families, plenty of seating (even indoor seating). I highly recommend this place, I will be coming back.

Everything was great about our experiences with San Juan Excursions. Super friendly staff, and so informative about the animals we were seeing (especially the Orcas, which was my favorite!), and we were lucky enough to have a pod with us almost the whole time we were out. It was thrilling! I know it’s a rare treat to get as much exposure as we did, but it was like everyone’s first time seeing the Orcas, staff included. I’ll never forget that day. It was a great 30^th birthday!

We booked a whale watching trip on San Juan Excursions through our cruise company. It was a great experience. We’ve been on many whale watching trips and on some have seen more whales but the folks at San Juan Excursions made the day special. First class boat, comfortable, good speaker system so you could always hear the commentary, two naturalists on board who knew a lot and interacted well with the folks on board. They even took high resp photos with a «good» camera, and emailed them to us FREE after the trip. Whoa! Who does this?! Class act, and their pix were far better than most of us on board could ever take. So we came away with good memories of the day and something extra to remember it by. Next time I’m in the neighborhood I’ll be back on board. They even offer a guarantee of seeing Orcas, if you don’t see any you get a voucher for a free return whale watch trip. Nice people!

Whale watching in Friday Harbor is going to run about 100 after taxes and fees per person — FYI
We were worried that we could not get on a smaller boat that holds under 10 because those book weeks ahead of time. We ended up going on the odyssey. It’s a big boat. They say it holds up to 80. We had about 40 on our ship.
I think if there was more it might have been too crowded. So of the ship was completely full, it might have been a different experience.
Captain and crew (naturalists) were super cool. They took pictures for us and posed them in the a whale blog. They also lent binoculars for people to borrow.
iPhones don’t have the zoom for pics here. I’m glad they took some with their super cameras. Orcas/​wild life are generally 50 yards away. Remember they are there to help save the orcas not get right on top of them.

These people know where to find orca whales!
The boat was comfortable, it was nice that they had snacks and beverages on board. We brought our own binoculars, but for those who didn’t have them, there were plenty on the boat to borrow (for free).
The guides were both very accommodating. Britney was especially knowledgeable and had tons of interesting and detailed information to share. It was nice to see how much they care about the animals and especially the local pods.
AND WE SAW WHALES!
The only one thing that would have made the trip better would be about a dozen fewer passengers. There was plenty of front row viewing, but there was also a lot of tight squeezing among strangers.

Just my opinion but: Theoretically it would have been nice if the staff would have been upfront about the conditions out there, and suitability for a 4 year old. It was very choppy that day, and I had my four year old. The staff was very confident, it was a kid friendly boat, and it would be smooth sailing. Both statements were not true. Very choppy at least 3 people sea sick, boat smelled of vomit. Also, very cramped. Too many people, they packed us in. Also, I got better views from shore. Too expensive for what it is.

What a spectacular time we had whale watching! We lucked out on the weather for sure and saw whales for over an hour. The staff at San Juan Excursions were very knowledgeable and friendly. Best spot for viewing is up top I thought. It was nice to have the extra blankets they provided because we got a little cold. We will return! :)

I’ve been coming to the islands for the past 18 years and finally decided it was time to go whale watching. I’ve heard great things about the excursions and they did not let me down! The naturalists, Cory and Heather, were very well informed and gave a lot of information on not only the animals but as well as how the islands were formed. I will definitely recommend them to everyone that travels there! Thank you so much guys for a wonderful trip!

We enjoyed our whale-​watching cruise tremendously and would like to thank the staff for a pleasant and memorable tour (and especially memorable since we were all fortunate to see a pod of 4 Orcas on the tour)!

This was an awesome whale watching tour! We saw two different killer whale pods, a minke whale, a handful of harbor seals, harbor porpoise and bald eagles. Our guide was very knowledgable, I definitely recommend!

This was suggested to my by the hotel, so I went. they knew the places to go to see the whales, eagles, otters, and some of the other creatures. I got to see some of the ocras pretty close.