Observe Pacific Northwest whales in their natural environment on a 3.5-hour tour from Seattle. You have the chance to get up close to orcas, humpbacks, and minkes. Learn about the marine life from your on board guide. In the event that you don’t see any whales during your excursion, enjoy a second journey on the boat free of charge.

See whales or get a second excursion free
Observe local marine life in its natural environment
Get the personalized experience of a small group
Choose from two departure times in the summer

What's Included

Professional guide

Food and drinks
Gratuities

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

8368 Orcas Rd
8368 Orcas Rd, Eastsound, WA 98245, USA
Located at the dock directly beside the Orcas Island Ferry Terminal on Orcas Island. Our Orcas Island location requires taking to Washington State Ferry to get to.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Orcas Island (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Children must be accompanied by an adult
Service animals allowed

Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Jeanne_R

While watching a small pod (4-5) of Orcas teach the youngest to hunt/kill a seal; it spots our boat and ends up hiding out underneath for 1-1.5hrs. The Orca family eventually gives up after the frustration of attempting to finish the kill never happened. Such an amazingly epic experience! The crew (Captain Nate & deckhand Kacey <- probably wrong, sorry!) were terrific and extremely knowledgeable. Highly recommended! Intend to book tours whenever family/friends come to visit us in the PNW.

Reviews

5.0

220 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-7 of 220 reviews

We left out of Anacortes....

Mary_R, Aug 2022

We left out of Anacortes. our guide was extremely knowledgeable about the wonderful whale and sea otter and bird sightings and made the information very interesting.

Once in a lifetime experience

Jeanne_R, Jul 2022

It was such a wonderful...

Kady_H, Jun 2022

It was such a wonderful experience. The crew was amazing and we saw so many whales. Absolutely unforgettable

Buyer beware, also, awesome experience

Rebecca_G, May 2022

So, super responsive but do not care if your fairy is running late. The WA fairy system sucks, total opposite of the Seattle transit system. Luckily our fairy made it.. with about 10 mins to spare. We arrived to the port about 2 hours before our fairy was suppose to leave, it left 45 mins alte. Then, we were supposed to catch the 7om fairy, it got canceled and they moved us to a 10pm fairy.. which was also late. Didn5 make it home til 2am, not the tours fault, but buyer beware, they will not wait for you.

Response from Host, Jun 2022

Glad to hear you enjoyed the Trip! As far as 'Fairys' go,... they are hard to track down. They are very unpredictable. If you find one please capture it so we can study it. People looking to take one of our trips coming out of Seattle should join us from Anacortes. NO FERRY required!!! Makes life super easy. If you join us from Orcas Island please don't take a ferry super close to the time of our departure as if it is late you may miss your trip. We hate to see that happen. For advice or to report 'Fairy' sightings, please call us at 360-376-3711. Have a great day. To make it clear for those coming out of Seattle please join us in Anacortes.

A truly wonderful experience

Carlynne_N, May 2022

We saw a huge group of whales, not super far from the boat- one came quite close! They were gorgeous and the guides were so expert and knowledgeable.

Ripoff

Donald_Z, Apr 2022

We had a 1:00 PM reservation for whale watching boat trip and a 7:30 AM ferry reservation to the island. The ferry system had a boat down so the 7:30 ferry was canceled. The next ferry to the island wasn’t until 3:15 later that day. I call the place and spoke to the owner and explained the situation. The exact words were “the ferry being down was not his problem” and refused to refund my money. This place was a complete ripoff and the owner was very arrogant about the whole situation. Stay away from this we whale watching your company.

Response from Host, Jun 2022

We really enjoy taking people out to enjoy whales on our trips. Unfortunately, we cannot be responsible for getting you to our boat. We can only take responsibility for our boats going to and from whales and off the dock...and back! We think this covers our bases pretty well. We always try to meet people half way. If someone misses a trip due to no fault of their own we offer them standby tickets for a future trip. We offered this individual that option and they rudely demanded a refund and threatened a bad review. Unfortunately, I cannot take financial responsibility for the ferry system but we do our best to take care of our customers. As our confirmation email states (and our website) it is not always wise to count on the ferries to be on time. When possible avoid ferries by using our Anacortes location, or join us in the Islands and stay a few days!

Awesome

Yvonne_F, Jun 2021

Anytime on the water with beautiful pines is a memorable time! Seeing Harbour Porpoises, Fur seals and Harbour seals, Sitka deer. Also mountain sheep, and Eagles. Sadly no whales this time!