What To Expect On Whale Watching Holidays


There is a lot of difference in simply reading about a whale watching vacation and actually going on one. The entire whale watching experience is a visual treat, and mere words can simply do no justice to the sights that you will actually get to check out on a whale watching tour. However, to give you a brief idea, let us make a summary of the things that are incorporated in a whale watching vacation.

Whale watching is generally carried out in Pacific waters, because this is where you will get to see most of the whale species of the world. Whales, like most other aquatic creatures, are migratory, and they migrate in big numbers during particular seasons of the year. The most famous migration among whales is that of the gray whale, who migrate from the Bering Sea to the region of Baja California once a year, particularly beginning November. They are in the San Diego coast up to April, and this is the time to catch some really interesting gray whale sights if you are on a whale watching tour in San Diego.

Another important whale migration is that of the humpback whale from Alaska to Hawaiian waters. You will find a lot of humpback whales mating here during the months of January to April, which is when many people plan their whale watching holidays in the Hawaiian islands, especially Oahu and Maui. Thus, whale watching holidays are seasonal holidays and there are several cruise operators across these travel destinations that take thousands of bookings each year. That is one reason why you should make an advance booking if you are planning out a whale watching vacation.

Whale watching is done on cruise vessels, especially catamarans that take up to 400 people at a time, even. But some whale watching cruises are experts of small groups of people; even as less as ten. You must understand that cruises with fewer people will be pricier, but the experience of whale watching will be more intimate. During almost all whale watching cruises, there is a whale expert on board, who will narrate the whole cruise, and speak of several natural habits of the whales and explain their actions. There are many things that common folk will not understand, such as a male whale singing for a female, which the whale expert will point out if heard. The best male whale singing can be heard during the mating season of the humpback whales off the coast of Hawaii.

Whales do indulge in several above-water actions that people can watch and enjoy. Lucky people on a whale watching tour will get to see these giant creatures breaching. When a whale breaches, it propels its whole body out of the water, and then drops itself into the water with a resounding splash. However, breaching is a very rare event, and very few people on a tour will actually get to see that. A more common feature is spouting, where whales will pump water out of their nostrils up into the air. The force with which this water is ejected must be seen to be believed. Very lucky whale watchers will get to see a whale couple careening themselves in the mating act.

Whale watching holidays are indescribably unique experiences to those who have actually been on them. It is not wrong to say that every person must go whale watching at least once in his or her lifetime. Words cannot do justice to the real thing.

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