Blue whales migrate up and down the California coast, and the Dana Point – Laguna Beach area is considered one of the best places to see them. Grey whales, fin whales, and local dolphins are often spotted here by whale watching groups; after all, the Laguna Beach area is a major convergence point for so many species of marine mammals. My family were invited to experience “The Biggest Show on Earth,” Ritz-Carlton’s new Ambassadors of the Environment whale watching program, and it was simply incredible. My kids and other guests on the catamaran hung out in the plexiglass-walled hull, eye to eye with bottlenose dolphins. That, right there, would have made the ocean excursion worthwhile. It got even better when Captain Dave spotted a migrating blue whale.
We were too excited to remember to take a lot of photos of this part of our Ambassadors of the Environment experience, and a lot of the video my husband took is filled with excited jabbering of our fellow passengers. I like this clip of his a lot, though; it captures the thrill of seeing a giant blue whale surfacing.
Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel is a perfectly-turned out luxury resort near Dana Point and Laguna Beach. A Southern California coastal family vacation doesn’t get much better than this, especially with the new Ambassadors of the Environment program.
Thank you to the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel and Ambassadors of the Environment for this vacation experience.
Very fun and you got a really great up close video of a big whale, cool!
Whale watching is good in Maine too. When we were in Bar Harbor we went on a whale watching cruise and were lucky to see some whales about 25 miles off the coast, which is exciting but we weren’t as fortunate to get such great up close shots like you guys!
Nice!
Great video – seeing a rare blue whale is amazing
Great video. Lots of Good information in your posting, I bookmarked your blog post so I can visit again in the near future, Cheers
Awesome video! So cute, the enthusiasm.
Another great place to go whale watching is Santa Barbara! Off of State Street there are cruises year round that go around the Santa Barbara coastline. There are jazz cruises, dinner cruises, and whale watching cruises, so there is something for the whole family! And they are pretty affordable.
A really good place to whale watch would have to be Santa Barbara. Great place and there are several good companies that offer great deals on days out on the ocean and so forth. I’ve had wonderful experiences with my family and friends whale watching!I actually just got back from SB and we had a great time. Though we didn’t make it whale watching this trip, we did have a great time playing at the beach!
Thanks for the tip Taylor!