Turumoan Whale Cultural Museum — Attraction in Hualien City

Was really hoping to have a more positive review to share - I brought my 60+ year old parents plus my brother to whale watching, last we’ve been here was 20+ years ago and we all remembered how much we loved it back then. We left very upset with how the service and guiding became, especially having gone on other whale watching tours in the US. At comparable pricing, the Toroman trip definitely left a lot to be desired.

First of all, the pre board “educational session” was done in a large classroom with a video playing on loop. Then the guide came in and went on a spiel about the foundation and how much work the foundation has done. Majority of our boat was Taiwanese (Chinese speaking) with a handful of tourists (would expect English) - unfortunately, there was very short intros available for them. Would have assumed having English apps or audio pre recorded especially since some of the descriptions were safety reminders would have been important.

Then came the trip itself, it was first come first serve while boarding, so most ppl just rushed to grab seats on the upper deck where it was outdoors and apparently better chance of sighting whales / dolphins. We had no clue how the boat was setup (it was not described in the intro session either) and I thought it was quite a confusing experience just boarding, finding life jackets and getting seated. The crew didn’t really check on us and a young couple with really young kids came on board a bit later, they didn’t even make sure they got the life jackets they needed for themselves nor the kids, so the kind passengers on board helped each other out.

The worst part of the 3 hours spent on this trip was the ride. Having gone on multiple boat trips / dive trips / snorkeling trips, we know that the weather and wind is unpredictable, choosing to go on a nature trip means there’s always a chance we don’t see what we went out for. What I did not expect, was how rough the sea was, the whole boat was throwing up within the hour. Of the 20 or so ppl on my floor, only myself and another 5 passengers were able to sustain the 2.5 hour ride without getting very sick. This included parents with really young kids falling ill and not able to care for their sick kids as well. The crew did not check in, not even once. And the ride went on, there was no check in on whether passengers were feeling ok, whether ppl wanted to continue with the trip. Even towards the very end when the boat was bobbing up and down dangerously, the guide speaking on an upper floor (not on the same floor as any passengers) announced that the crew was trying to spot something so our trip wouldn’t be in vain. That was when my brother finally went up to the floor the guide and crew were on to beg them to stop the ordeal and head back. I only realized later that there was a guarantee the boat company gave out, that if we didn’t see dolphins or whales on the trip they would give coupons for a free next trip. Which we did receive coupons for afterwards, but we truly were not interested in coming back if the discomfort and safety of the passengers were of such little concern to the company and crew.

These are all small adjustments that would make for a much better experience and reflect better on Taiwan tours. I truly hope the company takes into account and make these trips a better experience for more people to enjoy and fall in love with the Taiwan we...

I booked a trip in english - whole trip was in Chinese, no English at all. The only English info I recieved was where the toilet is. Weather was bad, with low probability of seeing anymals - we did go anyway. Resulted in seeing absolutely nothing, big waves, listening to vomiting people half of the time, returning 30min sooner (of promised 120min). They say if you will not see any animals, you will be given a ticket for re-entry, however for re-entry you have to pay another 400NT which is more than 50% of price. I also did not like how they treated my personal information, as several people could freely read my name, birth date and passport number. I discussed my disappointment with them, but they only told me they are sorry and will try to work on language skills for next time. Maybe they should not sell english version at all! Very...

seeing lovely dolphins was a bonus for me when i took a tour with turumoan in february 2024. i went with no expectation in terms of sighting any sea creature - going out to sea in cool weather was my primary goal and i'd do it again given the chance. the crew on board were friendly and professional (felt bad for our guide who was still speaking despite having his voice drowned out by the boat on our way back, he could rest when the boat gets loud) and i was able to leave my bag at their office. they'd also kindly accommodated my needs for different pickup/drop-off locations. one of the guides shared the dolphins are more active during summer, that it wasn't uncommon for them to tag along the tourboat in excitement so that might be the best time to go if the sun...