Capt. Dave's Dana Point Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari — Attraction in Dana Point

WOW!!!! What an experience! First of all, a BIG shout out to Captain Alex and his 1st mate Hannah. They absolutely drove the show literally and figuratively. Firstly, the booking process. I booked about a week out and was confirmed but also notified that I was the first to book and to be aware there was a minimum and if that minimum headcount wasn't reached, I could reschedule or move my booking to another date. The next day I got a call saying the excursion I had booked had met the minimum so the booking could move fwd as planned. I was just impressed and confident with the organization and communication of the outfit and it was still a week out. Secondly, the morning of the Safari. Clear instructions to be there by 8:30. Checked in, got our boarding passes and waited for next instructions. That's when we met Captain Alex and he had clear instructions for us in boarding the vessel. Once we arrived and ready to board, we were greeted by an enthusiastic Hannah which was Captain Alex's first mate. Before pushing off, she provided clear instructions of the motorized catamaran we were on and went over all safety precautions and operation of the vessel. In total, there was about 10 of us.

Lastly, we were underway, and it was a leisurely ride out of the marina and into open waters. The skies and water were unbelievably clear. Eventually Hannah got on the microphone to let us know it was looking a little quiet out there but ensured us they had their eyes peeled and encouraged us to do the same and let us know what to look for like flock of birds swarming overhead, or whale spouts. Well, it wasn't long before we came upon a pod of dolphins and one pod became two, then three and Hannah thought it may have been in upwards of five-six pods easily eclipsing 300-400 short-beaked common dolphins.

Everywhere you looked there were leaping and jumping out of the water, including right below the bow of the vessel as well as swimming right next to the vessel!!!! What was equally amazing was Hannah's real time narration of these dolphins, their behavior, her love and knowledge of the animals and at one point was yelling and talking to the dolphins which encouraged everyone else to do the same. On our way back we even saw four CA Sea Lions lounging on a buoy and Hannah told us a whole bunch of fun facts about those playful critters. I would encourage anyone young and old to book a safari with Captain Dave's Dolphin and Whale Watching excursion. Go for the marine life but definitely stay for the crew. You won't be...

If you’re looking for a place to have an intimate ceremony to honor your loved one and release their ashes at sea, Captain Dave’s is the place for you and your family.

We had a small group of five and went out on the orca with Captain James Lauren. They were warm, loving and so supportive. Perfect for us and our shaky emotionally Pummeled group. They even made us laugh and went out of their way to make our day extra special for my dad. If I could give Captain Dave’s a 10, I would.

When you start calling places, it’s a very difficult and we were well taken care of by Lizzie and the team at the office. They were patient, compassionate, kind, and flexible. Everything you need when you’re trying to migrate this time during loss. They answered all of our questions and more. They have packages you can choose from to make the day very easy for you so all you have to do is show up With your loved ones ashes and your permit. If you have problems with your permit, they’re happy to help you. They really go above and beyond behind the scenes. Some small points of mention are that they validate your parking, And they include the gratuity upfront so you don’t have to deal with it later. Something I prefer. They also have packages you can choose from: we got a celebration package that included flowers, water, and champagne/cider - However, they do allow you to bring your own flowers, your own drinks, etc. We just didn’t want to have to think about that. The roses they provided us to honor my dad were absolutely beautiful.

The day of the ashes scattering everything went so beautifully, we could not ask for anything more. Captain James and Lauren guided us And showed so much care and compassion for our loss and for our loved one who we were bringing to the sea.

It was a very smooth ride and the perfect day… It’s truly indescribable how special this day was for my dad and for us🥹🙏💜

We were not rushed in anyway, in fact afterwards, Captain James shared with us that there was a school of dolphins on the way back and if we’d like we can see them. This added a special bit of magic for my dad and for us on this day of honoring.

If you’re looking for a family style business to help you and your family with the scattering of ashes at say I highly recommend Captain Dave’s Service. If you have a small group, the ORCA is perfect.

Thank you again to everyone at Dave’s for making a difficult day one filled with magic.

• please note if you do have larger groups they do have other boats. You can just ask them about this when...

We had an absolutely delightful time, and I'm so glad we spent the extra money to go on Captain Dave's! I almost got lured in by some other companies advertising $20 tours. But I've been on those big boats way up high and it's just not that fun and the views are not that great. But I couldn't imagine just how much better this would be until we did it! The boat still felt super duper safe (I had my 4 year old, my 9 year old, and my mother in law with mobility issues and everyone had a great time (although it took a bit for my 4 year old to warm up to it, lol), but also we could get really up close and personal with any sea life that was near the boat.

My one suggestion isn't anything the tour could do differently, but just a note, if you or anyone in your party is noise sensitive, some Rest Defenders or Loop Earbuds it something to dampen the noise would be really helpful. my son is very easily overloaded with sensory input and I didn't realize there would be so many sounds for him to try and process, so it definitely added to his overwhelm. Let my mistake save you, and keep it in mind! For folks with typical sensory processing systems, it's not a big deal, and didn't bother anyone else in our party, but just an FYI so you can support any folks with sensitivities in your group.

My daughter went down in the understand viewing pod and was eye to eye with dolphins! My son wasn't ready to go down until the end and we didn't get to see anything down there but he was still so excited to be "in a submarine"! My MIL stayed on the bench and was nice and protected and dry the whole time but still had great views and eventually my kids and I braved the front for a really exciting adventure seat. We did get drenched but we were fully warned and ready! On our trip we saw a gray whale, a big pod of common (rude, they were lovely 😅) dolphins, a feeding ball of swarming sea life - 😍😍😍, pelicans and more! And then as we motored back to the harbor, Sara (Stacy? I'm sorry, I forgot which was the photographer and which was telling us cool facts) told us some really interesting tidbits of info about the marine life we'd seen! And the photo collage was a really awesome touch at the end, we ended up buying two so we didn't fight over who got it! And the fudge was a sweet way to wrap up the day. All the thumbs up and standing ovations, thank you Captain Christian,...