San Juan Excursions Whale & Wildlife Tours — Attraction in Friday Harbor

I've been in their whale watch cruises twice with a couple of my adult kids from Montana and we loved it! The second trip they made good on a "rain check" from the 1st trip where my son and I chased a humpback whale take into Canadian waters and had a very enjoyable cruise and saw lots of other types of wildlife and all the way from Friday Harbor thru the beautiful San Juan Islands clear up to Canada and back - but the trip description guaranteed ORCA WHALES (a certain type and plural). The 2nd trip with my daughter was very, very successful and included much wildlife which even included an elephant seal, porpoises, baby seals, various waterfowl and a pod if 12 orca whales spanning 3 generations and one popped up right alongside the boat so closely that Capt Pete had to swerve away from it and make distance in keeping with proximity ordinances. The yacht is very much spacious and accommodating enough without being too overly flowery and covered with advertisements as others I've seen, and not too overly large or crowded... So please, if you're going to go see the orca whales in Puget Sound - pick somebody ELSE! WE GOT DUBS ON THIS ONE...

We saw 4 kinds of whales on our tour! Apparently seeing only 1-2 kinds is normal so we were very pleasantly surprised. The naturalists were super knowledgeable about each of the different whales we saw. We learned that whales are identifiable by their fin pattern, which is kind of like a human fingerprint. The on-board naturalists were able to tell us the background and story of each whale we saw. We also saw seals, sea lions, a bald eagle, and several other kinds of birds. If you get seasick consider taking something beforehand – the boat is pretty smooth, but you’re still out on the sea. San Juan Expedition was a wonderful tour company for bringing little ones along. We had a little one that they took extra care to interact with and to make sure she had a life jacket that fit her, even swapping it out a couple of times to find the right one. Everything is very Covid compliant – everyone wore masks and they have you put on hand sanitizer as you board. We loved our tour and it was definitely one of our top highlights during our visit to the San...

This was the 2nd trip for my wife and I to Friday Harbor(from Boston, MA) since 2016 and our 2nd orca watch. The first time we went with San Juan Safaris so we wanted to try a different company, one which would take photos as well so we can relax and just enjoy the experience vs worrying about if the pictures will be good or not. The crew Debbi, Melisa and Capt Pete were excellent and very passionate about what they do. Debbi is a wealth of information as I felt that should have had a tape recorder or a pen and paper and taking notes. Melisa is very calm and cool and really knows her stuff. Capt Pete got our boat the 2nd best view after the one that just got lucky and was right next to the orcas. But that was another different, with San Juan Safaris we were the last boat to get to the orca sightings, although they were very nice as well. We definitely plan on going again with San Juan Excursions in a few years when we return to Friday Harbor. I am still on a major high from it and want to play a bigger part in helping orcas have better lives...