Cape May Whale Watch & Research Center — Attraction in Lower Township

Okay buckle up gang in here we go, here's everything you need to know before you take this trip.

Number one, I recommend this tour over the other tours even though I didn't try them and let me tell you why. Both times I went on this tour, first on Memorial Day and then two days later because I had such a great time, our boat was the first one out to the whale both trips. Today we were there a good 15 minutes before another tour showed up, and a third tour boat showed up 10 minutes after that. Same thing happened Memorial Day we were the first one there for a little bit before another tour showed up, our Captain made a very concentrated effort to get us to the whale, and we spent a lot of time there!

I spent a lot of time my first trip out looking for the whale out over the vast waters but the captain actually knows where to go so don't worry about that, enjoy the ride out, he definitely has a plan. I really kept thinking we would have to find the whales ourselves but don't worry he will get you to the whales and the dolphins and he will stop and spend plenty of time there so don't stress, enjoy the boat trip!

I'm not sure if this is correct but I heard somebody ask them how many seats they needed to fill before they would go out on a trip and not cancel and I think I heard someone say 20. That may or may not be accurate but at least if you see twenty people there's a good chance your tour will go, and not get cancelled due to lack of people. Also Captain Jeff says that this tour is the only one that's guaranteed, if you don't see whales or dolphins your next trip is free. I don't know if the others do that but that's pretty good gurantee.

Next, bring fly repellent!! Everyone was getting bitten the whole trip!! the first trip I went on we didn't have a single fly the next trip I went on I was covered up because I was cold and I got sunburned so I wore long jeans and a jacket with long sleeves so I wouldn't get sunburned but that also turned out to be a blessing because I was the only one that didn't get bitten! The flies were really terrible the second time, even when we spotted the whale everyone crowded out on the front deck to see it but everyone but me and two other ppl went inside because the flies and mosquitoes started biting and they were miserable. Even when the boat was moving. Be prepared!

Next, doesn't matter where on the boat you sit, once they spot a whale or dolphins the whole boat stops and everyone gets up and moves around so seating doesn't matter!

Also if you plan to buy drinks or pizza or snacks on board they keep your card and run it when you get back to land so cash may be better but it's no biggie either way.

I recommend covering up, when the boat gets going the wind can get chilly even on a hot day and also helps with the flies and mosquitoes.

Also be advised the wind whips up so hats may be lost. I saw a lot of ppl remove their hats to keep from losing them.

Lastly Captain Jeff is awesome, wry, cheesy and entertaining, and his family has history here, gotta love a legacy! He's about conservation and it's an important message for the kids Great crew too!

Only two small gripes, one I felt the receptionist on my second trip was a little bit rude and I didn't like that. And secondly I bought a cheap $6 drawstring backpack from the gift shop on Monday. I only used it for that trip and when I went back Wednesday getting ready to use it again I realized it that the string unraveled and so I had to get another one. They didn't replace it so I would advise skipping that! Otherwise just a fantastic time and everyone was great, this was so worth the money.

And use chapstick with an spf in it, I got sunburned on my lips but it was my fault since I didn't stay...

My wife and I first visited the CMWWRC in October of 2011 (well before she was my wife). We took the boat ride out into the ocean and unfortunately we didn't see a single dolphin or whale. The staff told us that because we didn't see any, they would validate our tickets so they could be used for another future trip. They said that they had just that morning honored a few such tickets from more than a decade prior.

I held on to those tickets for almost five years before we went down again, and sure enough they accepted the tickets without question. And this time we saw over 100 dolphins in about 90 minutes, including a huge pod within five minutes of us reaching ocean waters. We stayed and watched this pod for at least 30 minutes. The pod included some newborns and some juveniles. The captain did not keep the boat pointed in one direction as one previous reviewer stated; they turned the boat 180 degrees side to side, and sometimes around in a complete circle, so that everyone could see without having to move around the boat. The naturalist onboard told us so much about how the dolphins live, as well as information about other wildlife in the area and about local history and historical buildings. And the two interns on the boat had a horseshoe crab and other local marine species to play show-and-tell with the kids during the slow ride back to port.We did not purchase any food or drinks on the trip, though we did partake in the complimentary donuts and apple juice. We did not rent a pair of binoculars but I don't think I missed anything by not having them.Regarding some of the other reviews: they indeed do not allow you to bring your own food and drinks. Try bringing your own food to Six Flags or a baseball game and you'll be told the same. It's not homeland security, it's an insurance risk that they don't have to take. And this guy with the one star review. Not that he provided any examples of why the customer service is the "worst" or why their claim to be a research facility is "fake", but there are multiple other whale watch companies in the area and his experience is so far removed from my own that I don't think he even knows what company he sailed with.I had a great time and I believe CMWWRC really cares about the dolphins and whales that they share with nature...

Beware. My daughter went to purchase tickets and on their webpage, it says "enter promotion code," when you get to check out. She then googled if they had any promotions, and found that they had a Groupon available. After reading the fine print, it said that the Groupon was only not available on Memorial Day, Fourth of July & Labor Day weekends. There was absolutely no mention of them only accepting a certain number of Groupons per day.

When we went back in to book, there were plenty of tickets available for the day and time that we wanted. However, when we clicked on the Groupon link to redeem the vouchers, there were no tickets available for the following two days. The Groupon also explicitly states that online booking is the only option when redeeming. She called and left a message stating she was having issues booking, even though there were available tickets.

When she received a call back the next morning, she was told, "we are booked for Groupons today and tomorrow." She explained that tickets were still available and that no where does it say that they have limits on the number of Groupons they accept each day- just that they can't be used on holiday weekends. Absolutely disgusted with this level of false advertising. She was also told that other customers, "beat her to it," and that, "we have people call in all the time and we let them know if they have availability or not." (again, the Groupon explicitly mentions more than once that this has to be an online transaction).

Employee refused to offer any other options (maybe pay the difference between the Groupon and the current ticket price?) other than to say that they could redeem another time. FYI the Groupon expires in a little over one month, we are from out of town, and cannot come back at another time.

All and all, I do not find this to be a Groupon issue- they list everything succinctly and in their fine print list the restrictions given to them by Cape May Whale Watch & Research Center. Absolutely disappointed with the lack of transparency from this company, the inability to work with customers and the amount of time I'm now going to have to spend while on my hard earned vacation trying to get over $130.00 back from Groupon because of an issue CMWW &...