San Diego Seal Tour — Attraction in San Diego

The check-in process is a maelstrom of disorganization. They tell you to be there 30 minutes before your tour starts, but an hour would be better. We stood in line behind a couple, and when they were done, went to check in. "Excuse me, honey," (because that's what you call your female customers), "but you'll have to wait back here." I was sent to wait behind the sign about 6 feet from the ticket booth like a naughty little girl who had misbehaved. There was no reason given, and I saw no one in front of us or behind us who were required to do this. We checked in, and were told to wait to the west of the ticket booth, and they would board soon.

As soon as our car-boat arrived, we expected to board. We were wrong. The captain, Eric, and his first mate, Bret, went around chatting with those in line for about 10 minutes. Mind you, they only have 15 minutes between each tour. At around 10:25 (we were on the 10:30 tour), they began to give us instructions. I'm not sure why this couldn't have been done in the 10 minutes prior, but there's a lot about this tour company that just doesn't make sense. If you're wondering how you can board 40+ people in 5 minutes, the answer is: you can't.

This is a tour for extroverts: all flash and no substance. To give you an idea of the people taking this tour, let me paint a picture: the woman in front of us was chain-smoking the entire time we were waiting, exhaling out her nostrils, treating her 3 kids as well as the rest of us to her near-constant second-hand smoke. Then you had a family of 4 who attempted to cut in line only to be thwarted by the fact that the father had lost one of their tickets and had to go look for it. The woman who sat across the aisle from us mindlessly laughed at all of the first mate's lame jokes the 90-minute ride.

You get to see sea lions AND the first mate does go around and snap photos of everyone, their kids, and their family with the guest's cell phone, which is nice, and really, the only 2 things that saved this tour and earned it 3 stars; otherwise, it would...

We took the second generation of our family on the bus boat and it was a great time as we didn’t tell them what was going to happen. While pricey for 4, it’s still a great time. Staff on all levels are very helpful and pleasant. First mate Amy is a wealth of local knowledge. No problem with the laying out of the tip jar and a mention but that being done more than once and the request for sending post cards for reviews tells me the company needs to take care of staff more as the price certainly is not cheap. The company should know how well their staff does their job, we don’t need to send postcards to prove it. Pro tip, don’t leave your parking receipt in the car as they validate. And they only validate a certain amount so expect to pay some parking if you get there early. Also, if it’s too cold, lay your blanket on the floor (they provide them) and the engine warms it up nicely. Highly recommend the nearby coffee shop too. Huge breakfast sandwiches which were great. If you have young ones, I would not advise loading up on liquids beforehand. It’s a long float and drive back. Final note, we had two adults and two kids. Plan on getting in the line early or you will not be able to sit together. The twenty-minutes recommend had us at the end of the line. We were tempted to plop a 4-yr old next to someone in hopes to helping us out but most didn’t want to move. When we hit the water, two guys were very nice and switch seats with us so the kids...

El Captain Q and guide first mate Marlene are the best in the business! We have lived in San Diego for 30 years and always wanted to do the land and sea tour, and an unfortunate cancellation in Big Bear set up for the perfect staycation and Seal Tour!

First off it starts with a delicious lunch at the Carnitas Crack Shack iykyk, trust me get either the Nashville Hot or Triple Threat sando with fries. I bet everything is good but those are my mainstays. Sooooooooooooo good!

Hop on right there at the embarcadero, after signing your stuff, and grab a seat on the left! Best action happens there.

Fun road tour that strangely mentions the Manchester Grand Hyatt 5 times and then get ready to hit the water.

If you go early in the day you may catch dolphins training for the military, but you're always going to watch sea lions and seals.

The fun thing for us being locals was the various bits of trivia that Marlene will bestow on you. Stuff I have always wondered but never knew!

Captain Q was very engaging on the workings of the amphibious machine, telling us some super awesome Intel! Oh and you get to see a good amount of military aircraft, submarines and boats, very very cool.

My only suggestion for the company is to do adult beverage tours maybe at sunset. That would make me a repeat customer for sure!

Either way it's worth every penny and I highly suggest this to tourists and residents alike. ...