Whale watching is an experience like no other. After minutes, hours or maybe even days of waiting, finally these giants erupt from the water, spouting huge jets of water into the air.
There are hundreds of great places to catch a glimpse of these mysterious creatures and our Travel Managers can charter your whale watching expedition to any of them. Here are the places our Travel Managers have picked, where your whale watching wants won’t be wasted.
Alaska
Alaska is one of the best places to see humpbacks, who migrate north from Hawaii to the Bering Sea. Humback whales are famous for their intelligent fishing techniques. Working as a team, they blow nets of tiny bubbles to corall and confuse the krill that form the majority of their diet. They then ‘lunge’ through the mass of prey, scooping up thousands of krill in one mouthful.
Baja, California
Far down the east coast of the Americas is a much warmer place to watch the whales of the Pacific. Off the Coast of Mexico, the Sea of Cortez is food-rich in spring, attracting hundreds of grey whales. Greys are notoriously friendly and take an interest in boats and divers, making it a fabulous place to have a once in a lifetime experience with these oceanic giants.
Hermanus, South Africa
This small South African town down the coast from Cape Town is a famous whale watching location and has even been reffered to as the Mecca of whale watching. Near here is Cape Agulhas where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, and southern right whales can be seen from the shore for nearly half of the year. It is also a great place for the more advertuous traveller who might fancy a close encounter with another of the sea’s great marine life, the shark. If you want to try cage diving with sharks, then this is one of the best places in South Africa to do it. When in Hermanus, our Travel Managers recommend a stay at the Marine Beachfront Guesthouse. For more tips for your Hermanus stay, check our South Africa blog post.
Isle of Mull, Scotland
The Isle of Mull is perfectly placed to catch the migration of Atlantic Ocean resident whales up to nutrient-rich waters around the Arctic Sea. While on the island, stay at the throughly caledonian Tiroran Hotel for the pinnacle of Scottish hospitality. Minke whales and several dolphin species call the water around Mull home, meaning whale watching trips here are bound not to disappoint.
Kaikoura, New Zeland
Kaikoura sits on a tiny peninsula on the Pacific coast of New Zealand’s South Island. It is an excellent place to launch a voyage in search of the titanic sperm whale, the world’s largest toothed predator and second largest whale species. Sperm whales swarm to this point because an underwater trench causes sea currents full of nutrients to attract the whale’s prey, squid. For more adventures in New Zealand, check out our guide to NZ.
Sri Lanka
It is off the coast of Sri Lanka that you have the best chance of spotting the famous blue whale, the largest animal to have ever lived. Blue whales usually spend their time far out to sea, but Sri Lanka’s position, on the verge of the Indian continental shelf, means that blue whales reliabley venture to within range for a whale-watching day trip.
If you want to have your own unfrogettable whale encounter, just get in touch with Simplexity today. Our Travel Managers can organise eveything, from flights and hotels to boats and local experts. The only thing we can’t control is the giants themselves!
Call us on 0203 535 9290 or email info@simplexitytravel.co.uk