Orcas...

Any suggestions on a which whale watching tour is the best... or at least GOOD in Vancouver, or the Vancouver area?

It is very important to my daughter that she sees Orca whales in the wild.

I am going to pass up the Aquarium and some other things and try to get in a whale watch that will allow us to see some Orcas.

I wish I had known that Vancouver had so much to offer... I would have scheduled more days there than the measly 2.5 days we have at the end of our trip :(

I guess I know where we will be spending our next vacation....

Any suggestions on a which whale watching tour is the best... or at least GOOD in Vancouver, or the Vancouver area?

 

It is very important to my daughter that she sees Orca whales in the wild.

 

I wish I had known that Vancouver had so much to offer... I would have scheduled more days there than the measly 2.5 days we have at the end of our trip :(

 

Unfortunately, there's no such thing as a guaranteed way to see the Orcas in the wild. Most places will give you a coupon for a free trip to try again if you don't see them. Also, from Vancouver it's a longish trip, potentially 5 or 6 hours.

Probably your best bet will be to go to Steveston...a community just south of Vancouver...for whale watching excursions.

Depending on the time of year you should not have a problem finding whales...the companies advertising free coupons if you don't see whales usually are covering off the shoulder seasons just before and after migration cycles when the whales are kind of hard to find.

The Orcas are magnificant creatures to see in the wild and well worth the time it takes to get to them! Seeing an Orca in a tank is like seeing gold fish in a bowl....just the same except the bowl is bigger!

Hope you and your daughter get to see them when you are here.

Steveston is actually in Richmond BC thats where the airport is. There are 3 local Pods that frequent the area and usually can be found around here somewhere. There is of course no guarantee. J pod is most frequent visitor.

There were two firms running tours last year. Steveston for their community site.

http://www.steveston.bc.ca/

I have been doing a lot of research, and have found two whale watching companies that are in Vancouver.

Just wondering if anyone knows anything about either of them...

1. Wild Whales Vancouver (on Granville Island)

http://www.whalesvancouver.com/

2. Vancouver Whale Watch (shuttles to Stevenston)

http://www.vancouverwhalewatch.com/