Olivia Esqueda | May16th, 2025 | M/V Osprey | 2:00pm

What a quest we had today viewing Bigg’s Killer Whales in Canada! We started out searching north of San Juan Island and into Boundary Pass. With no other confirmed sightings in the area and one report coming in from the Saanich Inlet, we decided to start making our way in that direction hoping the whales would decide to venture a little further east. We weren’t sure if we would make it that far, but since we left the dock about 15 minutes early...

Kelly | M/V Kestrel | August 26th 2024 | 2PM

Aboard the M/V Kestrel on our 2pm Adventure tour, we left Friday Harbor with high spirits and turned left to zoom up San Juan Channel. We heard a rumored report of whales around Coal Island, just off shore from Sidney, BC. We quickly curved over the top of San Juan Island and made our way straight across the Canadian border. As we neared Coal Island the rain began, and quite frankly...it never stopped. This amount of participation is unusual for this...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | 9/3/2022 | 2:00 PM

Labor Day weekend is upon us, and Friday Harbor is looking just as crazy and beautiful as ever! Our 2:00 pm Adventure Tour was totally sold out. With 20 guests aboard, Captain Eric and I zipped out of Friday Harbor and took a left into San Juan Channel. Our first stop was to Green Point, which is the southeastern tip of the infamous Spieden or “Safari” Island. We viewed several Mouflon Sheep grazing on grass before heading over to Flattop Island. Flattop...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 08/19/2021 2:00pm

So nice to get out on the boat!

Captain Pete and I grabbed our guests and headed out to sea. We heard whispers of something exciting happening over in Canada so we headed out to find out what the commotion was about.

We headed south and passed cattle point lighthouse as we rounded the southern point of San juan and headed west. Looking at a map, the Canadian border zig zags across the islands so the city of Victoria is actually south west of...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | July 4th, 2020 | 09:00 Charter

 Today was the most beautiful day on the water I have had yet this season. Good thing too because it was a holiday! We booked a 9:00am charter to head out in the morning in search of whales around the San Juan Islands. Being the first boat on the water this morning, it was our job to first scan and see what could be swimming around.

Captain Sarah decided to head south into the Strait of Juan de Fuca into the glassy, sunny seas in...

Piper | Saturday, June 8, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 PM

On this evening’s sunset whale watch we headed out of the marina to go north again, with a very different destination in mind compared to our afternoon trip; the same orcas we were watching by Jones Island were now in Cordova Bay off of Victoria, BC! So we cruised up San Juan Channel and into Spieden Channel to go over the top of San Juan Island and just as we were pointing down the Haro we spotted two humpback whales which were...

Jordan | July 22, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 trip

Today was one of the warmest days of the summer which made the trip all the more enjoyable as the cool sea air made our boat perfectly pleasant. Captain Gabe and I heard reports of whales toward the north end of San Juan Island heading south through the Haro Strait.

So, we set out south down the San Juan Channel and through Cattle Pass, past Cattle Point lighthouse and up the west side of San Juan Island. But, before we reached the...

Today deviated from the norm for Captain Jim and I today, since we had a charter on M/V Kittiwake that didn't start till around 6:30 pm. Both of us are fairly use to being out on the water earlier in the day, and this was a great chance to see the changes in nature and the surrounding wildlife...oh and did I mention the sunset? With the slowly fading light, navigating the waters can become a bit more challenging, but when you look up and see brilliant orange and pink sunsets with...

It was a beautiful evening and Capt. Craig, the guests and I rushed right out to be a part of it. Actually, we were rushing because there were reports of Orcas in the vicinity and they were moving away from us. We quick got the group on board and the MV Sea Lion under way and motored out of the harbor.

A small charter boat had followed two transient Orcas up the coast of Vancouver Island to Active Pass between Galiano and Mayne Islands, B.C. We caught up with them on the east side of...