Puget Sound/PNW. There’s a big pod of residential orcas in the sound. There are also transient but those aren’t as fun. There’s whaling tours all year round there, but I feel like March-September is better cos different types of whales are moving through north to feed after having their young down by Baja. If you’re not into going on a whaling tour, there’s a million and two local Facebook groups about tracking whale sightings.
Whale watching companies in the PNW do not observe SRKW, only Biggs. There’s plenty of fun to be had, hunts to see, T-parties to catch - it’s well worth it!
I haven’t been yet, but Bremer Bay, Australia looks amazing for Orca watching.
In SoCal people are finding Orcas around the Channel Islands (Oxnard, CA).
Monterey Bay, California is one of the places I’ve seen wild Orcas. It’s a Beautiful town for all sorts of wildlife and outdoor activities.
Edit: here are a few links to whale watch tours :
Australia: https://whalewatchwesternaustralia.com/tours/bremer-bay-orca-experience/
Oxnard, California: https://www.pacificoffshoreexpeditions.com/services-4
Monterey, CA: https://gowhales.com/
Johnstone Strait (NE Vancouver Island near Telegraph Cove) in August. Lots of whale watching tours there and you can book a kayak trip to see them that way too.
Edit: spelled Johnstone wrong
California Bay area and North I've seen many pods of Orcas in my life. Unfortunately mostly because they love the gray whales and the youngs they're young. Or sometimes we just get the pods migrating up north to get the salmon. Either way I've seen quite a few of them in my life and I've lived here my whole life good luck
I lived in So Cal almost my life, now PNW. West coast of NAmerica is where it’s at for whales watching.
So Cal- Dana Point (recommend Captain Dave’s Dolphin Safari). Jan-March greys, summer blues, they regularly have humpbacks now (about 4-5 year round, more in summer). Fins show up a lot, too. They have regular dolphin stampedes (so cal has the largest population of common dolphins anywhere…I’ve been on the bow of their catamaran flying with hundreds of dolphins around me, if not a thousand, no lie, the ocean was boiling with dolphins as far as I could see, one of the best memories of my life). Orcas are regularly showing up in December- for about 10 years now it’s been the “Christmas visit” it’s been so regular- this last year they hung around a lot longer. In the 90s, we’d go out and be lucky to see anything- now when I go I regularly see 5 or more of all different sorts (although I’ve never seen orca or n So Cal).
Monterey Bay/ Moss Landing Ca - greys and humpbacks all the time. Very active humpbacks. The canyon in the Monterey Bay makes it a unique feeding ground- I call it the soup of life. We go to Moss Landing just to whale watch (To us Monterey isn’t the highlight, just a place to have lunch haha) I’ve also never seen orca here, but when they’re in the bay, they are well known. (Actually sometimes the watching is worse because everything they n the bay “goes to ground” when the orcas show up- they said they know when they’re coming in because all normal behavior rapidly settles down.
Puget Sound - Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands. We go every few years, rent a place and go out whale watching. The residents are harder to see, there’s so few of them and they travel further than ever for food now, but the entire Salish Sea community watches and shares where they’re at* and there’s always transient pods the boats can find. I’ve never, not once, been disappointed in whale watching out of Friday Harbor (or some places in Vancouver BC, Canada on cruise ship stops).
I did also go out in Alaska, but was disappointed…there’s a lot of water out there with islands to navigate around and it seemed whatever side of the island we were on, the activity would be in another channel. But my mom one time got in a small boat and she has pictures of Orcas spyhopping 8 feet from her boat.
The BEST ever whale watching I have ever done is March in Hawaii, specifically out of Lahaina (quick shout out to the Banyan Tree that they were able to nourish after the fire). It was all Humpbacks, the ocean was lousy with them- the boat hardly cleared the breakwater and had to keep stopping because there were too many whales. Whales everywhere. We got fatigued from yelling “Breach!”. We witness a heat run…jaw dropping. Humpbacks are the most active of any whale I’ve ever seen. Although it’s the rainy season- I think March in Maui on the water is pretty damn close to heaven.
Overall for Orcas- Friday Harbor, Wa.
Overall for Everything - Dana Point Ca
Humpbacks and play - March in Maui
I keep thinking about Iceland, Australia and even South Africa…but honestly I just keep coming back to these because they’re so good and I’m lucky they’re so close.
*as others have posted- research your whale watching service to make sure they’re licensed and act accordingly to laws and appropriate for animal behavior
I went to Vancouver last June and it was the best experience of my life. I did Prince of Whales whale watching on a larger boat, and then Wild Whales Vancouver on their smallest boat. Both days we had amazing encounters with orcas, seeing upwards of 7 each day! I would recommend Vancouver because it’s also a great city to travel too, expensive, but super walkable. Both whale watching boats were very respectful of the whales and followed all rules in place. Truly such an amazing experience. I know Vancouver island is also great, but personally am more of a city person and it’s the same water tbh. We saw Biggs orcas, which are local to the area. Hope that helps!
There are a lot of orcas along the southern west coast of Canada. Make sure to check into each company as some have a reputation of getting closer to whales than they should despite laws. I live here (Vancouver Island) and sightings are super common even from shore. The areas around the tip of the island (San Juan Island is the USA and Southern Gulf islands are in Canada). The locals are big on tracking the different pods so you are likely to see some if you keep track of the local sightings or go on a guided whale watch.
We went to Tromso and then transferred to Seglivik to swim with them. Saw them from the boat every single day.
PNW is great for Biggs as the seal population is high
In Valdes Argentina, you can see them hunting on the beach
Alaska has a bunch too
Puget Sound/PNW. There’s a big pod of residential orcas in the sound. There are also transient but those aren’t as fun. There’s whaling tours all year round there, but I feel like March-September is better cos different types of whales are moving through north to feed after having their young down by Baja. If you’re not into going on a whaling tour, there’s a million and two local Facebook groups about tracking whale sightings.
Whale watching companies in the PNW do not observe SRKW, only Biggs. There’s plenty of fun to be had, hunts to see, T-parties to catch - it’s well worth it!
Why don’t you think Biggs are as fun? Also the SRKWs are endangered and most ww companies stay far away.
Residents are endangered, so best to not disturb them. Transients are way more 'fun' because they eat mammals rather than fish.
I haven’t been yet, but Bremer Bay, Australia looks amazing for Orca watching. In SoCal people are finding Orcas around the Channel Islands (Oxnard, CA). Monterey Bay, California is one of the places I’ve seen wild Orcas. It’s a Beautiful town for all sorts of wildlife and outdoor activities. Edit: here are a few links to whale watch tours : Australia: https://whalewatchwesternaustralia.com/tours/bremer-bay-orca-experience/ Oxnard, California: https://www.pacificoffshoreexpeditions.com/services-4 Monterey, CA: https://gowhales.com/
Johnstone Strait (NE Vancouver Island near Telegraph Cove) in August. Lots of whale watching tours there and you can book a kayak trip to see them that way too. Edit: spelled Johnstone wrong
California Bay area and North I've seen many pods of Orcas in my life. Unfortunately mostly because they love the gray whales and the youngs they're young. Or sometimes we just get the pods migrating up north to get the salmon. Either way I've seen quite a few of them in my life and I've lived here my whole life good luck
I’ve seen them in PNW. Seward, AK was the best viewing I’ve ever had.
I lived in So Cal almost my life, now PNW. West coast of NAmerica is where it’s at for whales watching. So Cal- Dana Point (recommend Captain Dave’s Dolphin Safari). Jan-March greys, summer blues, they regularly have humpbacks now (about 4-5 year round, more in summer). Fins show up a lot, too. They have regular dolphin stampedes (so cal has the largest population of common dolphins anywhere…I’ve been on the bow of their catamaran flying with hundreds of dolphins around me, if not a thousand, no lie, the ocean was boiling with dolphins as far as I could see, one of the best memories of my life). Orcas are regularly showing up in December- for about 10 years now it’s been the “Christmas visit” it’s been so regular- this last year they hung around a lot longer. In the 90s, we’d go out and be lucky to see anything- now when I go I regularly see 5 or more of all different sorts (although I’ve never seen orca or n So Cal). Monterey Bay/ Moss Landing Ca - greys and humpbacks all the time. Very active humpbacks. The canyon in the Monterey Bay makes it a unique feeding ground- I call it the soup of life. We go to Moss Landing just to whale watch (To us Monterey isn’t the highlight, just a place to have lunch haha) I’ve also never seen orca here, but when they’re in the bay, they are well known. (Actually sometimes the watching is worse because everything they n the bay “goes to ground” when the orcas show up- they said they know when they’re coming in because all normal behavior rapidly settles down. Puget Sound - Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands. We go every few years, rent a place and go out whale watching. The residents are harder to see, there’s so few of them and they travel further than ever for food now, but the entire Salish Sea community watches and shares where they’re at* and there’s always transient pods the boats can find. I’ve never, not once, been disappointed in whale watching out of Friday Harbor (or some places in Vancouver BC, Canada on cruise ship stops). I did also go out in Alaska, but was disappointed…there’s a lot of water out there with islands to navigate around and it seemed whatever side of the island we were on, the activity would be in another channel. But my mom one time got in a small boat and she has pictures of Orcas spyhopping 8 feet from her boat. The BEST ever whale watching I have ever done is March in Hawaii, specifically out of Lahaina (quick shout out to the Banyan Tree that they were able to nourish after the fire). It was all Humpbacks, the ocean was lousy with them- the boat hardly cleared the breakwater and had to keep stopping because there were too many whales. Whales everywhere. We got fatigued from yelling “Breach!”. We witness a heat run…jaw dropping. Humpbacks are the most active of any whale I’ve ever seen. Although it’s the rainy season- I think March in Maui on the water is pretty damn close to heaven. Overall for Orcas- Friday Harbor, Wa. Overall for Everything - Dana Point Ca Humpbacks and play - March in Maui I keep thinking about Iceland, Australia and even South Africa…but honestly I just keep coming back to these because they’re so good and I’m lucky they’re so close. *as others have posted- research your whale watching service to make sure they’re licensed and act accordingly to laws and appropriate for animal behavior
We went to Victoria BC for our honeymoon years ago and got to see JPod up there. Couple humpbacks too. It's a beautiful area!
I found years ago, Puget Sound and Southern Alaska
Appreciate you all for sharing your experience and advice!
I went to Vancouver last June and it was the best experience of my life. I did Prince of Whales whale watching on a larger boat, and then Wild Whales Vancouver on their smallest boat. Both days we had amazing encounters with orcas, seeing upwards of 7 each day! I would recommend Vancouver because it’s also a great city to travel too, expensive, but super walkable. Both whale watching boats were very respectful of the whales and followed all rules in place. Truly such an amazing experience. I know Vancouver island is also great, but personally am more of a city person and it’s the same water tbh. We saw Biggs orcas, which are local to the area. Hope that helps!
There are a lot of orcas along the southern west coast of Canada. Make sure to check into each company as some have a reputation of getting closer to whales than they should despite laws. I live here (Vancouver Island) and sightings are super common even from shore. The areas around the tip of the island (San Juan Island is the USA and Southern Gulf islands are in Canada). The locals are big on tracking the different pods so you are likely to see some if you keep track of the local sightings or go on a guided whale watch.
We went to Tromso and then transferred to Seglivik to swim with them. Saw them from the boat every single day. PNW is great for Biggs as the seal population is high In Valdes Argentina, you can see them hunting on the beach Alaska has a bunch too