CaroFos

With some new found freedom / a pocket full of Avios and a couple of 2 for 1s, plus the 'travel devil' about me, I have been imploring other half to tell me where he'd really like to go... finally, he's come up with a trip to warm waters to see the whales.. (Big ones!) ... Can anyone give me any ideas of where / when we could go where we might be guaranteed to see some of these wonders?

I hope OK to post here as hoping for a BA destination... but Mods please feel free to move if better placed elsewhere..

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

Hawaii ( Kona ) does some tours but in the early part of the year ( March/
April)

Vancouver is another possibility

Regards

TBS

dylanks

You can see a lot of whale jets at LHR, LAX, and DXB.

If you want to see real whales, Hawaii, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Alaska all offer good whale watching boat tours, though it depends on luck as well.

jcm9000

Cabo san lucas can be great, they head into the sea of cortez from northern waters later in the year (dec i think) then back north again by april. I think feb/march was particularly good as you get the calfs playing in the water just offshore all day. Humpbacks and grays i think. Also seem many eagle rays all jumping out the water at the same time down there more than once (playing? Shark? Who knows!). I have stayed at the hilton there a number of times (one of my favourite hiltons) and the whales never fail to show. Ba to dfw/lax then hop to Cabo with AA, plus im sure there will be a few us air flights too from elsewhere.

Doc Savage

The channel between Maui, Oahu, and Molokai has lots and lots of whales, dolphins, and other cetaceans particularly in February and March. Book a stay on the Lahaina/Kaanapali side of the Maui and you can watch them from shore. This organization runs really great whale watching tour boats.

http://www.pacificwhale.org/content/faqs

It's a beautiful place to visit for many other reasons too. Whale season runs from about November to April/May.

Aloha,

Doc

lorcancoyle

Tonga - go swimming with them!

(SYD and then onward with NZ - need to go out to Haapai or similar)

Oaxaca

Cape Town and along the coast to the east (Hermanus etc). Southern Right Whales and Humpbacks, plus various dolphins and sometimes Orcas. Season is June/July to November. Not the hottest time of the year there, though.

srbrenna

Just got back from Funchal. There were whales there if you don't want to travel too far.

corporate-wage-slave

I've done this in a number of places including around Boston, British Columbia and South Africa. There are 3 locations that truly stand out for me:

1) Kaikoura New Zealand. This stretch of South Island is one of the few places in NZ which can be easily reached by rail. The mountains nearby continue down into the sea, to create a deep trench surprisingly close to land. I think it's in the 90% guarantee to see something or other, or thereabouts.

2) Tofino, mid way up Victoria Island, Canada. I think it's a bit seasonal but while I was there I saw over 20 whales, including a Killer Whale in just a couple of hours.

3) Falkland Islands. A bit out of the way, and the whales are more tricky to spot there, but there's such a variety of other sealife out there too. If you can hitch a lift to South Georgia then there is Grytviken, the former whaling station, left abandoned.

bwaflyer

Our new route to Reykjavik - whale watching tours are quite big business! Not quite as glamorous as Hawaii though!

LTN Phobia

If you don't want to go far, you can get to TFS and elsewhere in the Canaries (FUE, ACE) on BA.

I have been on a whale watching boat trip from TFS which was successful, and I had lots of pretty spectacular and unplanned natural dolphin shows around FUE and ACE if you are interested in dolphins as well.

lorcancoyle

Had to wrack my brains to recall where I was - place called Serenity Beaches. Very off the beaten track. Vava'u has more 'luxurious' options.

More mainstream and / or BA routes have also gone whale-watching in NZ, off Boston and Hawaii. Unlike C-W-S I drew a blank off Vancouver...

(would highly recommend whale sharks off Exmouth in Western Australia as well - think they have larger whales for part of the year too, certainly have orcas)

Doc Savage

I went on an incredible orca watching boat trip from Victoria, BC. We got fairly close to a number of pods, and several swam over to check us out.

Beautiful part of the world, but definitely not warm water.

HIDDY

Some of the best whale watching is in Patagonia especially Puerto Madryn. Sea lion and penguin colonies can be seen as well. 241 availability to EZE will be harder to spot.

CaroFos

Wow... Thanks, so much... What an amazing response in such a short time! Lots of food for thought here..

Am feeling very guilty as am doing HNL run in December without OH...

I am thinking maybe I will just have to go again! OH not remotely interested in collecting TPs or Avios (although happy to partake in UUA and the like) ... Roll on the next EU sale when I can route him via LAX and I'll go all round the houses ...

That said... Also liking the sound of Cabo.. So will look at that too.. Love the idea of New Zealand but just sounds a bit too far away until retirement/teen properly leaves home. SA also attractive as can tag on some wine tasting!

Thanks again...
C