We exist in a world where pretty much anything can be ordered or bought or scheduled or summoned with a few clicks and a credit card or a phone call to the right person. Any era, any time, any product. Everything is gettable.
Which makes the time-honored tradition of whale- and dolphin-watching two things: a tad frustrating and extremely delightful.
We like to land more on the second thing than the first. Sure, sometimes you can head out onto the water in a boat and see nothing more than a few sleepy seals barking at you, lazily, in the distance. But no whales, no dolphins, nada.
But then there are those times when you head out onto a boat and you see Mega Pod, as sightseers off the coast of San Diego did last week. Mega Pod=thousands upon thousands of dolphins swimming together. (Mega Pod needs its own theme song, wethinks, or at least a line of official t-shirts.)
That's a pretty once-in-a-lifetime thing, a Mega Pod-sighting, but whale-watching season is still on, so perhaps you'll see your own big of ocean magic. Here are a few companies running trips:
Whale Watching Adventures: This runs out of Dana Point. We like the running tally of what has been seen on what day.
Long Beach Harbor: You can cruise out of the LBC on the search for gray whales and dolphins. Bonus? You're not far from the aquarium, if you want to include that in your marine-centered day.
The Scene
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Newport Landing: Do whales love the Laguna coast? Well, we do. Take an outing from the OC in search of some giant, blowhole-laden mammals.
Island Packers: This company is known for its runs out to the Channel Islands, but they do have whale watching and other animal-sighting tours in the mix. Boats leave out of Ventura and Oxnard.
Will you see another Mega Pod? Here's wishing, but even if you don't, a day out on the Pacific, with breezes and sun and seal barks, beats just about anything else anyone can be doing. Right? Totally true.
