Whale Watching Adventure Cruise

Buyer beware. An expensive harbour cruise with no joy. Did not see any whales although the crew kept saying they were probably underwater sleeping . So there was always a "hint" they were there but did not see a thing. When I responded to the company who sent out a generic email after the cruise, I expressed my disappointment and they sent out what looked like a stock standard response which included: " sightings can vary...the activity of whales can sometimes be more limited" "From the crew's report , it seems whales were located during your cruise.... (other than the crew announcing they were probably sleeping underneath us , if that counts as "located" , it's scraping the bottom of the barrel for a sighting) , They went on to say ".... though it may not have been especially active or easy to observe. Based on the conditions and the sightings the experience met the threshold for a completed tour , and therefore a return voucher wasn't issued". So basically gobledegook to make out there was a whale sighting when there wasn't. The announcer probably knew the chances we would see anything were slim because they did mention the last time they saw one was a couple of weeks ago and as far as I could see these tours are done nearly every day.

I have been on several whale watching tours. This time, i booked their 2.5 hour adventure whale watching cruise off Sydney in Fantasea's fast zodiac style boat. There were some 25 persons on board in the compact vessel which got to the open ocean quickly. Water sprays hit most of us and by the time we started looking for whales, we were mostly drenched. Luckily camera gear was inside the bag, and escaped getting wet. Advisable to wear hooded raincoat to minimise spray effects. The company should advise customers. When stationary, I found this small vessel tended to be tossed about more than the larger boats. I got seasick as a consequence. A number of others were seasick well before me. On the plus side, we managed to see a number of whales, some up close, especially after the other boats left. But taking photos with the vessel tossing about was a tricky task. Next time I will take the large catamaran - so no drenching and easier photography.

+6

Feels like a fraud, because we did not see any whales, just slight shadow of dolphins for few moments. Yes it can be called tour to see the Sydney from water and the main attractions such as Opera house, the Harbour bridge etc...but not for this price for sure. Moreover the weather was very bad, cold and showering, definetly not right conditions for tour, but why company still do tours during such weather? No blankets provided, not even hot tea for this price. Not worth it. I don't recommend.

Great and fun whale watching tour in Sydney! Highly recommend! did get to see the whales and stayed dry on this speedy boat! Great tour, safety, wildlife! Would book again in the future!

Had so much fun on this 3 hr adventure Cruise! Whales, sunset, great captain, felt safe, weather was calm on the day for winter. Great views of the city daytime and when sun setting, highly recommend, also very affordable. You should find some whales but behaviour depends on the day, time and randomness I guess. We found them but wish they were interacting a bit more, but I was happy just to be on a speedy boat even if we haven't found any, but luckily we did! Still 5 stars for this!

+7

This was a total and utter waste of money. We were not told prior to boarding that whale sightings are far less in rough weather - I would have deferred had I known. There were so many people on the boat that it was literally impossible to get to the rail when - 5 minute before turning to head home - a spouting blow as sighted. Some people said they saw a slither of a whale’s back and a fluke but most people saw nothing and I could not get past the throng at the rail to even have a chance at looking and not could my child. An absolute disappointment snd huge waste of precious time and money. And because done people saw part of a whale for a few minutes it was non refundable even though myself and others could not get near the rail to see anything. I want my money back. A rip off. Also false advertising with the photos on the website not at all reflective of reality. Do NOT go on this crap tour.

What an incredible experience. An element of luck comes with whale watching, and we got very lucky. We saw 3 different pods during our 2.5 hour trip. Two of which had very active breaching calves. Would definitely recommend! Bring a jacket and sunglasses to help protect from the wind as the boat picks up a lot of speed.