A Whale of a Time

Before the start of our Alaskan cruise, we spent two days in Vancouver, BC, exploring. One of the things on our to-do list was a whale watch. We went back and forth on whether to do one in Vancouver or wait until we were in one of the Alaskan ports. We ultimately decided on Vancouver.

I booked the trip through Viator.com. Viator is a marketplace for tours. We used them for a couple of other tours with great success. The cost of the tour was roughly $100.00 per person. It included pick up and drop off at our hotel, bottled water, and snacks. The whale watch itself was to last anywhere between 3-5 hours, depending on the whales.

The tour left from Steveston, a little fishing village, 40 minutes away in the city of Richmond.

Steveston

In addition to being a little fishing village, Steveston has been the site for various television shows and movies, such as The X-files, Godzilla, and Power Rangers. You may also know it by its other name, Storybrooke. Yes, this was the onsite location for Disney’s hit show Once Upon a Time.

Courtesy of VisitRichmondBC.com

We arrived in this quaint village, checked into our tour and was given some whale watching gear to put on. I must admit, I felt like Gorton the Fisherman!

Nicholas and I ready to go.

The boat was a high-speed zodiac vessel. Let me tell you, this boat could move! After we went over a safety drill, we were off. As we were leaving the harbor, we saw this beauty.

American Bald Eagle

The boat took us through the Strait of Georgia all the way down to the San Juan island, which are part of the State of Washington back in the United States. We spent a fair amount of time sailing the strait. Here we saw seals, beautiful scenery and a humpback whale.

The scenery as beautiful.
The homes were gorgeous, but a bit too far out there for me.
Lots of seals
Just sunning themselves.
Humpbacks in the distance

After seeing the humpbacks, our guide received a call that there was a pod of Orcas further south. He sped the boat along and we were cruising at a pretty good clip. Soon we were back in the good old USA, off the coast of Bellingham, WA. Here we saw, what we all had been waiting for, Orcas.

Unfortunately, the whales did not breach, so this is all we saw. The photos do not do these creatures justice. I was mesmerized watching them swim across the water.

Our ride back to the port was just as pretty. We continued to see the stunning coastline and islands that make up this beautiful area of the world.

The totem poles are everywhere.

When all was said and done, the tour was about 5 hours. It was a great place to do a whale watch and I would recommend it. I wished we had spent a little more time in town, but we had dinner reservations and tickets to a show over at Canada Place. Next time we will know better.

About The Author

Heather

37 COMMENTS

  1. Shannon Delaney | 20th May 19

    Looks like an amazing trip! I love the photos.

  2. Julie Gazdecki | 23rd May 19

    My girls and I all loved “Once Upon A Time” so this would be a great trip! Whale watching and seeing StoryBrooke!!

    • Heather | 30th May 19

      I was pleasantly surprised when we were told this. I love seeing where shows or movies take place.

  3. Michele | 23rd May 19

    Awesome photos with great information! We are hoping to do an Alaskan cruise next May. I will have to look into this. What month did you go?

    • Heather | 30th May 19

      We went on August 21st to the 28th. For the most part, the weather was great.

  4. Shannon Delaney | 23rd May 19

    The scenery is AMAZING! I love how you captured it all!

  5. Amanda | 23rd May 19

    Huge fans of Once. My girls would love this trip. It looks amazing. Whale watching is something I have wanted to do for years now. We are heading to Canada later this year. I will check this out for sure!

  6. Missy | 23rd May 19

    How fun! The whales, Bald Eagle, deer, it is great you got to see them all. It is good to know to book more time to explore. Thanks.

  7. jen | 23rd May 19

    Your photos made me miss this area…. I spent a great deal of my childhood all over there…

    • Heather | 30th May 19

      Such a gorgeous area. I can’t wait to go back.

  8. Kristi @ Way Beyond The Norm | 23rd May 19

    Amazing photos! I’m sure it was a fun adventure. I’d love to go to Steveston because I’m a huge Once Upon a Time fan!

    • Heather | 30th May 19

      It is simply darling!

  9. Lisa | 23rd May 19

    I loved that show too! What a beautiful area!

    • Heather | 30th May 19

      I miss the show. I wish it was still on.

  10. Glory | 23rd May 19

    Photos are great! Thank you for sharing.

  11. Shirley | 23rd May 19

    What an amazing sight that must have been! Whale watching is definitely on my bucket list.

    • Heather | 30th May 19

      Do it!!! Such a great time.

  12. kmf | 23rd May 19

    What a fun family adventure…and love that fishing village and the sunning seals!

    • Heather | 30th May 19

      The seals cracked me up!

  13. Lori Nielsen | 23rd May 19

    Storybrooke is so darling! But the Whale Watching looks fabulous! I would love to see the creatures up close like that. 🙂

    • Heather | 30th May 19

      They are such gorgeous animals.

  14. Vessy Smith | 24th May 19

    What a fantastic experience! I absolutely love whales and those adorable seals, and the whole area looks beautiful! 🙂

  15. Hera | 24th May 19

    We absolutely loved Alaska so much and the whale watching tour we did. Great pics and write up!

  16. Jennifer | Me and My Traveling Hat | 25th May 19

    I really would love to go to Vancouver. It’s incredible to see whales, I will have to add that to my things to do.

    • Heather | 30th May 19

      Vancouver was amazing. We would like to head back and do a lot more.

  17. Marianne Blackham | 26th May 19

    I love whale watching too.

    • Heather | 30th May 19

      Me too. It is so relaxing.

  18. Amanda | 4th Jun 19

    Thanks so much for the info! We are going to Seattle and Victoria Canada next month and doing a whale watching tour. I am dying to see orcas!!

  19. Gary and Michelle | 7th Jun 19

    Love the Alaskan Cruise!! Great Pics!! Love the multiple ports and the variety of excursions available too. Glaciers, whales, eagles, seals, and the absolute pristine, gorgeous scenery. Been there done that and will go again. Great blog and beautiful family. Thanks for sharing. Congratulations on 10k and half marathon too. Keep up the great work and maybe we will get together in our travels.

    • Heather | 10th Jun 19

      Thanks so much!! Perhaps we will see you 🙂

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