This is a very educational trip with whales to watch in their natural habitat. We had no Humpback whale, which is one of those animals that show its flukes before diving, but the finbacks we saw, were huge! The crew took every chance to get near to the whales. Later on I read one of the books lying in the passenger room. I learned, that whales are disturbed by too many of those whale watcher boats and also a very special maneuver is necessary to approach the whales peacefully.As far as I could see, this crew took care, was proficient and acted exactly "by the book".Overall we had a great 5 hours trip. Btw: there is a small snack bar on board and the coffee was really good! Recommended adventure!
i went with my best friend and she remarked how quickly we saw our first whale. she had been to another whale watch that took several hours to get to and from where the whales were. we were in a fairly small boat that maneuvered quite easily. we saw many whales and a few other animals as well that were fairly close between sightings. most were within 10 minutes of each other. it took maybe 30 min at most to get to the first sighting. if you were on boat facing the sun it was warm. at those points I took my jacket off. if you were facing away it was quite brisk/chilly and I replaced my jacket again. I went through several phases of this off and on. definitely bring a jacket as the wind is breezy even in august. they had amenities on board such as restrooms, drinks, snacks, souvenirs, and small necessities. there were several small laminated boards with various interesting info on them such as all the potential animals you might see while on board and facts about them as well as facts about recycling and other animal/ environmental type things. worth reading. staff was very friendly. I thought it was really cool when we stopped a few times to pull a balloon out of the water bc these apparently can kill ocean animals. there was a person on top of the boat who was looking for the animals who when we found one would announce it loud and clear and give interesting info on each animal as well as where specifically we could see them from the boat.
This whale watch was so much fun and a great experience. Went with a group of four on 8/11 and did the morning whale watch. We saw a lot of whales and some interesting ocean sunfish! The staff know a lot about whales and taught us about them. The water was very smooth and the weather was great! Living in the area and working at a local hotel I would recommend Granite State Whale Watch to anyone who was asking about going on a whale watch! Great experience!
Thank you for taking the time to write a review of your recent whale watch. I'm glad your family had a great time- Dolphins are always a passenger favorite, and we haven't seen too many of them this season so it was a very exciting sighting!In terms of smoking on board the boat, our current policy is the same as every whale watch boat in the Northeast as far as I know. Passengers are only allowed to smoke on the lower deck at the back part of the boat.Having said that, I completely agree with your opinion. Starting next season, our whale watches will be smoke free.Hopefully we will see you on the water next year!Capt. Pete Reynolds
Hilyana,Thank you for taking the time to write a review of your recent whale watch. As a company we strive to be as honest as possible with our customers. I'm quite surprised that you found our website to be "misleading." There is a picture of the boat right on the front page of the website. Our boat has a very low center of gravity and is actually one of the most stable boats in the whale watch fleet. Sea sickness is really only a problem on very rough days.As we had warned you when you picked up your tickets, sea conditions were far less than favorable on the day of your trip. We had to work very hard to get looks at whales due to the conditions, but in the end we were able to get great looks on either side of the boat at two Fin whales, as well as a couple of Minke whales and Harbor porpoise.We issued free passes at the end of the trip because the group of people on board that trip were so nice and understanding of the conditions that we wanted them to be able to come back and experience the whales on a nicer more normal day.Again, I'm sorry you felt something on our website misled you in some way. Please let us know specifically what that was and we will correct it immediately.Capt. Pete Reynolds
Had never gone whale watching before. This was an excellent trip. There was a professional whale expert on board giving commentary on the whales and directing us on where to look. She was extremely well informed. The weather was great and the rest of the crew were equally helpful. Highly recommended if you are in the area.
This was well worth the time and money. It was a great trip out to the feeding grounds and we saw many whales both Humpback and Minke. We definitly recommend and would do again.
Very cool trip! It was a nice day out (Sept. 5th) and the water wasn't too choppy. We started off seeing a smaller Minke Whale, just past the Isle of Shoals, which we watched for a while until some activity was spotted further out. When we arrived at the area with the activity, it ended up being three Humpback Whales swimming together. One of them was being really active rolling on its side and slapping its fin on the water. We got some really good looks at them while they rested and then dove. When they dove their Giant tales came out of the water. We ended up leaving them after a bit and ended up finding two more Humpbacks together and then a loner a short while after. The naturalist on board and the crew were able to identify each individual by the markings on the tails and dorsal fins. The loner was the celebrity "Patches" which we were told is the whale that has its tail pictured on the front of the whale watch brochure. We ended up catching a brief view of a Finback whale and another Minke Whale just before heading back. We also saw a harbor seal and some harbor porpoise on the way back. The whale watch made sure we weren't disturbing the whales and they actually share their data with a marine research institute, and with everything I've read up on, I'm sure the data they provide is invaluable. If I had to give a negative, it would be that we never made it all the way out to Jeffrey's Ledge. I'm a bird watcher and I was thinking I would have a better chance at seeing some of the pelagic birds if we made it out there. I did see a Northern Gannet on the way out. The good news is that it is mainly a whale watch, and my family and I couldn't have been happier that the trip was so successful and that we didn't need to search all over. We were on the water for about 5 hours, and it was well worth the money.
This was our first time whale watching and the experience was amazing!! The staff on the boat were very friendly and knowledgeable about the sea life. We saw several Minke's and 2 Fin whales. They came up very close to the boat. Closer than I thought they would. We actually were out a little longer than told because we ran into a whale on the way back. The staff stopped to give us the experience and weren't rushed at all. We will definitely be doing this again! This is the company to go with!
Amazing adventure , not touristy. The educational part of the trip was very informative and this vessel and co is part of a research Group and we felt they were in this for the whales. More laid back And less people than some of the other companies out there.