We offer family oriented, educational boat tours and whale watching adventures upon the pristine waters of San Luis Obispo Bay, a hidden gem on the central coast of California. To our advantage we are blessed to have an abundance of wildlife here year round! Sightings of Whales, Dolphins, Porpoise, Sea Lions, Sea Otters, Harbor seals and a variety of sea birds are common on the whale watching trips. In addition to whale watching trips we have a one hour "Coastal Explorer' private trip for those that would like to go boating and see some of the animals that live close to shore without the commitment of going offshore to possibly see whales. We also offer custom / private tours,  ash scattering services and photography trips. All ages are welcome on our tours!

We have been ranked as the best whale watching and best boat tour on the central coast of California every year for the past 12 years on Tripadvisor, Google and Yelp.  If you have any questions please call or text Capt. Mark 805-540-4667

April 1 through December 1  Humpback whale trips are 2 hours in duration. These tours depart at 9:00 am and 11:30 am 7 days a week. Per person pricing, $109 weekdays and $119 weekends

December 1 through February 15  Wildlife viewing / whale watching tours are 2 hours in duration and depart at 9:45 am.  Per person pricing $89

February 15 through March 31  Whale watching trips to see the California Grey whales are 2.5 hours in duration and depart at 9:00 am and 12:00 noon. $119 per person.

Year round Coastal explorer (non whale watching) trips are $299 for your group of up to 6 people depart at 2:00 pm and at other times by request. 

Custom charters are available for any occasion and are priced at $350 per hour weekdays and $400 per hour weekends and holidays with departures arranged by request. Please call 805-540-4667 to arrange a custom tour.

Reservations can be made up to 120 days in advance.

There is a 5% booking fee on all transactions. Please call or text us If you have questions. (805) 540-4667. 

• More information about our different whale watching trips and seasons
• Recent whale and wildlife sightings
• Ash scattering services
• Reservations and our cancelation policy
• What to wear and bring to be comfortable and prepared 
• Directions
• Private tours
• About us
• Contact us
• Our boat the Pacific Flyer and why she is so perfect for what we do
• Gift certificates

Unlike most whale watching tours on larger boats with as many as 100 people on board, our tours are unique in that we only take 6 passengers at a time. This ensures that everyone can enjoy an unobstructed view of the whales  and other wildlife that we encounter with no crowding. We also have the advantage of being able to move quickly to a new location if we see something exciting going on. Catamarans with 2 hulls offer a much smoother ride through the waves which helps us get to the whales faster. Catamarans are also very stable which is a big help when taking pictures of the whales and other wildlife we encounter on these adventures. Personally, our favorite part of the smaller boat with only 6 passengers is that we will have the opportunity to talk about the animals as we observe them and we are available to answer questions about what we are seeing. 

Our departure dock is located very close to Avila Beach, Ca. on a quaint, historic pier known as the Harford Landing at Port San Luis. This is just 15 minutes from Pismo Beach, Ca. and 20 minutes from San Luis Obispo, Ca. If you are staying near Paso Robles, Ca. we are only 45 minutes away and in the summer 20 degrees cooler! 

We have very good whale watching most of the year here on the central coast of California and on average we will find whales on most of the trips. Please check the "recent sighting" page for more information on what you can expect each month and what we have been seeing currently. Every year is a bit different, these are wild animals that are free in the ocean so please have realistic expectations and understand that we are offering you a chance to see something special and not a guaranty that you will.  

• April through early December is Humpback season: While we enjoy good sightings over this entire time period, the peak months when the most whales are here and the weather is at its best are August through October. These trips typically see whales on 90% of the excursions. In April we will have the opportunity to see both Grey whales and Humpbacks.
• February through March is Grey Whale season: On these trips we enjoy excellent opportunities to see the California Grey whales as they migrate past our shores. March is the best month for seeing Grey whales with sighting on about 80% of the trips.
• December through February 15th: Between storms we often times have excellent weather and calm seas which make for excellent boating conditions. While we will always go looking for whales on these trips weather permitting, we do not want them to be the main emphasis of the tour since about half of the trips will not see a whale. On the trips last winter that did see whales, we saw a mix of Humpback, California Grey and Minke whales.
• For a more detailed breakdown of what you might see please click the "recent sightings" page or click on the individual trip description pages.

Local experience matters when looking for whales.  We have been in continuous, year round operation on the waters of San Luis Bay since 2012. Captain Mark Kocina the owner has worked as a boat captain / naturalist / adventure travel guide / white water rafting guide for over 40 years in many countries around the world. He will bring all of that experience to bear on these trips. Captain Frank Orazio has been fishing these waters for many years and is an excellent boat captain with a good background in wildlife sighting. In our combined time at Port San Luis, we have taken over 17,000 guests out onto these waters to see the whales and other animals that frequent this area. If you are looking for a knowledgeable, friendly captain to escort your family out for a safe, educational and memorable whale watching experience please join us for a tour. 

The short answer is no as this is not a zoo. Please understand that we are offering you a chance to see wild animals that live freely in the real world and that is the beauty of this experience. We can only show you these whales if they present themselves for us. We will always use every bit of experience we have to find them for you but no one on earth has control over mother nature.  While the whales do present themselves for us to see on the majority of our tours there will be trips that they do not.  Unfortunately our expenses are higher when we do not find whales as we search more, so we do not offer refunds or credits for future trips when we do not find whales. We appreciate your understanding as we are not in control of the weather or the animals.  

PLEASE NOTE: If the ocean becomes too rough or foggy on the day of your trip to safely go out to the whales we will still go for coastal explorer tour and you will receive a 50 percent refund.

We believe that each person deserves to be treated equally without discrimination of any kind for any reason. We do not discriminate in any manner against any person on account of marital status, religious creed, color, sexual orientation, ancestry, national origin, age, sex, medical condition (cancer / genetic characteristics) or disability, (mental or physical) including HIV and Aids.

Everyone is welcome on our tours, there is no age limit.