Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching Dana Point

Our family had a fantastic experience on the Dana Wharf Whale Watching tour. This truly felt like a five-star adventure guided by professionals who brought smiles to our faces and excitement to our hearts. The trip perfectly balanced the thrill of searching for whales with the joy of actually finding them. Everyone in our group—especially our six-year-old grandson—was absolutely captivated watching these incredible mammals of the sea. Seeing them rise gracefully from the water, lifting their snouts and blowing their spouts above the surface, was unforgettable. On two occasions we were even lucky enough to see their flukes (tails) lift high above the water, which was a breathtaking moment we were thrilled to capture on video. The crew did an outstanding job making the trip fun and educational. Each child even received a special storybook about their adventure, which was such a thoughtful touch and made the experience even more memorable for our grandson. This tour is perfect for families, nature lovers, and anyone who wants to experience the beauty of the ocean up close. We highly recommend it—you won’t be disappointed. And if you go, be sure to say hello to Laura, one of the naturalists on board. She shared wonderful insights about the marine mammals and made the experience even more meaningful.

Love love love this place. I've had great days fishing, and skunked days fishing but every single time I've gone on a half day or 3/4 day, the crew has always been super helpful, the cook is amazing, everything is set up perfect for you to have a great day. Some days the fish don't bite but I've had a lot more trips with fishes on the hook then not. If you're a beginner fisher, or an experienced one, this place is the place to go. Thank you for all the great times. The crew is the best.

Did the 5 hr. fishing trip with Dana Wharf Sportsfishing with my family. The experience a fun adventure and the weather was beautiful. Luckily, we were able to catch lots of fish between us. We were only able to keep two, which was ok with us! I do have to say the boat is very tight, there's a lot of moving around between the crew and the other passengers. It seems like there's very little space to do all of this in and you're constantly having to squeeze by other people to maneuver around the boat. It was also our first time going on one of these trips and I wish the crew would have taken some time to explain how everything goes or at least ask who'd attended one of these trips before. For people that have done the trip before I'm sure it's a breeze, but for people like us that had never gone on one of these fishing boat trips it did seem a little unorganized. We'd rented rods and I asked a few times how we get them when we first got on the boat and was given different instructions each time. When it was time to finally start fishing there was no rods available, the captain had to pull some more out. Also, when we did catch fish we hadn't signed up for a bag number. We didn't know we had to get a bag at the beginning of the trip. Just little things that could have been explained or addressed at the beginning for new timers like us. Once we got the hang of how every goes it was fun but . Just a tip for the crew and captain, maybe at the beginning ask who's done this before or who needs a little quick tutorial to make it easier for the passengers and also for the crew.

Today was wonderful- this was our second trip, although we didn’t see a blue whale like we did last time. We did enjoy a spectacular afternoon on the ocean and enjoyed our interaction with bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins. Sarah professional on board was marvelous And the captain and crew did their job professionally and with good humor. All in all it was a wonderful day.

We went out on Whale Watching Tour today. We saw many birds, dolphins & a humpback whale. At the point we were in the middle of a dolphin stampede with dolphins everywhere. It was amazing to see. We also learned the humpback we saw today, Dec 7, was last seen Nov 9. We were able to spot it several times and got several pictures of it's tail. On the way back we saw a sea lion & her baby. It was an awesome day. Can't wait to go again.

Great 8 hour trip with a great captain and crew! We had a great day and found not only humpbacks feeding and mulling, but also big pods of dolphins and birds feeding…. Mola Mola and one of the crew spotted a turtle to show us! We went out toward Catalina and then up past Point Vicente. The naturalist was really good! She was an encyclopedia of info on all the species and full of some fun facts too. Super helpful and I learned a lot on the trip too! Great day on the water! I’ll be back! Ps. Haven’t finished sorting camera photos so just a couple from my Phone

I had a great experience with Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching in Dana Point. The boat ride itself was very nice, relaxing, and well organized, with beautiful views of the coastline and ocean. Although we did not get to see any whales during our trip, we were lucky enough to see a rare sighting of a mega pod of common dolphins, which made the experience very memorable. The dolphins were active and amazing to watch. I also appreciated that the company provided a discount card to come back another time since whales were not spotted. That showed good customer service and gave us a reason to return. Overall, it was a fun and enjoyable trip, and I would recommend Dana Wharf to anyone looking for a nice day out on the water.

It was the best whale watching trip I’ve ever been on. I learned so much and so did all the other guests. We saw a Fin whale, lots of bottle nose dolphin and lots of beautiful birds. The staff were awesome and well informed about everything we got to see. 🐳🐬🐋🦭💙💙💙