Reviews for Private Party Boat Charter with Mahalo Bar on Deck

My daughter and I took an impromptu whale watching cruise with SD Whale Watch and I highly recommend the whole experience! The crew is friendly, seasoned and very helpful, and they rounded on people regularly to see who might be seaside or needed assistance. A highlight is a trained marine biologist providing commentary on the trip and sights. The boat is well cared for, wasn't too crowded, and offers is a little snack bar inside and two restrooms. We sailed for a full three hours and saw several pods of playful dolphin and a sun fish, but no baleen whales despite their diligent efforts.

We’re so glad we found SD Whale Watch for our group! We upgraded to the VIP ticket which worked perfectly for our group of 7 - we were 1 level up at the front of the boat for the whole trip and the very lovely guide/photographer even brought us our bar orders. Her enthusiasm about the whales and dolphins we saw was infectious and we had a great experience with some great sightings!

We went on the sunset Whale and Dolphin Cruise on our honeymoon. It was a lovely experience. The staff was so helpful, especially to the girls suffering from sea sickness and the snack bar with beer, wine, soda, and water was a great touch! We saw a pod of dolphins and watched the sunset. It did get chilly so make sure you layer

Had a great time. The Crew were great and very personable. We got to see a humpback whale and it was majestic. No other animals out in the ocean but the ride was lot of fun too. Snack bar had lot of options and prices were reasonable. The sunset cruise gave us a scenic background. Just remember to dress warm. It got quite cold in mid-April out in the ocean. Highly recommend the experience with this company

FIVE STARS!! I decided to change my flight to the red eye so I could book this tour. I am beyond happy that I did! Captain John did an amazing job navigating and making sure all sides of the boat were able to see the action when we encountered wildlife. Our Naturalist, Alison, was very informative and I learned so many new things. It’s important to me that these trips are educational and she knocked it out of the park while also capturing some amazing photographs which I did purchase to save digitally. I took my own photos but nothing beats a professional photographer. Our Deckhand, Oscar, was very friendly and walked around the entire time, answering questions, making sure everyone was happy and having fun and also cracking some ocean themed jokes here and there. Danielle held down the fort at the snack and refreshments bar. She was very friendly and nice to talk to. The boat itself has a nice set-up and is VERY clean and well maintained. I did not use the restroom so I cannot comment on that but by the looks of the rest of the boat, I imagine they keep it at the same standard. There is also a photo wall on the lower deck to take selfies. Overall, I was surprised by the extra offerings and very pleased. Money well spent! And a sleepless red eye back to MI, well worth it! Mahalo! 🤙🏻 I did purchase the priority boarding and thought that was a nice perk too. Cheers! Happy sailing! PS - My tour was at 12:30 on October 21, 2024. We saw Sea Lions both in the marina area and swimming/jumping out at sea, probably 100 dolphins (if not more) and 3 beautiful humpback whales, lots of sea birds too.

Such a great experience it wasn't very many people out today thank goodness so we really enjoyed it. We saw Kind of Wonderful Wildlife dolphins sea lion and whales. The only thing is is I like to have a couple cocktails while I'm cruising because I'm not driving and the lady that was at the snack bar was not very nice at all I didn't see anybody buying anything hardly she was in a bad mood I think. It's the season you should be happy. We definitely would have bought more mimosas but didn't want to bother her. We'll see you guys again thank you all so very much

Very entertaining. Knowledgeable and friendly staff. Nice snack bar. We saw sea lions and Risso's dolphins. It was one of the least expensive tours in the city. Great value for the money.

Awesome experience. The crew was fantastic. Allison is very knowledgeable and Tarryl and Brandon were super nice. Rachel, at the bar, was amazing. Thanks for a great time and the photo package was a steal! Awesome quality and a great adventure!

This was our first experience taking the San Diego Whale Watch Tour and it was amazing! They were so helpful assisting us with every step of our Whale Watch Tour. Someone was there to answer all of our questions from the moment we ordered our tickets to parking, boarding the boat and exiting the boat at the end. The tour guide kept us engaged during the tour with her grand knowledge of the whales and their habits. She also informed us about the other aquatic life we encountered during our tour. Oscar and Melissa were very attentive, answering any questions and offered interesting stories about their experiences on their tours. The Captain made sure we were in the best possible positions to witness several grey whale sightings! It was surprising to learn thst there was a full service snack bar inside the boat ran by Danielle. The entire staff made our Whale Watch Tour great! We whole heartedly recommend this tour to anyone who may be thinking about going. If we could give more than a 5 star rating, we would. Thank you San Diego Whale Watch!

Took the family out last weekend 1/18 and had an enjoyable voyage. Weather was great and we were able to see 3-4 gray whales, plus some California Sea Lions, and a variety of birds. Reservations were easy to make and I’d strongly recommend doing so. We found plenty of parking on the street and a short walk to check in. General boarding lined up along the fence and it actually got a little warm in the sun. A small awning for shade would have been nice, but it reminded us we should have brought sunscreen and the nearby Marina store was open and reasonable. Our Boat (Privateer) was roomy, clean, and had plenty of outside seating. Captain did his best to make sure everyone on both sides had opportunities to see the whales. Guests were free to move about. Crew was very good and helpful when one of my kids started feeling ill providing remedies and checking in on us. Snack bar has a variety of refreshments and even binoculars available for rent. The biologist provided just the right amount of information about the area and whale behavior with out overwhelming us with details. Overall a great day.

I had a great experience with my friends, before and during the tour. Their customer service was really amazing, they're friendly, helpful, patient and flexible. This cruise was a shorter trip compares to the other whale watching tour, but we saw so many whales so close to our boat only in 2.5 hrs. Boat was smaller than my previous experience, but has bar and shaded cabin to sit and enjoy drinks/snacks.(Be patient until they start food and beverage service, they have to wait until the ship gets far enough from the shore) Don't forget to take Dramamine before you get on board, outer sea rocks your ship a lot!

I went to the San Diego Whale watch with my girlfriend and it was amazing! Shout to the on board snack and bar person Jen! she was amazing and the rest of crew were really nice and accommodating. I tried to get some shots of the whales and dolphins jumping but as the crew announcer mentioned it can be very difficult so keep those camera ready! 📸