The staff were very knowledgeable, we learned a great deal of new information and the staff were extremely respectful of the orcas and all wildlife. Overall, we had an amazing time and will be back again soon!!
My wife and I went to Seattle for our honeymoon, and this was by far the best part of the trip. We took a seaplane from downtown Seattle to Friday Harbor, which I would highly recommend. Flying in was much less stressful than driving, you get amazing views of the city and the surrounding area, and you have more time to explore the island when you arrive.
As far as the tour goes, everyone was very friendly and knowledgeable. We ended up seeing a pod of orcas, some sea lions, harbor seals, and a minke whale. I would say the crew under-promised and over-delivered; they are very careful about managing expectations regarding whether or not you will see whales, but honestly, while we would have been disappointed if we had not seen orcas, the experience would still have been worth it. Last word on the tour: definitely take layers with you; I felt a little silly walking around the island with a backpack full of winter gear when it was 80 degrees outside, but by the time we found the whales it was very cold and my wife and I had both put on several layers.
Cool trip. Too long for me. But my friends enjoyed it. We went on a gorgeous sunny day and we got to see the orcas. I didn't care for the blaring cold wind on the top deck or the rough waves but visiting the San Juan Island was nice and a peaceful time with friends was enjoyable.
We had a pristine day on the water. We couldn't have planned a more sunny, clear day (we just got lucky, it poured that morning). The staff was courteous, friendly, knowledgeable, and playful. We saw tona of whales, sea lions, and bald eagles. The boat was clean, comfortable, and even had books and items for kids to play with. My friend brought her 10 month old and 3 year old and the staff was playful and engaging with them. My friend from NYC was visiting and i wanted to give her a unique washington experience. This was it. I would love to go again and highly recommend this experience.
My family & I had an amazing tour. Our guide was so wonderful. She shared many interesting facts, answered all our questions, and was just as excited to see all the animals as we were. You could truly tell she loves her job. We saw a humpback whale & her calf (both of whom breached; it was awesome!), sea lions, seals, a minke whale, and so much more.
What a great place to take your wife or family. The staff was super friendly and trustworthy. Got to see orcas right away. This team respected the rules and made sure we were aware of them.
We recently boarded the M/V Sea Lion for a sunset whale watching tour and the experience is one my family and I will never forget. The vessel was clean and comfortable. The naturalists and the captain were friendly, professional, and knowledgeable. They wasted no time getting us out to where two pods of Orcas had been spotted earlier in the afternoon and, once there, we were able to observe them for the entirety of our visit until it was time to return to Friday Harbor. We look forward to doing more tours with San Juan Safaris in the future and I would encourage others to check them out as well. To the crew from the sunset tour on 6/22/19, thank you!
Absolutely to notch outfit! From the ship shape vessel to the extremely well-informed and knowledgeable crew, my group and I were completely impressed. The trip around the San Juan Islands is so beautiful and the crew made sure we saw all kinds of sea life, Eagles, the gorgeous islands and of course the Killer whales! They were so magical. We saw breaching, jumping, spy hopping and much much more. San Juan safaris gets an A-Plus. DO this tour!
We got to see a humpback whale and her baby. They only take you to a specific spot where all the other charters are as well. So what we saw was it. You don't get to keep looking in any other spots.
Unfortunately we did not have a pleasant experience at all. We ordered tickets thinking that we would be gone from 12-3 that day while on our 4 day vacation but found out that it was actually an all day trip just to get from Seattle. We had to drive an hour and a half just to get to the ferry and then the ferry ride was an hour to get to San Juan Islands. The lady I spoke with said that we had to be at the ferry at 8:45 in the morning even though our tickets weren't until noon. After we arrived on the island, we checked in just to find out that we still had 2 hours before we would board the boat. We had far too much down time in my opinion, I couldnt imagine doing all of this with children. When we finally boarded the boat we drove an hour in the blistering cold wind and did not see a single animal other than birds. It was miserable. The cabin was far too small for everyone to get shelter from the cold and even though we had dressed in winter clothes, our faces were numb and the boat was so loud you couldnt talk to one another. After about an hour we stopped to look at some sea lions for about 3 minutes. Not that they weren't cool to look at, they were just sitting on a rock as you would see at a zoo. We continued to drive out to open water and after sitting in the freezing cold for over an hour, we finally saw what was described as a juvenile whale. It was so quick and you were only able to see a very small part of his tail or fin and then it was gone again under water for at least another 4 minutes. At this point I was starting to realize that we were not going to see anything like the website or reviews had said. After stalking this same whale for about an hour, the team began to drive back to shore. Once again it was frigid cold so we were lucky enough to grab a seat in the cabin, which was wide open so definitely not "warm" by any means. As we sat there shivering I looked around the boat just to see that everyone else was just as miserable. There were more than 5 people SLEEPING! Yes, people were so incredibly bored and cold that they were bundled up sleeping on the boat. I find that quite ridiculous for some thing that was considered to be a "life changing experience." When we arrived back to the dock, the tour guide said to all of us "I know some of you had your heart set on seeing orcas, but werent the sea lions so much fun to watch!?" As if we all went out there with super high expectations for no reason. Actually, during the breifing in the beginning the tour guides told us that they had the highest population of killer whales in the world so maybe thats why.... I understand that we as humans cannot control nature, I get that. But the fact that out of the 3 hours that we spent on that miserably cold boat and the 5 hours of traveling just to get to and from the San Juan Islands I really would have liked to see much much more than one small whale from a distance. I was so disappointed. In fact, after I was informed about all of the traveling just to get to the tour I asked to cancel because I realized that this was going to consume our entire day and cost a lot more than anticipated because of the extra travel, but they denied me and said that I could not get a refund because it was shorter than 48 hours notice. I did this as a suprise to my fiance and I worked overtime to be able to afford it. When everything was said and done I was so visibly upset I wanted to cry. So much disappointment. So much wasted time, money and energy for nothing. We ended up missing out on time we could have spent with our family to freeze our butts off and stare at each other in silence for 3 hours. I thought that maybe they should not have tours in late September-early October because the animals arent as active but apparently they are "active" all the time according to the website. My advice to anyone who is on a week or less vacation to Seattle or surrounding areas, dont waste your time or money. There are so many cool things that we ended up missing out on because we were unable to cancel. Not worth it at all.
Great experience with Gabe and Olivia. They were very knowledgable and clearly love what they do. We had a fabulous trip that include a humpback, a pod of orcas, 2 eagles and harbor seals. Absolutely fantastic experience that has made me appreciate these magnificent creatures even more.
We went on the Sea Lion boat in the San Juan Safari fleet and had EVERY expectation exceeded! Friendly and knowledgeable crew, exemplary captain, beautiful boat, and saw TWENTY-TWO ORCAS!!! Plus, harbor seals, bald eagles, and porpoises! So impressed!
Incredible experience from start to finish! The front office staff were friendly and attentive, the excursion was breathtaking, and we saw Oracs. Couldn't have asked for a better time
sanjuansafaris.com
