The Whale Watching 2023/2024 season has begun at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center. This famous landmark gives Palos Verdes homes owners a local center where they can go and watch these massive mammals off our coastline. This season officially started December 1, 2023, and according to the Point Vicente Interpretive Center, as of Friday, February 16, 2024, there have been 199 gray whales counted going south bound, and 33 whales going north bound. Most of the whales are traveling south to Baja and the concern has been in the last several years has been that they are swimming in the large container ship paths.
To see these magnificent creatures, there are several different local options to choose from. Point Vicente Interpretive Center located at 31501 Palos Verdes Drive South, Rancho Palos Verdes, welcomes visitors to this premier whale watching site for viewing (bring binoculars). For more information, call 310-377-5370.
If you want to get a closer look at the whales, there are two companies that have whale watching tours for a fee. San Pedro Spirit Cruises have started their whale watching tours, that will be running through March. The tours are on the weekends starting at 1:00 p.m. Each whale watch tour has a trained naturalist from the Cabrillo Whale Watch to share interesting stories with the passengers. They recommend that you contact them the day before your tour to make sure that there are no weather problems. The cost for the tour is $33 for adults, and children are free with paid adults. San Pedro Spirit Cruises is located at 77 Berth, San Pedro. For more information and to make future reservations, go to www.spiritmarine.com or call (310) 548-8080.
Redondo Beach Whale Watch has begun their tours on the El Rey that will run through April. Tour times are daily at 12:00 noon and 3:00 p.m. – as long as they have 12 passengers signed up. The trip is 2.5 hours at a cost of $45 for adults, children 3 to 12 are $40, and seniors & military are $40. Reservations are required for tours. Redondo Beach Whale Watch is located at 140 International Boardwalk, Redondo Beach. For more information, go to www.rbwhales.com or call (310) 372-2111 for reservations.
To read my last article on Whale Watching click here.
Photo courtesy of San Pedro Spirit Cruises
