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Deciding Where to Watch Whales

Most people watch whales from boats. Others stand along the shore watching from a distance on raised platforms with hydrophone equipment to hear the whales at sea. A few watch whales from the air. When planning a whale watching trip to the Southern Hemisphere, there are two primary considerations: the reliability of seeing whales and what experiences you wish to include during the rest of your vacation. Because whales can’t always be counted on to show up at a predictable time and place, it is wise to choose a destination where whales are plentiful and have been observed year after year.

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Where to Watch Whales

Thanks to stringent whaling regulations throughout the world, most populations of the world’s large whale species are coming back after centuries of slaughter. Still, for some, such as the blue whale that was hunted almost to extinction in previous centuries, their populations remain small Those that spend their time in deep open water such as the fin are more difficult to find when visitors have limited time for whale watching tours in Chile and elsewhere. Even so, depending on your itinerary and when you choose to travel to Central America or South America, there are still many options for matching whale watching with your other favorite sightseeing activities, whether you wish to go hiking in Patagonia, gaze at glaciers in Argentina or sunbathe on Costa Rica tours.

Hardy souls searching for a once-in-a-lifetime experience to check off the bucket list may choose to travel to Antarctica where most of the baleens as well as orcas will fill their memories. Southern Explorations offers an array of itineraries and vessels, with a range of accommodations to make whale watchers comfortable. No matter how many creature-comforts our Antarctica tours may have, many tourists prefer warmer weather for their whale watching vacations. For them, there are plenty of options too.

If you wish to fit in a tango lesson and savor the best steak in the world, among other cosmopolitan pleasures on Buenos Aires tours, then you may travel to Argentina where the southern right whale winters. Hundreds of this near-extinct species return each year to the protected gulfs surrounding the Valdes Peninsula, just 870 miles south of the capital. More people travel to Argentina to watch whales than any other country in Latin America.

Surfers have options too, though in many places, when the season to watch whales is too cold to sunbathe. One exception is the northern coast of Peru, a hot new surfing destination that attracts migrating humpback whales. The surfing capital of Brazil, idyllic Florianopolis happens to be where much of the country’s whale watching occurs. Whales start to arrive in June but you may wish to wait until the Austral summer months of October or November when the weather is more suitable to a beach vacation and the whales are still here. Almost as many people travel to Brazil as Argentina to watch whales.

The warm-weather whale watchers also have Costa Rica and Panama where species come from both poles to winter. Visitors on Costa Rica tours can relax in a hammock under a palm tree and watch humpback whales as well as other species on the same trip. Visitors who travel to Panama will have numerous options for seeing whales in the country’s national marine parks and near the capital.

Of course for anyone whose idea of a great vacation is wildlife-watching 24/7, there are the Galapagos Islands, offering a smorgasbord of other species to observe at close range when a whale isn’t within view.

Whether you wish to combine whale watching with glaciers or whale watching with Machu Picchu hiking, we can help plan a trip that suits you perfectly.

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