If you are looking for whale watching in and around Long Beach you should really consider the greater Southern California area. Located only about 20 minutes south of Long Beach are several year round whale watching providers that seem to see whales and dolphin time and time again. The areas south of Long beach is Huntington and Newport Beach and these areas do not have the man made breakwalll which means once you leave the harbor you are in prime whale watching habitat. The blue water and green coastline is quite in contrast to the developed Long Beach harbor and it explains why these areas have such high viewing success.
In the past the majority of whale watching in the Long Beach area took place from December through April which coincides with the gray whale migration. The migration brings thousands of gray whales along the southern California coastline and down to Baja to breed and then brings them back again to their summer feeding grounds.
Whale watching is a great activity for the whole family and along with viewing over a half dozen whale species, several species of dolphin, sea lions, and many other marine species can be viewed on each trip.
There are several whale watching providers reachable from Long Beach including Newport Landing Whale Watching, and Harbor Breeze Cruises.
If you're more of a landlubber, you can also view the whales from shore. Click here for an article with some vantage points.