bob W wrote a review Sep 2020

Hayward, California11 contributions

We had a nice excursion, for a boat ride. The disappointing thing was that we were expecting to see killer whales. What we ended up seeing were pods of Minke whales, which we figured out later. There wasn't anyone giving out information voluntarily of what we were seeing. It was up to us to ask questions of the operator and his assistant. He did say at the beginning that if we want information, ask, and that if no one asks questions that is easier for them. He seemed kind of bored and not understanding that this was a new and exciting experience for a lot of people. For the last about 20 minutes of the boat trip he sped over to a place past the Eastsound Marina, saw three killer whales for abut 5 minutes, then turned around to exit the tour. It was a lot of speeding to three or four sites instead of being able to see the whales we were hoping to see. We had a better experience out of Friday Harbor in the past - not so much just a long boat ride. They were very covid-safe.…

Date of experience: September 2020

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Response from Capt-Beau, Manager at Outer Island Expeditions

Responded 2 weeks ago

Seeing multiple whales species on the same visit must have been amazing. Thanks for letting us know that the captain was willing to extend your trip and go as far as needed in order to guarantee that your group saw Orcas as well as Minkes! Each of our captains and naturalists have their own style and sometimes that means that they don't interrupt the guest experience unless asked. If you had questions we wish you would have spoken up!

Jason S wrote a review Sep 2020

1 contribution

Almost Died Thanks to Staff Negligence

*This review is for one of Outer Island Expeditions' owned companies, Roche Harbor Fishing Charters, which has the same management staff.* I recently went on a salmon fishing trip with Roche Harbor Fishing Charters, and thanks to the absolute negligence of this company, myself and the other guests on board were almost KILLED in a boat collision. As we started the trip we had incredibly dense fog (only a mere 20-30 yards of visibility) and I don't know why, but our captain decided to drive through it way too fast to the point where the boat was on plane. I'm a former Coast Guard rescueman, and I can't express how dangerous this is. As we sped along, a large, 40-45 foot yacht burst out of the fog coming right for us at full speed. The captain completely failed to notice the yacht and the only one who did was a guest who randomly turned their head at the right time and yelled to stop. The captain slammed the engines down, and no joke, we came within 10 yards of being crushed by that much larger vessel. It was very frightening, and all of us were quite shook after that. Although the yacht was clearly at fault for going so fast, our captain was definitely guilty of it too. In such dense fog he should have been going MUCH slower. Going too fast made him barely able to react, and it also made it impossible for him to hear the yacht coming over the sound of his engines. Another problem was that the captain never used his fog horn (WHICH IS REQUIRED BY LAW to help other vessels hear you and avoid collisions). The company also should have provided the boat a with a second employee who could work as a lookout for the captain, which is extremely common on in foggy conditions and would have helped him see the yacht much sooner. The final thing that would prevented this is if the boat we were on had radar, and although it isn't required by law for a boat of its size to have it, it was an obviously responsible piece of equipment they should have had. I only discovered that the boat didn't have radar when I asked the captain about it, and he said "it broke yesterday." For some reason he sounded really weird and unconfident about his answer so I later called the company and asked a manager about it too. The manager then said that none of their salmon fishing boats have radar, which showed that one of these two people were clearly lying to me. Speaking of that manager, he showed zero concern for what had happened. He tried to "upsell" the situation by telling me that some people don't get any fish on trips, but we did so we should be thankful. He then said "Well, what happens, happens." He didn't show a single bit of concern, and his dismissive attitude for human life seriously pissed me off! Long story short, I was appalled by this company and their outlook towards safety. They do not care about your life and will go though some very dangerous lengths to get their payday. I will never forget how close I came to dying that day. It was terrible and they should have apologized but I couldn't even get that. Don't put your life in their hands. Look for someone else. Avoid them at all costs.…

Date of experience: September 2020

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tracy m wrote a review Sep 2020

2 contributions

Amazing tour

Review of: Anacortes Whale Watching

We saw a pod of Orcas! It was incredible! The information was amazing. Capt David and Alex were awesome and engaging. The only thing that was a little off putting was that there are signs saying park here for tour with no warning that it is paid parking. It seems a little shifty that there are all these signs and non say it costs money. It is only $5 but there should be a warning.…

Date of experience: September 2020

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vls510 wrote a review Sep 2020

Saint Louis, Missouri18 contributions6 helpful votes

Utter disappointment

I wrote to the company first with no response: To whom it may concern, I'm writing in review of my recent sunset kayak tour. I could write a public review, but am preferring rather to address the disappointing evening directly to you. First of all, when it comes to the kayak tour I do not recall it saying anywhere that we would be going in tandem kayaks. We booked for three people, so I (along with this other person) were forced to kayak together. Strangers. Completely undesirable circumstance to begin with, but when you add in the fact that it is Covid times, what company would put people who are NOT in the same party, together, in a close quarters kayak? My brother told me and I quote, 'I thought you were going to lose your sh@# on the guide.' Which I didn't because I'm not sure if it was the guide's decision or not and I certainly didn't want to make a scene. Second, the tour was set to begin at 6:30p and we were asked to be there at 6p for check-in. There was some change in the departure point and a late party, so we weren't even near the kayaks until just before 7p. The guide was utterly stressed out, in a rush, had no idea what to do with paperwork and the experience was shortened to just about an hour on the water. The payment we make is for a kayak tour which is supposed to last between 2-3 hours. Why did we pay for a 2-3 hour tour and only get an hour?? The evening was lovely, so weather could not have been a contributing factor. Sadly, my brother and his girlfriend had never been on a kayak tour and to say they would ever go on one again would be a far reach.…

Date of experience: August 2020

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rachel b wrote a review Sep 2020

1 contribution

Best experience ever!

Review of: Anacortes Whale Watching

Brooke and David were AMAZING! It has been a dream of mine to be able to see Orcas and they made it so special. We ended up seeing 7 orcas total. They were so informative and kind. It was absolutely the best! I would HIGHLY recommend this place to anyone who wants to see orcas with an amazing crew!❤…

Date of experience: September 2020

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