I Spent An Amazing Day On The Water With Dolphins, Gray Whales, And Sea Lions

I absolutely love the ocean, from walking on the shore and listening to the waves to being out in or on the water. It also just so happens to be peak season for whale watching in Southern California, so a friend and I recently decided to take off for the day (well, technically half a day) and go see what we could see.

Our trip began at the Channel Islands Sportfishing landing in Oxnard’s Channel Islands Harbor. The boats here are private charters that offer a variety of fishing and whale-watching trips.

Our vessel for the day was the Ranger 85. I think there were only about 10 or 12 passengers in addition to a handful of crew members onboard, so we had plenty of space and easy viewing.

Before I tell you about the rest of the trip, let me just say that the boat and crew were awesome. The captain gave us lots of great information throughout the trip and made sure we always knew the best place to keep an eye out. The boat has restrooms and a cute little galley with a couple of booth tables and a variety of offerings, from breakfast sandwiches and coffee to adult beverages.

Being March, and traveling out on the water, it was a little chilly (good thing we were prepared!) but it was such a clear and gorgeous day - perfect for an outdoor adventure.

Not every ocean tour ends up seeing whales, but these guys keep in contact with other boats out on the water and they track recent sightings, so the chances are really good.

What you will almost always see is hundreds of beautiful dolphins swimming, jumping, and playing in the water. Even if you have experienced this before, it is an incredible sight to see. Once we caught up with them, we raced along with them for a bit and saw some huge pelicans flying and diving through the area as well.

In general, the boats head from the harbor out toward Anacapa, the closest of the Channel Islands that lie just a few miles off the coast. How close you get to the islands depends on if and where whales are spotted - or suspected to be.

We got close enough to see the cool terrain and buildings on Anacapa, including the lighthouse, but not much closer because we did some whale chasing.

We ended up seeing at least three Pacific gray whales. It is so exciting when they surface and you get to see their tall spouts. It’s not easy, however, to get clear photos that do the scene justice unless you happen to get really close (video is the way to go), but we got to see them come up several times.

On our way back to the harbor, we stopped to see and listen to the California sea lions that love hanging out on this bouy. They are really fun to watch as they jump off to play in the water and jump back up to nap in, around, and on top of each other.

At the end of the day, we both agreed that even if we had not seen whales, dolphins, sea lions, and pelicans, it still would have been worth the trip, but having seen them all, we cannot wait to do it again. Have you done any whale watching in Southern California? We would love to hear what experiences you have had. If you'd like to head out on the Ranger 85 yourself, you can find trip information and make reservations on the Channel Islands Sportfishing website. I would have loved to have had a pair of binoculars (maybe next time!) If you don't have a pair, these compact, waterproof binoculars would be great for all kinds of outdoor adventures.