Cabo San Lucas: Whale Watching
Whale watching in Cabo San Lucas is a seasonal event that runs from December to April. Since I was going to be there in early March, I decided to take advantage of it on my trip.
Booking
Originally I was going to book on whalewatchcabo.com due to good reviews. The tour cost was $89 if you pay online or $75 if you book online but pay in cash upon arrival. I was going to go with the cash option.
Once I found out the Carnival Excursion had a successful price match, I decided to check it out. The reviews on the Carnival Excursion were excellent as well.
I went ahead booked Whale Watching & Coastal Cruise with Open Bar for $79.99 using my Carnival Mastercard which gives me a 10% statement credit on Carnival excursions. That took my cost down to $72. I submitted the Carnival price match form which successfully matched with the Shore Excursioneer Whale Watching Excursion with Breakfast and Open Bar and $16.50 OBC was added to my onboard account.
Tender/Water Shuttle
Cabo San Lucas is a water tender/water shuttle port. You definitely want to keep in mind there could be delays due to that. If you are a Platinum or Diamond guest or you purchased Faster to the Fun, you will qualify for the priority tender/water shuttle.
The priority water shuttle service meeting point is the main lounge.
The water shuttle ride was about five minutes.
There was quite a line when we got off of the water shuttle.
They have signs for all of the Carnival excursions.
My excursion sign was easy to find.
I returned and to my surprise nobody is in line at the whale watching excursion sign.
It turns out the big line off to the side was the line.
After a few minutes a lady comes with a form for everyone to sign. At 12:35 a guy comes over and says “The boat is already here. We’re going to be leaving very very soon.” At 12:44 the line starts to move.
This is the boat and it’s pretty darn full. I opt for the top because I don’t want to be stuck in the middle of that bottom part and not be able to see anything. I recommend getting there early if you want to pick a good seat.
They had a bathroom downstairs but I never went down there.
This is the initial bar line.
The boat is equipped with a DJ.
The liquor
The bartenders
The Arch
Whale Watch Intro
I apologize for the camera work in this video. It was windy. The waters were rough. I was standing trying to film with one hand and hold a drink with the other without dropping my phone, spilling my drink or falling down.
On the ride to the whales it was standing room only on the top deck. On the way back there was plenty of space. I think some people went downstairs to use the bathroom and never returned. I had an entire bench to myself for the ride back.
Here is a taste of the ride back. The waiters continued delivering drinks despite the rough waters. In fact at one point the guy in charge grabbed a tray of Dos Equis and just started handing them out to people who didn’t even order them.
Before we got off of the boat they introduced the crew.
Here is the return water shuttle ride.
This was a fun excursion for a party boat with a little whale watching on the side. The music was great. The alcohol was flowing. It was a lot of fun. But I was disappointed that we were so far away from the whales. If I do another whale watching excursion, I will make sure it’s on one of the smaller boats that gets closer to the whales.
