cape cod whale watching

I've found there is a positive side to heat waves. Let me re-phrase that: there is a positive side to "humidity" driven heat waves. If you take some money, buy a ticket to go on a whale watch, they take you out to the middle of the ocean where there is very little heat AND a nice ocean breeze.

There are a lot of whale watching charters here on cape cod. We went with Hyannis Whale Watch out of Hyannis. It was a nice clean ship, and thankfully it was NOT that crowded. We took the 8am ride (got in line at 7am) on a wednesday. I thought it would be packed like sardines because of all the clammer and uproar of the great white sighting in Truro. Everyone and his brother coming to the cape to rent boats to go out and see the great white.



Since we were one of the first on line, getting the best seat in the house wasn't a problem.


Not giving up this spot.


Since there are no propellers, the boat can easily turn around in five feet of water. Definitely enjoyable to watch that.


Heading out of little harbor in west barnstable.




One of the best parts of any fishing/whale adventure is the trip out there.




We pass the outer banks of Sandy Neck (sandwich, ma).




We sail out for about 45 minutes until we hit this. And the sun was out. AND, there was no more heat wave way out here. This is where we sit and wait, quietly. I don't mind, I could do this part all day.


Then out of the blue a resounding POOF of air a whale appears. The captain slowly inches boat closer.


And just like that they go back under. This when you need one of those high tech camera's to get all the quick shots. The whales go back down and feed, and hopefully resurface about 5-10 minutes later.






And this why I wanted the spot I wanted--you get lucky and get a shot like this with your rinky dink camera. Isn't that just awesome? You should have heard the noise they made coming up out of the water. Scares the crap out of you.




The announcer on the whale watch has names for some of the whales. How do they identify them? By the markings on the backs of their tails--the amount of white, design, etc....


After all that excitement it got quite, so the captain drove out towards provincetown, to another whale sighting spot.


A single female, about 30 feet long.




She resurfaced 10 minutes later, way out there.


Three new ones took her place.




Then it was time to head home.

Hyannis whale watch was a great cruise. Very informative staff. Even the announcer walks around, on the way home, and answers all your questions as well as looks at your photos with you to help you identify what whales you saw. The captain didn't keep us in one spot for too long if we didn't see whales--which is good. We moved around a lot. Definitely saw a good amount of whales.
Very clean ship, comfy seats inside and out.
Pricey though, as the tickets are $47.00 and the parking is $15.00. I had no idea you had to pay for parking.
If you do go, make sure to take the early morning one, as on the way home back into the dock we saw the 1pm line and it was already booked. (early mornings on a weekday are far less crowded in the summer).

Also, congrats to the winner of the "Thoroughly Modern Milkshake" #14 Ariel and #21 Esi. Please email me your shipping address!