Tips for a great whale watching trip with Kids

• Best time to see Whales : Some suggests that you can see whales year around it might be true but with my experience, winter is the best time specially in and around Los Angeles. We’ve always did the whale watching tours in between the end of November to February and were never disappointed. Infact, one of our most exciting trip was in January where we saw more-than 15 grey whales and tons of dolphins.
• Prepare your mind : You should also prepare your mind for the worst as these wild animals are in their natural habitat and are not pets where you will get to see them on your every trip. Some days you will see tons of whales and the other day you might not see any.
• Talk to the Crew : It’s always good to introduce yourself to the captain and have a healthy conversation with him/her.Even if you have knowledge about everything, just have a talk with them as they love talking to people and giving information. Ask them anything about the trip, best viewing spot, what to do if we have motion sickness etc.
• Check in Early : Try checking in as early as possible to get better seats or a good viewing area. Usually, every spot in the cruise is designed to give you a better view. But i always loved seating in the front as you can see dolphins swimming/racing with your boat and most of the time you will be the first one to spot a whale.
• Birthday : If anyone in your group is celebrating their birthday, just let the captain or crew know about it and they can make you feel special by announcing it or by playing a birthday song. Kids love attention so this will definitely make them feel special & happy.
• Sea Sickness : The last row in the cruise is a better place if you have sea sickness as its stable most of the time. Talk to your captain about this as they will be knowing the better seating area .
• The earlier, the better : The waves are always irregular later in the day so the earlier in the day you go, the smoother the ride will be. 
• Dress Comfortably : When you are in the ocean, the cruse is never stable. So it’s better to wear comfortable shoes and clothes to avoid any accidents.
• Sun Screen is Must : No matter what the weather is, always apply sunscreen when you are in the ocean as 60% of the sunlight bounces back up from the water’s surface, and you can sunburn even under cloudy skies.
• Cover your self : You might see the weather is good but when you are in the ocean It’s always chilly, so pack some jackets, sweaters ,hats, mittens and also sunglasses as the glare from the water can give you a headache.
• Pack some snacks : Most of the cruises allow snacks , so make use of this opportunity and pack something which might relieve your sea sickness.
• Have some cash : If you wanna buy something on the cruise like coffee, snacks , drinks then it’s better to carry cash as most of the cruises do not accept cards.
• Better to have straps : You would definitely be wanting to capture the beautiful memories on your camera or phone. But with a moving boat it’s always stressful. So better to have straps to your camera or get a phone case with straps so that you don’t have to worry about loosing the phone in the ocean.Some might find it silly but Trust me, it makes a lot of difference.
• Have your camera ready : Unless you are an expert photographer, it’s almost impossible to capture the whales in your camera/phone as they swim in a blink. I always recommend taking videos than pictures to be able to catch the whales.
• Follow the Drone : This is something which always worked for me.  There is always someone out there in the ocean who’s trying to capture whales in his/her drone. So this is the easiest way to know where the whale is swimming. So when you spot a drone, get your cameras ready because there will be high chances of capturing a whale surfacing, breaching, diving, or breathing.

Trips like these are around 2 – 3 hr long and sometimes kids might get bored. It’s really important to keep them busy while you enjoy the tour.So here’s what i did to keep my 4 year old entertained through out the trip.

Things I did with my 4 year old which kept him entertained :

• Prepare your kids : I do this for every place i go and it actually works. Prepare your kids atleast 3-4 days before your trip. Keep reading them the stories of Ocean, Dolphins, Whales and other habitat or play a video/movie related to whales and dolphins. This will excite them during their trip when they are in the ocean or when they see whales and dolphins.
• Keep it a Surprise : keep this trip as a surprise for them. Now that they have been reading/learning about Ocean, their brain is all pumped up with it’s stories so when you keep this as a surprise, their excitement level is doubled.
• Do not tell : Yes, specially when you are going on trips like these, where it’s hard to predict whether or not you will see a whale, you wouldn’t wanna disappoint them. So do not tell your kids that you are going for a whale watching trip instead, tell them that you are going on a cruise to explore the ocean and there’s a chance of spotting some animals while on the trip.
• Give them a Task : After you board the cruise, give them a task like ‘let’s see how many animals we can find in the ocean in this trip, or ‘Keep a count of Dolphins, Whales, Sea Lions or any other animals they see’. It’s ok if they are not accurate in the end but it helps keeping them busy during the trip.
• Do not Show : It’s definitely disappointing if you don’t spot any whale but never let your kids know/see the disappointment on your face as it might also put your kids down. If not the Whales, you will definitely see Dolphins for sure.If you manage to keep this a surprise trip for them, they will be happy that they could see atleast something. In the end, If Kids are happy then it’s a successful trip for sure.
• Make it Educational : This is also something which i always do, I dig something out of whatever we see or wherever we go and make it not just a fun trip but also educational. In between the breaks, keep talking to them about what they know about the ocean and it’s animals or share your knowledge with them like ‘Do you know how big the ocean is? Which is the biggest animal? Can you drink ocean’s water? How does the water tastes like?’ these are just the examples, but you can ask them according to their age.

Please do check our whale watching experience on our YouTube Channel below