When we were planning our trip to Seattle, my daughter’s request was “lets do something we’ve never done before” so we booked our trip with San Juan Safaris. I found them on the internet but I had looked at many other company’s as well. I knew it was a good fit for us once I made the call and spoke to the person with San Juan. She asked lots of questions about our trip, what we wanted to accomplish and most importantly our schedule. We were in town for the girls national soccer tournament so we were limited in how much time we had to make the trip to San Juan island.
The recommendation was to fly with Kenmore Air on a sea plane to Friday Harbor and San Juan booked the entire trip over the phone with me. It was fantastic. The view of the islands was a gret experience especially the flight back just as the sun was going down.
Once on the boat we saw lots of whales, bald eagles and many other creatures in the water and on the islands. The two young ladies on our journey had great knowledge about the islands, what we were witnessing and the history of many of the whales. It was educational and lots of fun.
Overall it was a great experience and one I would highly recommend.
I’ve gone whale watching with San Juan Safaris a handful of times and have always had an incredible experience. The naturalists are top notch and do an outstanding job at explaining what guests are seeing. (I’ve seen orcas every time I’ve gone out with SJS.) I try to escape to the San Juan Islands whenever possible and especially enjoy San Juan Safaris’ whale plane tour with Kenmore Air. If you need a nature/marine fix, Kenmore Air will zip you from South Lake Union (Seattle) to Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, then you head out on a whale watching trip, spend a few hours exploring Friday Harbor, then fly back to the city. When I need a day of Zen and killer whales, it’s my fave thing to do. I highly recommend San Juan Safaris.
What a great experience! An awesome boat ride with friendly and educated hosts. We saw so many whales!!! It was the coolest day! Thank you to all the people who made it a great experience.
This trip was a winner from the beginning. When we called for last minute reservations, we talked to the nicest girl (Taylor I think). She got us signed up and even gave us recommendations on where to stay. Friendly beyond belief. The tour was amazing. Not just because of the glorious beauty of the islands, or the amazing whale sightings. The trip was truly special because of our darling naturalist, Amy, and our extremely competent captain Pete. We would recommend San Juan Safaris to anyone!
We had a great time, saw many orcas, one was even very near our boat, so that we could actually hear it. The crew was helpful and gave interesting insights. All in all a wonderful experience!
We had a very enjoyable trip. The crew was great and of course the whales were spectacular! The boat was clean and comfortable.
My husband and I had a wonderful experience with San Juan Safaris. They were very professional and Captain Mike gave us a great tour around San Juan Island where we saw Bald Eagles, sea lions, and of course the J Pod of whales. The two naturalists on board gave us great information about the whales behaviors and answered all of our questions. They were able to identify specific members of the pod by name because of their size, gender and markings. The whales were fishing and were so amazing to watch. We even saw a mother and baby! As a grand finale, the big male “Big Mike” surfaced just in front of the boat and did a big belly roll. Thank you all for a wonderful trip.
We recently went out on our fourth trip with San Juan Safari’s and are continuously impressed with this company! We have had the pleasure of having Captain Mike all four times and several different naturalists. All of the crew has been so professional and knowledgeable. We have seen whales (and lots of other wildlife) on each trip. Our most recent was my favorite – witnessed a kill by transient orcas and then their celebration afterward! Thank you SJS’s, this won’t be our last trip with you!
The whale watching trip we took with San Juan Safaris was absolutely spectacular! They know exactly where to go, how to get in front of the whales, turn off the engines and wait for them go by. Also, the guide was very knowledgeable about the whales, where they go, what they do, and even which pods and what whales we were looking at. The boat was small, which was good because it was closer to the water and thus you could enjoy the jumps of the whales more, and also because it was very fast and easy to steer. Very recommendable tour!
This outfit is very professional. We had the best time of any whale watch we have been on, and I have been on 5 previous ones with other outfits from Hawaii to New England. The captain quickly found the whales and they were breaching all over the place. We stayed right with the whales a good long time. The captain put us in the best location of any or the many boats around us. The staff were also very helpful on shore and we are going to do a kayak tour with their sister company. You get a 20% discount on the kayak tour if you go on a whale watch with them. Over all a wonderful experience!