Seeing whales and dolphins in the wild is one of the most thrilling sights in nature and these beautiful creatures inspire adventurers young and old.

The variety of whales that are seen across the globe are too numerous to mention them all, but among the big highlights are Orcas (Killer whales); Humpback whales; Sperm whales; Minke whales and Pilot whales. Dolphins are certainly the liveliest and most curious creatures of the sea and common sightings are Bottlenose and Common dolphins.

Many of Explore’s tours include whale and/or dolphin watching excursions, on other tours whale and dolphin watching tours are exciting optional trips that can be paid for locally. Although whale and dolphin sightings can never be guaranteed the one thing you can be sure of is that the local operators we use adhere to our strict guidelines on viewing wildlife in its natural habitat. This way you can have a positive experience watching these majestic creatures. An example of this is in the Azores where all customers who go on a whale watching tour from Pico Island partake in a photo identification project that seeks to track known whales so we can learn more about their behaviour and monitor numbers.

Where to go when?

May to August

In the Azores we search for sperm whales, short-finned pilot whales and several different species of dolphin. In Arctic Norway we head out from the tiny fishing of Sto, close to the continental shelf, where we can search for sperm and minke whales in their natural habitat.

July to December

Take to the waters off South Africa’s scenic Garden Route for a chance to observe southern right whales.

December to mid March

Those of you choosing to extend your Copper Canyon and Tequila Express tour by joining our Baja California extension can search for American Grey Whales and dolphins in the warm waters of the Pacific. During this same period you can search for humpbacks and dolphins off Canto Ballenas on our Active Costa Rica Tour.