Captain Bill & Sons Whale Watch

Hands down BEST whale watching tour in the area. I had originally book with another company that decided they weren’t taking any more Groupon reservations. So I called Captain Bill’s last minute and not only did they honor their Groupon price they were friendly about it. On the trip they were knowledgeable and friendly to all the passengers. We were lucky and saw some whales. What a great trip.

Captain Bill and Son had been my first whale watching experience a few years back. They are a helpful and informative crew. You get an explaination of the various animals one might see and marine life 101 as it helps you understand a lot that you may experience on the 3 hour tour. I almost didn’t make the boat (don’t follow in my footsteps on this one) But the staff was accommodating and made it happen for us. My daughter and sister were pleased as this was a birthday gift to my daughter. Thank you captain for waiting for us! Once on the boat able to relax you are able to grab a drink and some lunch and enjoy the beautiful boat ride to Maine. I gotta say seeing those whales is always a humbling experience. We were lucky enough to see 3 whales including a mom and her calf. We also saw a pod of dolphins (and I mean many) they we’re so impressive as they jumped out of the water in unison and kept up with the speed of the boat. It is something I’ll never forget. If you want a good experience with a crew that will interact with you and treat you as one of their own visit Captain Bill and Son’s Whale Watch in Gloucester.

Was there this Wednesday and saw pod of dolphins, humpbacks, minkes, fin whale and few seals. I had no problem using the voucher bought online, and they even called me beforehand to inform the schedule change, which was really nice of them.
Magnificent sightings but only wish we saw more of them. Riding the ship out and coming back is easily 3−4hrs, while the sightings are pretty short lived, happening occasionally. Overall a pleasant experience!

After the first two hours of our whale watch, we had our doubts. We only saw water and a few dive-​bombing birds.
But once Captain Bill found the whales, we were treated to a non-​stop thrill exhibition of fireworks in the water, from below the water, and majestically hurtling out of the water. Five stars for sure.
My Sweet Lord, we saw it all. We had a ton of sightings, pods of four whales at a time, three magnificent full breaches and a dozen majestic flukes.
Our guide/​naturalist Rebeca added quite a bit to the experience with some expert commentary on the whales and the state of international whaling. One cool thing we learned was that whales spend their winters in the warm waters of the Dominican Republic and live off their blubber. Sounds like a good career path to me. Rebeca knew the names of the whales by their fluke markings, and she knew which whale babies belonged to which whale mommas. She was terrific.
Just be warned, the ride to the whales is two hours out and two hours back to Gloucester. Our ride back was choppy and the barf-​bag inventory was seriously depleted after our run. But this goes with the territory, it’s a hazard for doing something like this. So if you have a weak stomache, take some pills or something .
I was 100% satisfied with how this spectacular excursion played out.
Well done, Captain Bill!

My husband and I decided to buy a Groupon for a whale watch since I had never been on one. The staff in the office were helpful and the naturalist guide on the way out into the open waters was definitely knowledgeable and gave us a lot of information about whales and the territory.
It was a hazy day and visibility got less and less as we got further from land. I wasn’t too worried since they told us they had seen whales earlier in the day and were getting reports of whales, as well. They also told us that if we didn’t see any whales today, we would get a «rain check». We joined up with two other boats and spent time circling two humpback whales. It was awesome! The naturalist gave us information and narrated what the captain was doing without talking the entire time thus giving us the opportunity to really just enjoy the view. It was great, even though we saw a dead harbor seal floating alongside the boat.
Everything went well for the actual whale watching portion.
This is when things took an ugly turn.
One our way back to the mainland, my husband and I were sitting on the outside of the boat. We saw a woman (whom we had seen around the boat earlier with 2 small children in tow) come running out of the inner area and barf over the side. «Poor lady», we said quietly to ourselves. She then went back inside and came running back out with her young daughter who was crying and throwing up at the same time. It was a pitiful sight. The girl was crying and trying to throw up over the side of the railing.
At this point, a large, burly crew member, whom we had heard swearing as we pushed off from the dock earlier in the day, came walking over and said, «You’ve got to be f***ing sh**ing me!», and demanded them to «Get to the back of the boat!!». Later on he then tried to stop this woman from getting back into the inner area. When she told him her son was in there he acquiesced and let her enter with an audible sigh
This experience pretty much ruined the entire trip for me. The insensitivity, lack of respect and all around rudeness of this man is appalling. Listen, buddy, I get it no one wants to have clean up puke. But you can’t tell me that a seasoned crewman hasn’t somehow come to terms with the fact that some days you’re going to have to mop barf over the side of the boat. It wasn’t like a rowdy 20-​something had too many beers and was being a jerk. Rather a CHILD got seasick and was still trying her damnedest to puke OVER the railing!
That jerk should consider himself lucky; if it had been me or my child, I would have directed the flow of vomit all over this bastard.
Captain Bill — we enjoyed our whale watch, but think your crew could use a bit of a reminder about respect for passengers.

Ich habe damals zwei Wale aus direkter Nähe beobachten können und war einfach fasziniert. Die Größe dieser Tiere (u.a. ein Buckelwal) war für einen Moment beängstigend, weil es mich daran erinnerte, wie klein ich als Mensch doch bin!

Habe damals drei Wale gesehen und werde dieses Erlebnis nie vergessen! Sollte man unbedingt in Boston machen!

Eigentlich hatten wir das Thema schon fast abgehakt.
Hiess es doch, die Wale könne man in Maine sehen und eher bis Mitte Oktober. Hier aber ist Massachusetts und der Monat geht zu Ende.
Durch Zufall kamen wir durch diesen Ort und die Süße beharrte auf einen Stop bei Captain Bill, obwohl es bereits dämmerte und wir noch keine Unterkunft für die Nacht hatten.
Die Frau am Schalter hat uns dann aufopferungsvoll eine halbe Stunde bei der Zimmersuche geholfen und fast alle Beherbungsbetriebe des Ortes angerufen, daß wir gar nicht anders konnten, als am nächsten Tag zur Walfahrt wiederzukommen.
Wir befinden uns auf Cape Ann, einer Halbinsel eine Autostunde nordöstlich von Boston, ein Fischerort mit größeren Hafenanlagen, wo früher Wale gejagt, heute nur noch beobachtet werden.
Die Küste hier ist reich und schön. Wer die Elbchaussee in meiner Stadt kennt, möge sich diese auf Hunderte von Kilometern ausgedehnt vorstellen, geschwungene Straßen, Parks, strahlende Collegestudenten, saubere Strände, hochherrschaftliche Villen, Holzhäuser, gepflegte Gartenanlagen.
Entweder sind hier alle sehr wohlhabend oder es gibt keine Armen.
Mittags um eins fahren wir mit einem Boot los, das für hundert Passagiere reicht, sind aber vielleicht ganze dreißig.
Nach gut einer Stunde treffen wir auf das erste Paar Buckelwale, Mutter und Kind.
Die Majestäten schwimmen lässig und gemächlich neben uns, prusten Fontänen von Luft aus und interessieren sich nicht weiter. Später ein zweites Paar. Als sie sich treffen macht einer von den jungen einen übermütigen Sprung und wirft seine ganze Körpermasse von vielen Tonnen aus dem Wasser, zu schnell für die meisten Fotoapparate der Schaulustigen.
Das passiert wohl eher selten, daß sie sowas tun.
Ein weiterer Riesenwal ist neugierig und umkreist uns, taucht alle paar Minuten mit seinem riesigen Kopf aus dem Wasser und scheint uns anzulächeln.
Diese scheinbare Freundlichkeit und ihr Interesse sind ihnen oft zum Verhängnis geworden, viel zu leicht machen sie es ihren Jägern.
Ehrfurcht und Respekt vor diesen riesigen Geschöpfen.
Zum Abschluß kreuzen wir durch eine jagende Delfinschule, blitzesschnell flitzen sie unter dem Bug hindurch. Flipper.
Möge der große Ozean sie unsterblich machen.
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