Most people think excursions are only available on cruises or all-inclusive resorts but every city has adventures waiting for you. I consider excursions to be an activities outside the hotel that are outside your comfort zone or outside what you normally can do at home. The traditional Boston excursions are the famous duck tours and haunted ghost tours. However when I visited Boston, I chose a different route. After visiting the aquarium, in Boston Harbor, I noticed they offered whale watching tours multiple times a day throughout the week. I am not a big fan of engaging with animals in their natural habitat but my girlfriend Karen loved the water and loved sea creatures. Tickets were around $55.00 for adults and $33.00 for kids. Unfortunately little kids are not free so kids under the age of three were $16.00. The boat goes out about an hour into the harbor, stays out for an hour and then returns. Like I previously stated in other blogs I am not a fan of engaging with wildlife in their natural habitat but Karen really wanted to go on the tour. I ponied up the money for a noon voyage and down played the chances of us actually seeing a whale. Boy was I wrong.
The aquarium generally offers whale watching from March to November. During the week they will do two trips a day and on the weekends they will have as many as ten tours in a two day span. The boat is sea worthy with two decks and plenty of viewing points. The boat is capable of holding between thirty to fifty people comfortably but for this voyage there were only thirty people on board. Since I am a land lover we stayed inside as the boat departed the harbor and headed for the open sea. The water was a bit choppy but Karen and I were able to stomach it. After about 45 minutes out the boat slowed down and Karen dragged me outside. The other people on the boat were pointing in the distance but I could not see anything. Finally, in the distance, I could see a fin breach the water and go about five feet in the air. Next I saw a tail extend out of the water and go ten feet in the air. The event was spectacular but happened so fast we were not able to capture it with our camera. The boat started to head in the direction of the whales at a slow pace once the captain identified where the whales were traveling. The next image I captured with my eyes I will never forget. The whale fully separated out of the water and splashed back down. Everyone on the boat, including Karen, clapped and cheered for the event while I was more terrified than impressed. Even though the whale was over 150 yards away the sheer power and size of the mammal was chilling. Even the Captain was surprised. He mentioned blue whales were more common further up North but they tend to follow prey South during certain parts of the year. Another variable contributing to their southern migration from Canadian waters was temperature. Warmer temperatures will have them search for colder waters.
I could not believe what I just witnessed. The whale was the size of a tractor trailer and we were still heading in the same direction of the breach. “Karen, I need to go inside” I admitted. She started laughing at me as I proposed the notion. She was loving every minute of this awe-inspiring events and I was breaking down inside. We were on the second deck and the majority of the other passengers were on the first deck. I noticed the passengers on the first deck were pointing to the water on the side of the boat. When I looked down to see what they were pointing at I could see one of the whales fully submerged in the water but swimming along the side of the ship. “Karen, I am going inside” I stated as I was starting to get upset. “What is the matter with you?’ she exclaimed. “Did you see the size of that thing? It could break our boat in half and you are joking around”. I started to get defensive but she knew I was somewhat kidding and I was trying to get a laugh out of her. As I finished the sentence I went back inside and took a seat next to the life vests and a window so I could see what was going on outside. Karen stayed outside another ten minutes and then came in as the boat headed to shore.
We were out on the water for a total of three – four hours. The voyage was well worth the money spent because I am not sure I will ever witness a whale breach again in my lifetime. Whale watching is great for seniors and adults but I noticed the kids on the boat were a little bored until they saw the whale breach. Seeing the fin and tale was cool but it did not raise excitement with the younger crowd. I highly recommend the whale watching excursion when you stay at the Boston Harbor Hotel or any time you visit Boston Harbor.