Condor Express Whale Watching in Santa Barbara California takes great pride in their unique whale watching boat. We carry tens of thousands of people every year to see the amazing wildlife in the Santa Barbara Channel and all around the Channel Islands. This special boat is a main reason Condor Express Whale Watching is ranked #1 by the Santa Barbara … Read More
A Nat Geo Kinda Day
2015 05-01 SB Coast We ran two fantastic adventures into the Santa Barbara Channel today: 9am and 12 noon. Cetacean fortune struck us on both excursions with sightings of gray whales, #dolphins, humpback #whales, sea lions, feeding hot spots, and a plethora of seabirds. 9am. Acting on intel from our pal, Dane, Captain Dave pointed the Condor Express at … Read More
8 Gray Whales Run (swim) Amok
Mirror glass summer conditions again today. And just like yesterday the Risso’s dolphins were seen interacting with the gray whales. Once again we saw gray whales rolling around and becoming very friendly with the boat. There were no visible signs of Risso’s actually attacking the gray whales, and although it all looks like a lot of fun on the surface, … Read More
Condor Express gets MUGGED…by a Gray Whale !!!!!
Condor Express gets MUGGED…by a Gray Whale !!!!! Out of a total of 3 gray whales today, two were seen on the coast. But the one offshore gray whale was confused….it must have thought it was a humpback! This gray whale would not leave the boat alone for over an hour. It swam around, under and up and down … Read More
Sea Lion Masses Steal the Show
Sea Lion Masses steal the Show The weather was simply divine today. If the Beaufort Scale people allowed decimals, it would have been 0 – 0.2 for the sea state all morning long. Again the strong Santa Ana winds to the east of us kept our region sunny, warm and very nice for cetaceans and mammals in general. All across … Read More
Rollin’ with the Risso’s Dolphins
It was another spectacular “summer-like” day on the west and central Santa Barbara Channel. Strong Santa Ana winds were blowing down east, but this only created a superior sunny, calm day for us departing from Santa Barbara. After a smooth ride to the West End of Santa Cruz Island, the Condor Express gave all on board a great look at … Read More
10 + 800 + 200 = spectacular whale watching today
10 + 800 + 200 = spectacular whale watching today The Condor Express motored across the Santa Barbara Channel in thick fog. Things were looking bad, but lo and behold, within a mile or so of our destination (Santa Cruz Island), the skies cleared and it was sunny and nice. The first sighting was of a very large, spread out … Read More
Eight whales, five porpoises
Eight whales, five porpoises. A bit rocky out at the West End of Santa Cruz Island again today, so Captain Dave and the crew took a turn for calmer seas down east. On crossing the Santa Barbara Channel, 5 Dall’s porpoises were watched speeding like warm blooded torpedoes all around the Condor Express. Wow, are they ever fast ! Down … Read More
2 nice gray whales and a lot of dolphins
Gray whales and a lot of dolphins Not far out of Santa Barbara Harbor the Condor Express played with a group of at least 1,500 common dolphins. As usual, these friendly cetaceans rode the bow, surfed the wake, and generally dazzled and delighted everyone on board. Next we ran across the to world famous Painted Cave on Santa Cruz Island, … Read More
3 Gray Whales and Excellent Cetacean Diversity
3 Gray Whales and Excellent Cetacean Diversity Again the calm seas and excellent weather made whale finding and whale watching a dream come true. Today the Condor Express located and watched three individual gray whales: one mid-Channel, one on the west end of Santa Cruz Island, and the third a bit east of the famous Painted Cave. In addition to … Read More