A glorious day in Victoria, British Columbia warrants getting out on the water…with Five Star Whale Watching! With over 30 years of experience, Five Star Whale Watching is Victoria’s longest running family owned whale watching company. The vessel used is a double hulled, expedition catamaran that was designed for whale watching by whale watchers. It’s very stable, offering a smooth ride with seating inside and outside. Tours are about 3 hours long, and our tour travel around the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Race Rocks Marine Protected Area where we saw sea otters, harbor seals, California sea lions, and stellar sea lions. Despite the warm weather in downtown Victoria, the fog set in while on the water (as you can see by the photo above), and the complementary heavy (read: toasty warm!), waterproof floatation jackets were much appreciated. Still in search of the whales, we traveled to the Haro Strait near San Juan Island and were rewarded with sightings of porpoises and bald eagles. Captain Trev and our marine naturalists, Christa and Katie, tried their best to locate the whales and were in constant contact with other whale watching boats, but alas the whales shied away from us (and the other boats) on this trip. Nevertheless, it was a delightful time on the water and a highly recommended, “Five Star Whale Watching” experience!