Sydney Whale-Watching Cruise

Name: Sydney Whale-Watching Cruise
Brand: Captain Cook Cruises
SKU: 3378WHALE
Price: 61.89 USD
Rating: 4.5 (122 reviews)

Badge of ExcellenceSydney, Australia

From $61.89

Select Date and Travelers

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

2 hours 30 minutes
Offered in: English

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Overview

Cruise the ocean waters to look for humpback and southern right whales as they migrate between Antarctica and the Great Barrier Reef. Your whale-watching experience starts from Sydney Harbour and heads to the open ocean on a custom-built catamaran with large viewing windows and spacious decks that provide excellent sightlines. Often, dolphins, seabirds, and other marine animals make an appearance during the whale-watching tour, which lasts a couple of hours.

The open-air viewing decks provide great whale-watching opportunities
Enjoy the picturesque sights of Sydney Harbour on your way to the open ocean
Cruises are seasonal, running only between May and November
Depart from Circular Quay, an easy-to-find central-city location

What's Included

Live commentary on board
2.5 Hour Whale Watching Cruise

Food and drinks (available to purchase)

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Circular Quay Wharf 6
Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Please check in at least 20 minutes prior to departure to collect tickets from the ticket office located at the departure wharf Circular Quay Wharf 6.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Please dress appropriately and wear warm clothing. It will often feel cooler at sea
If you are susceptible to travel sickness, please bring the relevant medication
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Whale Guarantee: If a whale is not sighted during your cruise, you'll be given the opportunity to cruise again for free

Reconfirmation Hotline - Call +61-2-8062 3623 from 7.15am on the day of your cruise to confirm the cruise is going ahead. Cruises may be cancelled subject to weather conditions.
Near public transportation
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
Most travelers can participate
Not recommended for travelers 3 years and younger
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 120 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Aldous_L

Can see the whales at a close range. Staff were friendly and helpful at the Captain Cook Cruises. Wonderful experience as we missed the whale cruise at Port Stephens due to bad weather on 1 Sep 2023. One reminder, if you are sea sickness, get the ginger pills first of all..

Reviews

4.5

122 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 122 reviews

Amazing time ! We see a...

Sarah_P, Nov 2023

Amazing time ! We see a momma with his little baby, so cute, stars in the eyes all along. I recommend.

Whales make several appearances

Jonathan_B, Nov 2023

Saw a mother and calf. They both propelled themselves virtually out of the water. Learnt a lot about Humpback Whales, which was fascinating.

Whale-watching on 28 October 2023

KaiJie_C, Oct 2023

It’s my first whale watching and it never fails to disappoint. Spotted whales and dolphins up closed but sadly none of them leap out of the water ;( Note: You need to have fast fingers to grab a shot of the mammals

Great experience

Beth_B, Oct 2023

The staff were pleasant and informative a great experience I would go again loved it . We are lucky to have access to Humpback Highway so close to Sydney harbour.

Love it!!

wx7n4dkc7m, Oct 2023

We saw so many whales! It was amazing! The city view was gorgeous as well. So worth it! P.S. the wind was strong. Take your jacket with you!

Excellent and wonderful experience

Aldous_L, Sep 2023

An amazing trip.

Ernesta_B, Aug 2023

The cruise was operated on time and the tour guides were very knowledgeable. It was an experience that cannot be entirely summed up in words...but, a must see.

Seeing the baby whale...

lorraineretigan, Aug 2023

Seeing the baby whale doing fin and tail flaps. The vessel had lots of people on board and it was difficult to see!

Cheated while booking in viator

ankit_W, Jul 2023

It's really a scam while booking. When I was booking through viator I saw the per person price was $60 for 2.5 hrs tour whereas when I select the same for 02 person it was showing $180 .they are just showing the $ sign but when you going to pay you will later on come to know the amount deducted as per USD. such a pathetic experience.

Great experience once in a lifetime

Budmaa_R, Jul 2023

Wonderful experience watched wales. So happy, Paul was knowledgeable with wales and captain and crew is skilled. Very glad to took this travel experience. Thank you.

Great and enjoyable experience!

Pham_P, Jul 2023

It was my firtst time watching the whales in real, i was so excited.. the tour was excellent. I will definitely come back and will keep booking with Viator!

Our boat did not turn up for our Whale Watching Cruise. No information was passed on to us about the reason behind this

Donna_F, Jul 2023

No memorable parts to a cruise that did not eventuate. Customer Service was non existant. Overall a very disappointing experience.

Jumping Whales

Peter_K, Jul 2023

great to see the whales and see them jumping out the water. The skipper told a lot of interesting facts on whales. Great experinece

We saw whales!

dawn_i, Jul 2023

Fun experience ce and we saw whales. Recommend thatyou bring Dramamine or some anti nausea medication. I didn’t get sick but several people did including a young man who got pretty upset.

Totally recommend!

Alicia_F, Jun 2023

That was totally insane! I saw humpbacks jumping around very playful and also some dolphins and an albatross. I really recommend to do a whale watching when being in Sydney!

Disorganised

Simone_N, Jun 2023

Quite disappointed with the lack of organisation with this trip. Firstly there was a huge line up of people waiting to board and NOBODY from the org. came to let us know where to stand and wait. When someone did arrive 15 minutes LATE from time of departure, tickets were manually checked by ONE PERSON for a group of over 100 people. Still nobody came to explain what was going on. On the boat, I was at the front and two tourists-guys were standing and blocking the view for people sitting and they didn't care. The bloke who ended up on the mic at the front didnt say a word, so that gave the message to the two tourists that it was perfectly alright to block the view for the seated passengers behind them. Eventually someone came to say people had to sit whilst going through the heads and the two tourists at first completely ignored the instruction. Again the bloke on the mic said nothing and let those guys stand. After THREE attempts to get those tourists to move they finally did but ended up staggering coz of the waves. They could have fallen on me. Not good! There is so much more I could add, the bloke on the mic just kept talking all the way through. Cant he just stop sometimes?

Whale watching experience

Lauren_I, Jun 2023

Saw whales. Boat was very respectful to the whales. Funny and friendly crew. Whales came close to the boat. Beautiful and magical experience

Worthwhile

Kaylie_Y, May 2023

Amazing experience. The Captain Cook crew were amazing. We saw whales and dolphins and the whole experience was amazing.

Not for the faint of heart

NanNaimah_L, May 2023

When we finally saw the family of whales we were extremely excited and relieved but this excursion is not for the faint of heart. I suggest selling/offering seasick medications on board? We stopped for about an hour in a choppy water, nearly 70% of the participants threw up!

Great day out.

Bev_D, Aug 2022

Lovely to be on the water whale watching. Informative and fun commentary. I’m keen to go again next season.

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