Wednesday 22 April 2015

Whale Watching from Richard's Bay to St Lucia

This was my 3rd Whale watching experience in South Africa and all 3 in 1 year. My 1st trip was to Hermanus in August this year with my youngest son, where we watched the Whales from the shore line out in the bay.
The 2nd trip was with Advantage Tours based in St Lucia, again in August and with youngest son and hubby.
The 3rd trip was again with Advantage with my eldest son and his girlfriend in September.

This trip was by far the best. We left Richard's Bay at 5.30am, expecting to only be out for 2 hours, but they requested we join them for the trip to St Lucia, where they had arranged a lift back for us and we would be out at sea for nearly 4 hours.

We saw around 15 hump backed whales, we saw babies, we saw them breach where they leap out the water, lots of sky hopping, head first out the water, tail flips and waves.













We were also accompanied for around 30 minutes by a pod of dolphins and we were encouraged to clamber up on the front of the boat to watch them more closely.



After a beach landing, the owner treated us to a hippo and crocodile boat cruise in the estuary with drinks and snacks, before driving us back to Richard's Bay.




This post was originally published in September 2014.

16 comments:

  1. Wow these photos look brilliant, you got so close to all the wildlife!

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    1. it was amazing and i'd love to do it again

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  2. What a wonderful experience, I've followed dolphins off the coast of Gambia but would love to go whale watching with my son when he's a bit older #timetravellerlinky

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    1. i hope you do manage a trip out to see, I've done both and they were both spectacular

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  3. Wow! I haven't been whale watching on a boat yet but I have seen some whales off the coast when I lived in Hawaii. It looks like a great experience!

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    1. it was wonderful and some good memories made with my eldest son

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  4. Wow! Such a privilege to see such gorgeous creatures up close! I saw them in Hermanus a few years ago now, we saw a mother and her calf, amazing! :D #timetraveller

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    1. my first view of a whale was from Hermanus also

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  5. The whale watching opportunities in South Africa really are incredible. I managed to see one from the shore - with the help of binoculars - many years ago, just after I graduated. I think it was in Hout Bay (not sure if that's spelt correctly!)

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    1. think thats spelt right, but i know where you mean

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  6. What an amazing experience! I love being out and sea and would really enjoy an excursion like this one. Thanks so much for sharing with #TimeTraveller

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    1. the diesel for the boat is a bit difficult to deal with, with the smell, but you can also whale watch very clearly from Cape Town coast line

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  7. Now THAT is worth getting up early for!

    I've always wanted to see these creatures in the wild. One day, maybe, one day.

    #TimeTravellers

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    1. it's not something I'd had on my list of things to do, but I'd sure do it again

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  8. Oh wow that just look amazing!

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