On a beautiful crisp fall day last week I decided to drive up to Newport Beach and check out a whalewatching trip I hadn’t been on before. A brief pleasant call to Davey’s Locker and I was all set to go on their 1:00 trip. I arrived about 10 minutes before the scheduled departure time and after a brief time trying to find the office was signed in by their friendly staff. I noticed they had full sized binoculars to rent for $5 which is a nice touch. When I queued up to board I also was able to avail myself of clean public restrooms right next to the boarding area which was very convenient and welcome.
Since this was to be my first trip with this outfit, I wanted to learn as much as I could so that I could offer the best information about it that I could. To that end, I purchased the Captain’s Experience which allowed me to stay in a cordoned off area just outside the wheelhouse with a window through to talk with the Captain and unobstructed view of the front rail on the upper deck starboard side. It also afforded me a drink ticket for something from the fully stocked bar, which takes some getting used to, since I am often acting as a naturalist on whalewatching trips and not able to indulge. Chelsea, the professional photographer onboard, volunteered herself to serve as my steward as well so I didn’t even need to leave the action to get refreshments. Pretty nice deal!
The boat itself is a beautiful, well kept, clean catamaran with nice bench seating upstairs and around the outside of the lower deck. The inside of the lower deck is plush like a yacht, with banquette seating at tables by windows and sofas and coffee tables in the center of the room. The bar is wisely set up at front of this salon. It is easy to move about and comfortable.
Going out of Newport is nice because you start out cruising by amazing waterfront homes with very nice boats parked all over the place and then, boom, quick as that, you are out of the channel and into the ocean. This time as soon as we hit the Pacific a large bottle nosed dolphin splashed right next to the boat. Captain Larry immediately pulled up and allowed the dolphins to continue their path and maneuvered so that we could all get a glimpse of these very large on shore dolphins that are normally associated with shows in captivity or surfing the waves along the coast. This was a small group of 3 of 4 that was not particularly interested in engaging with us so we soon broke off and went out to sea looking for more sea life.
We got a report that there was no sign of mammals if we were to head north, so we took off down south towards Laguna. It had turned into a spectacular day, the rain had cleared out leaving crystal clear air, high clouds and sun, rain squalls visible miles in the distance, unbelievable visibility, and calm clear water. 
We could see detail on Catalina Island and even make out one of the smaller islands out there as well. If anything was surfacing and breathing, we would spot it! Captain Larry was scanning the whole time with some very high powered binoculars, Chelsea was using her telephoto, I was helping out with my 7 x 35’s when Larry asked if we saw it. He had spotted way down south a pod of dolphins that were out of range of my binos. In fact it was a good 3 or 4 minutes of solid cruising before I could spot them, so now I have Santa’s list filled out! He wasn’t sure if we could get to them before we had to turn around to get back in time for the 3:30 trip but he let it rip full speed and they didn’t move, or maybe even came a little north to meet us. This time it was a pod of about 250 common dolphins and they seemed to have just finished feeding so were ready to play with the boat and made the mad dash to meet them worth it. On one side of the boat the sun was glinting beautifully off the water, highlighting them in dark relief
and on the other side of the boat you could see several feet into the water, to view them as they swam in the bow wave alongside us. 
Captain Larry skillfully navigated his way into the midst of them as they came storming at us and they fell into place along side of us and behind us, surfing and porpoising in the bow wave, twisting and jumping around each other. It was a joyful experience and our captain was able to switch direction and speed to give them different ways to play with the boat and us different ways to see them. I was very impressed with the intuitive way he interacted with the dolphins. As they slowly lost interest he warned us that he was only going to pass through one more time, did so and headed north to make it back in time. I appreciated his consideration for the animals and how in tune with them he was. I will definitely come back during gray whale season to go out with him on this marvelous boat.
Chelsea was offering her beautiful photographs of the day’s sightings for sale as we disembarked. A bargain $10 for the pictures and 2 vouchers for $7 return trips. I thought that was a really nice offering and can imagine on a day with interesting whales it would be really nice to purchase.
Even though we saw only small toothed whales, dolphins, everyone’s spirits were high as we docked and I could tell that this was a well run operation that kept its guests happy.
You can easily make a day out of it by visiting Balboa Island, a ferry ride across the channel ($1.50 per passenger, $2.00 per car) or hanging out in lovely Newport Beach with its carnival rides, beachy shops and plentiful restaurants. Or, if you’re like me, just going back out!
Nice account of what sounds like a lovely day!