whale watching: Samana or Las Galeras

bogdan

New member
Jan 30, 2006
27
0
0
Or, rather, is there a decent option for whale watching from Las Galeras? (I read about Kim Beddall in Samana...) Would March 5 be too late this year?
Thanks a lot.
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
From Las Galeras, you won't see anything. Best to go into town. Hard to say about March 5. Whales will have started the migration back north, but some years still enough for enjoyable whale watching on the 5th. Good possibility, but no guarantee since the whales don't publish their migration schedule.
 

Budson

New member
Mar 10, 2004
145
2
0
69
I took Kim Beddall's whale watching excursion this past weekend and was struck by the comment she made.. "Humpback whales come to Samana Bay once a year to enjoy the warm waters, feed, and mate"... Sounds like most of the folks coming from the States.......
 

bogdan

New member
Jan 30, 2006
27
0
0
Thanks for the answers. Budson, I can only hope that I'll be able to enjoy the peninsula in the same way as the whales. (Nothing is clear anymore once you're married...)
 

karibbeankidd

New member
Oct 5, 2005
83
0
0
There are lots of local "options" to feed & mate - just depends how much free time you can come up with...;)
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
Budson said:
I took Kim Beddall's whale watching excursion this past weekend and was struck by the comment she made.. "Humpback whales come to Samana Bay once a year to enjoy the warm waters, feed, and mate"... Sounds like most of the folks coming from the States.......

Budson, you must have misunderstood. She would not have said "feed" because the whales don't eat here. They migrate to the north to feed in the spring and return here in the winter to mate and give birth.

There is nothing for them to eat here and they lose a lot of their body weight, especially the mothers who give birth and must feed a baby.

If you went with Kim, you got my little book "Whales of Samana". Read the information in their about eating and the annual migration.
 

Budson

New member
Mar 10, 2004
145
2
0
69
Ken said:
Budson, you must have misunderstood. She would not have said "feed" because the whales don't eat here. They migrate to the north to feed in the spring and return here in the winter to mate and give birth.

There is nothing for them to eat here and they lose a lot of their body weight, especially the mothers who give birth and must feed a baby.

If you went with Kim, you got my little book "Whales of Samana". Read the information in their about eating and the annual migration.

I thought for sure she mentioned feeding but I must have misheard her. I am always thinking about eating so its quite possible. The book BTW, Ken is excellent. A very interesting source of information very well done and makes a great souvenir too!
 

Andy B

Bronze
Jan 1, 2002
774
0
0
www.elmarinique.com
"From Las Galeras, you won't see anything." Huh? Ken, you know there are whales all over the area and not just in Samana Bay. I've seen plenty of them off Las Galeras and in fact the most spectacular whale jump/breach I've ever seen happened about a mile off Las Galeras's beach just in front of my sportfishing boat. He was so close that his spray hit the boat as I was turning hard to starboard to avoid hitting him while yanking the throttles back.
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
Andy B said:
"From Las Galeras, you won't see anything." Huh? Ken, you know there are whales all over the area and not just in Samana Bay. I've seen plenty of them off Las Galeras and in fact the most spectacular whale jump/breach I've ever seen happened about a mile off Las Galeras's beach just in front of my sportfishing boat. He was so close that his spray hit the boat as I was turning hard to starboard to avoid hitting him while yanking the throttles back.

The reply was directed not to somebody who lives there, knows the area and has a boat, but to a tourist who will be there for a few days.
 

Andy B

Bronze
Jan 1, 2002
774
0
0
www.elmarinique.com
It would have been more explicit to explain that there are no large whale watching boats (such as Kim's or Moto Marina's) based in Las Galeras and that Samana would then be his best bet. There are small boats here and in Las Terrenas that go out to see the whales but visibility is much better from the raised observation deck on a larger boat.
 

bogdan

New member
Jan 30, 2006
27
0
0
Andy B said:
It would have been more explicit to explain that there are no large whale watching boats (such as Kim's or Moto Marina's) based in Las Galeras and that Samana would then be his best bet. There are small boats here and in Las Terrenas that go out to see the whales but visibility is much better from the raised observation deck on a larger boat.

That is very helpful -- thanks! Does anyone know what the viewing conditions are likely to be during the first week of March?
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
bogdan, only the whales know what the conditions will be then. By then whales will be migrating back to the north. How many, nobody knows. Some years there are still a lot of whales in first week in March, other years not. Hope for the best. Kim doesn't run excursions if she doens't think there is a good chance of seeing whales.