It is whale-watching time in Samana

Dolores

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Starting 15 January 2025, whale tour boats depart from Samana city and other nearby areas to take foreign and domestic tourists to see the enormous whales breach in the waters of Samana Bay. The boat tours can be booked through 15 March 2025 when the whales leave the Samana Bay waters for northern shores.

Samana Bay is one of the world’s premier whale-watching sites. During peak season, between January and March, over 300 whales come to the bay from many parts of the world, including Greenland and Iceland to mate, give birth and nurse their young. The deep warm waters of Samaná Bay provide an ideal environment for these marine mammals. 

For those booking the tours, the chance of seeing at least one breaching whale is good, but there is no guarantee the whales will perform for you. Tours can last 3–4 hours as the boat captains search for the best spots to...

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Meemselle

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Oct 27, 2014
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As far as tours are concerned, the best, most reliable, most knowledgeable is Kim Beddall. She is a cetologist, and she observes the distance rules scrupulously. If you decide to spend the night in formerly charming Samaná, I highly recommend the Chino Hotel and Restaurant. It's set high on a hill. The rooms are serviceable and clean; there is no breakfast. But the Chinese food is decent, and this is from a Jewish girl from NYC, which makes me an expert.

Here's Kim's info: https://www.whalesamana.com/

And here's the hotel/restaurant: https://gosamana-dominicanrepublic.com/hotel-chino-samana-village.html
 

julian3721

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Thanks all for the info. I also found Kim Bedall whale watching. But to my understanding, these tours are more or less the same in terms of spotting whales. I think they do the same thing :) It's not like some tours have special expertise in finding whales :)
 

reilleyp

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Dec 12, 2006
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Thanks all for the info. I also found Kim Bedall whale watching. But to my understanding, these tours are more or less the same in terms of spotting whales. I think they do the same thing :) It's not like some tours have special expertise in finding whales :)
Most tour companies respect the whales. They don’t want to lose their tourism license. Last year we saw so many whales and one time a whale came up basically next to the boat. 10 feet away. So if someone observed us from a distance, they would think that we pulled right up next to the whale, but that was not the case.
 

reilleyp

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Dec 12, 2006
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Most tour companies respect the whales. They don’t want to lose their tourism license. Last year we saw so many whales and one time a whale came up basically next to the boat. 10 feet away. So if someone observed us from a distance, they would think that we pulled right up next to the whale, but that was not the case.
 
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julian3721

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Jan 22, 2025
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Thanks the video looks amazing. I wish I could see those whales up close like that :) Back to tour companies, I think more or less they do the same thing. Some are considered better maybe just logistics and communication etc. In terms of whale watching, I guess they'd bring similar experience :)
 

keepcoming

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May 25, 2011
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Thanks the video looks amazing. I wish I could see those whales up close like that :) Back to tour companies, I think more or less they do the same thing. Some are considered better maybe just logistics and communication etc. In terms of whale watching, I guess they'd bring similar experience :)
Kim Beddall's gets very good reviews. If it was me going out on the water to see whales, I would want to go with a tour group that is reliable and respects the rules.
 
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Meemselle

Just A Few Words
Oct 27, 2014
2,958
513
113
Thanks all for the info. I also found Kim Bedall whale watching. But to my understanding, these tours are more or less the same in terms of spotting whales. I think they do the same thing :) It's not like some tours have special expertise in finding whales :)
No, not in finding. But in knowledge (i.e., with a cetologist) and humane treatment of animals (i.e., observing distance protocols), some tours are better than others. There are also some sort of sketchy boats out there, with really crappy live vests and LOTS of alcohol imbibed.