Our Tips For Your Whale Watching Vacation on Vancouver Island

If you're looking to experience a memorable whale watching vacation on Vancouver Island, then we'd love to help you make it just that!

Graeme, Nolen and I have been out on several Vancouver Island whale watching trips. We know the best times to go (anytime from May to September) and what the weather can be like (basically....unpredictable).

Not only that, but having experienced whale watching, we've discovered some things that have really helped make our whale watching trips better.

So we've put together a list of what we feel are really helpful tips that we know will help to make your ocean adventure comfortable and memorable!

Our Tips For Your Whale Watching Vacation on Vancouver Island:

• All the whale watching tour companies will outfit you in special full body survival suits. Not only are these suits built to withstand the ocean temperature, but they'll keep you very warm out on the open water.

• We find it helpful to wear a light fleece pullover or a cotton sweater, with jeans or track pants under the survival suit. That way you don't feel too "puffy."

• Wear runners or hiking boots for your outfit. Definitely don't wear sandals.

• The tour company will outfit you with gloves and toques for extra warmth on the water. Believe us, you'll NEED those - even for summer whale watching trips!

• A caution if you're prone to seasickness: the boat (zodiaks) moves at high speed to and from whale watching locations, so you may want to take something for motion sickness (check with your doctor or pharmacist). I tend to get a bit "green" on open water, but I actually have never had a problem with the whale watching trips...

• A whale watching vacation is a great family adventure! However, as we discovered, if you have really young children (like under 5), they might get really bored and "fidgety" on the open water as the boat quiety drifts along, passing time for whales to surface. Our son, Nolen, really enjoyed the trip when we took him out at age 7! Kids may not quite appreciate the whales until they're about 5 and up - that's our experience and what we've observed with other families on past trips.

• BRING YOUR CAMERA! If you don't, we know that you might regret it! You'll get a chance to photograph whales, seals, eagles and other Vancouver Island marine life closer than you've ever imagined!

• If it's a sunny day, definitely bring your sunglasses (and wear sunblock on your face). The glare from the open water can be really intense.

• Tuck a small bag of dried fruit/nuts into a pocket, and take along a bottled water just in case. You'll be out on the tour for no less than 3 hours, and we've always needed a snack!

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