Tag 12: Alder Bay - Whale Watching in the Johnstone Strait

24.7.24

I wake up at 6 o'clock because the rain is pouring on the camper roof. It’s raining cats and dogs...

Oh no... I can already see us in 2 hours on an open boat for 3-4 hours out at sea in pouring rain 🌧️🙈

The alarm goes off at 7 o'clock, we need to be at the campground's boat dock by 7:45. We booked the morning tour at 8 o'clock with Seasmoke Whale Watching.

This is super convenient for us since we don’t have to drive to Telegraph Cove where there are also whale watching options. So we just have to walk the few meters through the rain to the dock.

We have breakfast and consider what to wear. According to the email, we'll get stylish full-body suits again, so we won’t need rain jackets, etc.

When we go outside at 7:30 from the camper, it has actually stopped raining 😅

Maybe we’ll be lucky and the rain break will last a bit longer.

The boat from Seasmoke Whale Watching arrives promptly at 7:45 at the dock. It’s low tide, and the path down to the dock is quite steep.

Our guide Nate welcomes us. The boat is a smaller open one, but it has a roof! This is perfect now with the possible rain!

The boat accommodates 12 people, and there are already 8 people in the first 4 rows of seats. We receive the full-body suits while boarding (when reserving, you had to indicate your size) which are meant to protect us from rain and cold (and they do).

Nate explains the safety instructions, then we can take our seats in the back of the boat. There are 2 benches here; he sits at the helm of the boat on one bench, while my husband and son sit behind him on the other bench, and I get to sit behind the helm next to him. In hindsight, it’s a really exciting spot since I can look over his shoulder at the radar, camera, radio, etc. 😃

The clouds are still hanging low due to the rain, but it seems to be clearing up a bit.

We start towards Telegraph Cove, passing it along the Upper Johnstone Strait. Right at the beginning, we stop to watch playful sea otters. They are just so adorable!

After watching the sea otters for a while, we continue. Some time later, we encounter a group of orcas. Unfortunately, they are quite far away.

The sea is glassy smooth (I still took Vomex and am now battling fatigue), and the rain has actually eased up.

During the tour, we can spot several pods of orcas – unfortunately all very far away, but Nate always reminds us that he has to maintain a minimum distance (which is only right).

It gets exciting when we’re cruising between the islands and suddenly a humpback whale jumps out of the water right behind us. We follow the whale; it jumps 2 more times, then we find it a cove later while it is 'sleeping'. Nate explains to us that humpback whales like to rest and sleep at the surface after a tiring search for food and jumping.

On the way back to the campground, we see more humpback whales, seals, and sea otters.

This tour is completely different from the one in Victoria. Although we didn’t see any jumping orcas this time (which was indeed a huge stroke of luck in Victoria), we still think the tour is fantastic and can highly recommend it due to Nate’s tireless effort and passion for orcas!

We arrive at the campground at the lowest tide around 11:45, climb up the extremely steep dock (due to the low tide) to the shore (it’s like climbing a ladder) and cook lunch.

No sooner are we back in the camper - no joke - the rain starts again.

It rains all afternoon - sometimes more, sometimes less heavily. How fortunate that we have nothing else planned for today. We use the time to sort photos, do laundry, shower, and relax.

We spend the evening with our campsite neighbors, the Canadian family, enjoying guitar melodies and fun conversations around their gas fire pit. Really nice!

So, a cozy private campground actually has its benefits 😇

As we go to bed in the evening, it starts raining again. My weather app predicts a mix of clouds and sunshine for tomorrow, but the chance of rain stands at 60%. Well, let’s wait and see. Hope is, as they say, the last to die!

I couldn’t wish for a nicer weather day than for tomorrow...

So let’s hope that we really have the weather luck of the first 10 days again tomorrow 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

For the statistics:

Campground: Alder Bay Resort RV Park

€ 43; Site 25

Distance driven: 0 km

Distance walked: negligible..

Photos: 146

Weather: Clouds & rain, 12-18 degrees