British Columbia's Stubbs Island Whale Watching Tour Introduction

"Setting the standard for responsible wildlife viewing since 1980."
Committed to ethical and educational wildlife viewing Stubbs Island Whale Watching is proud to be in it's 29th season.

Welcome to Stubbs Island Whale Watching! Founded in 1980, we were the first whale watching company established in British Columbia. Stubbs Island Whale Watching operates out of Telegraph Cove, BC.

Cruise in comfort in our 60 foot (17 metre) vessels MV Lukwa and MV Gikumi. Both vessels have heated cabins and toilets. In addition, both vessels have hydrophones (underwater microphones) connected to fore and aft speakers so that you can hear the Orca vocalizations anywhere on the vessel.

Whale Watching Boat Tours Vancouver Island in Johnstone Strait & Robson Bight Area

Nature cruises start in late May with varied departure dates and sailing times. Daily cruises commence in early June through the end of September. Trips continue through mid-October with varied departure dates and sailing times. The Northern resident orca typically arrive in this area mid to late June, it is at this time we begin calling our tours whale watching tours.

We cruise the calm, protected waters of Johnstone Strait & the Blackfish Archipelago on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island. This area is acknowledged as the most accessible and predictable location to see Orca (killer whales) in the world. Telegraph Cove is the closest place to this area. Although we have a success rate of over 90% in viewing Orca, we can never guarantee sightings as these are wild animals in their natural habitat. This beautiful area is home to a wealth of other marine wildlife.

Dall’s porpoises, harbour porpoises, Pacific white-sided dolphins, sea lions, seals, Minke whales, humpback whales and grey whales are some of the marine mammals we may see during our nature cruises. For bird watchers, we have many migrating bird species in the Pacific Flyway including rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemots, harlequin ducks, sooty shearwaters and bald eagles.

Trips are educational and fun for wildlife enthusiasts of all ages. Please remember to dress warmly as the summer water temperature stays at 10° Celsius (50° Fahrenheit) making the breeze off the water quite cool. We recommend long pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt and jacket. Make sure you bring your camera and binoculars too.

Boat Tour Captains

All Stubbs Island Whale Watching captains are highly certified masters with decades of British Columbia coastal navigation experience. We also have trained naturalists who can identify and discuss our local marine mammals and sea birds on all trips. For more information on our staff, see The Stubbs Team.

Check and compare Stubbs Island Whale Watching with other whale watching companies. No one else matches our combination of cruising comfort, professionalism, dedication to conservation education and knowledge of the whales and other wildlife.

Whale Watching: Daily Departures

Our cruises are approximately 3 1/2 hours long and depart daily from historic Telegraph Cove.
Reservations are strongly recommended.

Rates

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Help us make your boat tour more comfortable

If you or a member of your party are in a wheelchair, please contact us to discuss the accessibility of our vessels.

Pets

Unfortunately, we cannot allow pets on board our vessels.

Call or email us for information and reservations.

Toll free: 1-800-665-3066
(250) 928-3185
e-mail us at: stubbs@island.net

If you e-mail us, please include:

Name
Address
Telephone number
Number of people in your party
Date and preferred time that you wish to take your cruise
Where your first heard about us

Whale Watching Ethics

Now in it's 29th season, Stubbs Island Whale Watching is British Columbia’s premier whale watching company. Its history reflects great dedication to education, research and conservation.

Stubbs Island Whale Watching has had an essential role in the formation of the Robson Bight (Michael Bigg) Ecological Reserve, in stewardship programmes and in developing guidelines for responsible wildlife viewing.

With the great boom in eco-tourism, now more than ever, owners Jim and Mary Borrowman model ethical wildlife viewing that has true educational merit. They continue to aid in the identification of orca and humpbacks, development of educational programmes, contribution to killer whale recovery plans, development of an interpretive centre, sponsorship of research and development of policy to formalize wildlife viewing guidelines. They are members of the North Island Marine Mammal Stewardship Association (NIMMSA)

Marine & Environmental Initiatives

In its dedication to the environment, Stubbs Island Whale Watching strives to reduce its ecological footprint e.g. through the use of biodegradable cleaning products; organic fair-trade coffee; non-disposable items and compostable plastic bags.

Winner of the Starfish Award for Environmentally Responsible Tourism. Sponsored by the Oceans Blue Foundation.

June 2007 - Head Naturalist selected as one of the top three candidates for the Educator Category of the Me to We Awards (Free the Children Foundation).