What an amazing trip!!! Erica and Sarah were such amazing guides!!…read more We saw whales, a shark, and lots of dolphins!!

Chris and Molly were a great team. They found a huge pod of dolphins for us and kept the boat…read moreclose to them so everyone could get great pictures . They kept the dolphins excited so they would jump and give us a great show. Then they found two Fin whales! We were able to see them surface numerous times! It was a great experience. I highly recommend Chris and Molly along with the Newport Coastal Adventure company. They are knowledgeable and truly try to give you the greatest experience possible!

If you want big yellowtail the Thunderbird out of Newport landing is by far the best boat in…read moreSouthern California. Crew was awesome and they always do their best to put us on the big fish. Would definitely recommend to anyone who wants to catch a trophy

If you're visiting from out of town, in the area and simply want to spend a day on the water, the…read moredeck hands and boats at the landing are professional and helpful. However, in my experience, the area receives a lot of fishing pressure, and the catch is often limited to smaller fish. I originally purchased two trips through a Groupon to try out the fishery. On my first trip, we only caught very small whitefish and sculpin. If the size limit was still 10", we would have maybe had 20 keepers. If anyone had larger than a 1lb sculpin or 2lb whitefish, I would be surprised. Jackpot was a sheepshead. Unfortunately, I missed my second trip in June and later contacted the landing about redeeming it, especially since the yellowtail bite is strong right now. I was surprised to learn that I would need to pay a $55 rescheduling fee, despite already paying more than $100 for the trip, even with the Groupon discount. For regular or experienced anglers, I would not recommend this option. Parking in the area can exceed $40, although the landing mentions there are less expensive lots nearby. My credentials are not important, but I fish frequently and have considerable experience. Based on that experience, I did not find this trip to be a good value.

Dustin is the Best Captain!…read more We had an absolutely incredible time! Dustin was right on time, professional, friendly, and extremely attentive to everyone in our group from start to finish. Dustin went above and beyond to make sure we had an unforgettable day. He even found whales for us out in the ocean, which was such an amazing experience! Afterward, he got us set up in the bay with paddle boards, a lily pad, and goggles so everyone could get in the water and enjoy themselves. If you're looking for a captain who genuinely cares about making sure everyone has an amazing experience, ask for Dustin. 10/10 experience and easily 5 stars. We will absolutely book with him again!

This was the best experience I've had out on the water. Perfect for a birthday or other celebration…read morewith a small group. We saw tons of dolphins, sea lions, and a whale and we were super close. I said "wow!" the most I ever have in my life during this excursion. Dustin was super accommodating and knowledgeable. Thank you for such a memorable time with my friends.

Best experience I never knew I needed!…read more On July 18th, 2026, I went out on a boat with Captain Maria, First Mate Janelle, and Second Mate (photographer) Hannah. They were lovely, helpful, and gave good info. The boat was choppy, which I enjoyed, but I felt 100% safe the entire time. Of course, the main attraction was the dolphins (& sea lions); it was amazing. We must have seen at least 500 of them, jumping in and out, in Sync with the boat and each other. Earlier this year I completed one of the three items on my bucket list (yes, only three), which was to see the Aurora Borealis (In Lapland, Finland), and I have to be honest, today's experience topped that by far (also much less cold). To sum it up, thanks to Captain Maria, Janelle, and the lovely Hannah, I had the best experience I never knew I needed to experience! P.S. Item #2 was also completed earlier this year. P.P.S. Item #3 is still waiting (for 36 years now).

Located at the Dana Point Harbor, Capt Dave has dedicated parking lot. No bathrooms in the building…read morebut 2 bathrooms a skip away. They depart from the building towards the boat 15 mins beforehand so they want you to check in 30mins before (and on weekends/holidays, check in 45mins before). The boat departs on time at the scheduled time, so make sure you are here in the building 15-30mins before your booked time. We booked at 1pm and that's when the boat left the dock. We were gathered at the office at 12:45 to head towards the boat and unfortunately a couple missed their slot because they were not even in the parking lot at 1pm when the boat sailed. Don't make their mistake, just make sure you are parked at least 15mins before the booked time. They were willing to wait 5 mins, but not 30 mins, so timeliness from guests is important as we had almost 30 people on board. As you are led from the building to the boat, they have a pit stop at the bathroom as they warned that the boat's bathroom that can't take toilet paper and can easily clog. Unfortunately the ocean waters was unusually warm when we booked on 7/03 for whale/dolphin sighting so we didn't see any but they have a sighting guarantee so they gave us all a voucher to come back again for free. They gave out a delicious brownie at the end too, so I'm excited to come back for the brownie!

They crew was very nice and fast. I do feel like we were taken advantage of when it comes to…read moreupsetting. We choose the better poles which is almost $20 more. When we go there we saw no difference in poles. The pole rental does not include hooks or weights. They told us we needed at least two sets. We never got through 1.

really nice staffs during checking in and sailors were so nice to helping suggesting and cleanning…read morethe fish , really appreciated and will be back again .thank you

Such a great time on our June 11th tour with Capt. Dani and her crew. We has a very successful trip…read moreseeing 3 species of whales (humpback, fin, and minke), tons of common dolphins, 1 sea lion in the water and many of them on a buoy. All throughout, Dani was aptly guiding the vessel and explaining the strategy of her decision-making from protecting the whales to not encouraging the common dolphins to unnaturally ride with the boat by slowing down to let them pass. Though success is not guaranteed, this crew knew where to go and how to navigate it! We chose the mid-level cruise option and loved it.

Our experience was so excellent! Dani, our captain, and Jill, our guide, made this whale watching…read morecruise unforgettable. We saw ridiculously scenic coastline views, which added to the magic of the trip. While we only saw bottlenose dolphins (tons of them), the cruise was still spectacular and definitely worth the ticket price. Plus, due to a last minute change on their end we happened to get upgraded to the higher end smaller boat with less people. There were lots of moments of sheer joy (we geeked out pretty hard) at getting to visit the dolphins up close in their natural environment. Others around us expressed feeling similarly. What also set this cruise apart was Dani and Jill. Their extensive knowledge about local marine life and its patterns enriched our experience significantly. They shared fascinating and often hilarious insights (Jill is a character - in all the best ways) about the dolphins and the surrounding ecosystem, which made the cruise both highly entertaining and educational. Their genuine excitement for marine wildlife is so evident and it really made the experience all the more enjoyable and fun. We had a great time, and we can't thank Dani and Jill enough for their dedication to making sure everyone had a memorable adventure. Highly recommend this cruise to anyone looking to get out of their head and spend time soaking up amazing views! Ps. Don't be an idiot like me - remember to wear sunscreen because a boat can't outrun the sun (obviously... ‍) Pss. Rent the $5 binoculars

BEST DAY EVER ON THE WATER!!! I wanted to do something special for my son for his 15th birthday…read more I called SoCal Charters and arranged to take my son and some of his fiends out on a private whale watching trip and we had THE BEST TIME EVER!!! Captain Jeff was just fantastic. He gave us a great tour of Newport Harbor pointing out the various points of interest along the way. Once we cleared the harbor and opened the throttles up and really started to fly across the water. The whales are still enjoying the warm waters and we saw some amazing marine life. The boat is really nice and holds up to six passengers and has an amazing Tuna Tower where the kids had a great time hanging out and looking out for whales. I would definitely recommend SoCal Charters to anyone looking for a private whale watching trip, harbor cruise or maybe even a romantic dinner cruise (without the kids, of course)!

Wow! What an amazing day we had with Jeff at SoCal Charters. I called a day in advance and reserved…read morea whale watching trip for my hubby and I the next day. It's been on our bucket list for years and I was looking for something more intimate than the larger boats I've seen before. Jeff was very easy-going, nice and professional.. The boat was exceptionally clean and comfortable and I loved the name, "wasabi". Within the first hour Jeff spotted a huge Blue whale! We were able to view it multiple times. I appreciated that he took his time for it to re-surface, and asked us whether we were okay moving on in search of other things. Shortly after we ran into a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins, and after that a huge pod of Common Dolphins that played right along his boat. We will definitely be back. Thank you again for the five star experience!

Absolutely amazing on how they upgraded all the surrounding areas…read more Lots of new parking with a new multilevel parking structure and new bathrooms and showers for the boaters that have a permit for boat parking to launch their Crafts from Dana Point harbor. Automatically given 4 hours of free parking with quick access to any of the numerous restaurants and gift shops right on the water. This is the spot if you want to go offshore fishing on a charter or whale watching which I did on a couple hour tour it was outstanding. Not to mention all the whales dolphins and other mammals that were seen offshore. Tuesdays they still do half off. If you have not been give it a try it's so much better now with the easy access and plenty of free 4 hour parking. Don't overlook the stunning safe day beaches without the big Surf issues

We went on a family trip together for this Independence Day weekend. My dad suffered a stroke in…read moremid-December last year, and luckily he has recovered quite a bit since then. However, since he still can't travel too far, we decided to visit somewhere close by. So, we booked a hotel in Dana Point and had a wonderful two-night trip. On Saturday, July 4th, we all booked tickets for a whale/dolphin-watching cruise. When I booked the tickets, I asked how long the tour would be, and they said it would be two hours. The ticket prices were $78 for adults and $68 for seniors. At first, my brother accidentally bought all five tickets at the adult rate when three of them should have been seniors. I noticed this on the receipt, so I managed to get a refund for the price difference for the three senior tickets. We bought five tickets for the 12:00 PM cruise and were told to wait at Dock 6 starting from 11:45 AM, but the boat arrived a bit late. Once we got on board, the wind was blowing incredibly hard, and the waves were quite high, causing the boat to rock violently. After boarding, a friendly female crew member gave us a briefing at the front. She kindly advised everyone on board not to run, and said that if anyone felt seasick, it would be better to stay towards the back of the boat rather than the front. She also mentioned that if the motion sickness got too bad, they could provide peppermint or ginger candies, and added that there was a bar and snack counter inside the boat. Come to think of it, I once went sailing on a yacht with my friends a long time ago. For the first 30 minutes, I was clapping, taking photos, and having a great time, but then I got so severely seasick that I had a truly miserable time (the same thing happened to me on a cruise trip before). Still, when I rode a boat at Lake Arrowhead last year, I didn't experience any seasickness at all, so I thought I would be fine this time too--though looking back, that was probably because the lake was so calm. But during this cruise on July 4th, I ended up getting so incredibly seasick that I felt like I was dying. About 10 minutes before we docked, the seasickness got so severe that I even started dry-heaving, and it was just awful. I was dizzy, and my stomach kept churning. Even so, it was really wonderful to see so many dolphins during the cruise, and the crew members were all so kind. When I was struggling with severe seasickness, my brother went to inform the crew. A crew member came over and asked if I wanted a peppermint, ginger, or ginger ale candy. I asked for a peppermint candy, and they handed it to me, saying it was free. When I asked, "Does it work?" she assured me it would. I sucked on the candy while sitting at the back of the boat and fell asleep, but later on, the seasickness became so overwhelmingly intense that I ended up throwing up everything and had a horrible time. Anyone who gets easily seasick should definitely take this into consideration before going on a cruise. Still, seeing so many dolphins was a huge highlight.

Epic boat trip! We saw two humpback whales and they were so active! One breached over and over! The…read morecrew was wonderful!

We've been taking Harbor Breeze Cruises for many years and have probably been on the Long Beach…read moreHarbor Tour more than a dozen times. Whenever we have family or friends visiting from out of state or overseas, it's one of our favorite activities because it's a relaxing way to see the Port of Long Beach, the Queen Mary, and, if you're lucky, the sea lions. We brought another group yesterday, and everyone enjoyed the tour. The only downside, in my opinion, is the boats used for the harbor tour. Yesterday we were on the Kristina, and in the past we've also been on the Caroline, which we chartered for my mother's ash-scattering ceremony about 14 years ago. Both vessels are showing their age. I also think the marketing could be clearer. The photos on the website and many travel sites prominently feature the newer catamarans, which gives the impression that those are the boats used for the harbor tour. I actually called ahead to ask and learned that the harbor tours use different vessels. While I appreciated getting the correct information, many first-time visitors probably wouldn't think to ask and may expect the newer boats shown in the advertising. The harbor tour itself is still worthwhile, and we'll likely continue bringing our guests because we genuinely enjoy the experience. I just hope Harbor Breeze considers updating or refurbishing the harbor tour vessels and making the marketing a little clearer so guests know exactly what to expect.

Go Sea it Charters is nothing short of amazing. Elaborate,…read moreclassic, elegant, motivational, and more. These are all words to describe our experience after spending a three hour excursion with Captain Stewart and his Co-Captain! For any occasion or event this Yacht and Crew will cater to your needs. Our experience was immortalized and will go down in history as one of the greatest days of our lives. We had a celebration on Valentine's Day and Captain Stewart was able to accommodate. Plenty of nice restaurants to stop at along the way, scenic views galore, and we even saw dolphins. Sea lions were hanging out buoys. Honestly nothing short of memorable and we went in the off-season so the pricing was reasonable considering the location of Newport Beach and it's counterparts. Master of his craft. I hardly write Yelp reviews but this local business deserves every complementary word. In short, Captain Stewart and his team are professionals that have been in the industry. The man has studied the ocean, waters and all it encompasses so you are in great hands. His degree and certification are evident through his extensive knowledge. Don't let the opportunity pass you up, take a chance on the waters and let the beautiful ocean be your path to a new adventure. Thank you again and we look forward to another trip in the future.

I just recently chartered this ship for a trip to Catalina Island for my girlfriend's birthday. The…read moreCaptain and owner, Stewart Nelson was the greatest. He is friendly and fun and knowledgeable but more important, safety conscious because we had a child on board. The ship - Huck Fin was spectacular. The sleeping quarters roomy and comfortable. The food on board was perfect. We snorkeled, standup paddled, listened to good music, ate and drank good food and great wine. We could not have asked for a better birthday adventure. The price for what you get was more than reasonable. Words do not adequately describe what a great charter this is for either just a day or several days.