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    Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching

    5.0 (5 reviews)
    Open 5:00 am - 6:00 pm

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    Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching - Breaching humpback whale off Dana Point Harbor

    Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching

    4.2(1.1k reviews)
    0.0 mi
    Certified professionals
    64 years in business

    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.

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    Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching - Dana Wharf Fleet

    Dana Wharf Fleet

    Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching
    Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching - Playful offshore bottlenose dolphin

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    Playful offshore bottlenose dolphin

    Hogan's Bait & Tackle

    Hogan's Bait & Tackle

    4.8(108 reviews)
    0.5 mi
    $$

    OMG! I hafta laugh at those leaving dismal reviews. I've been shopping here for decades (since they…read moreopened) and never had a bad experience. If you are buying $3.99 in bait and cannot pull out cash or an ATM...that's no reason to leave a one star review loser. Maybe keep a $5. bill in your wallet. LOL Hogan and his family hire exceptionally well and if you leave a bad review because they greeted you within 45 seconds of entering the business...that's no reason to leave a negative review. It's called customer service pinhead! Jeez...this is what ya deal with when providing service to the General Public nowadays. Most people are alright but the General Public can be a general pain in the arse. Look...if you need fishing tackle, whatever it is, Hogan's has it. If you need your gear serviced, Hogan's does it quickly and properly. If you need four dollar bait, Hogan's has it. If you think four dollar bait is too expensive...you have serious issues and need to either make more money or see a shrink...maybe both. This is THE TACKLE SHOP for serious anglers. Need a special hook in a specific size, shape and color? They have it. A particular shape & weight sinker...they have it. It's a fully stocked store with so much stuff new customers struggle to locate what they are needing so the staff welcomes you upon entry and seeks to help you find whatever you are looking for. OMG...how audacious of them! LOL Normal fishermen & women love this place and always find the experience positive. Those who are broke, wearing invisible tiaras and generally despondent are the reason all the collective review score is a hair under 5 star. We all know these people...they are never happy and the harder you try to please them, the more miserable they act. Clearly they are not fishing often enough. Probably spool their coffee-grinders backwards and hold the thing upside-down. You know...the guy who won the jackpot on the cattleboat and stiffed the crew. Hogan's Tackle sets the customer care bar so high...other tackle shop staffers need to charter a plane just to see it. Zero room for improvement! Take it from a dedicated tackleho who has been coming here for decades. The majority of reviewers agree.

    This tackle is the best one i been to yet. Every single staff member is helpful and has jokes. They…read moreare very knowledgeable about all fishing needs. I just came in for some warbait hooks and walked out with a lot more and a smile. This shop I would say has a little bit of every brand. Also looks like they offer other services like custom rod making. Overall I would highly recommend this place!!

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    Hogan's Bait & Tackle - Thx for the advice!

    Thx for the advice!

    Hogan's Bait & Tackle
    Hogan's Bait & Tackle

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    Capt Dave's Dana Point Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari - Grey whale bone vertebra.

    Capt Dave's Dana Point Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari

    4.8(885 reviews)
    0.7 mi

    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!

    Paid by card online. Capt. Dave's is located by the harbor and offers a lot of parking. I was…read moreeasily able to book online for the 2.5 hour 8 am tour, for my child and me. When we arrived at the harbor, we went upstairs to check in and got the passes to get on the boat. The staff was super friendly at check-in and on the boat (Capt. Matt, 1st mate, Mike, and photographer, Andy.) Everything about the experience was well-organized. The boat was clean and comfortable so it was an enjoyable ride. We saw about 400 dolphins and 1 humpback whale! It was such an enjoyable excursion! I would recommend you bring your own snacks and/or drinks on board if you don't have a chance to eat beforehand, since snacks and drinks are not provided on the 2.5 hour 8 am tour. There is a small snack shack upstairs where you check in if you forget to bring things to eat and drink. I would recommend this tour and would go back.

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    Capt Dave's Dana Point Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari - Gift Shop.

    Gift Shop.

    Capt Dave's Dana Point Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari - Many, many dolphins

    Many, many dolphins

    Capt Dave's Dana Point Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari - Whale sighting

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    Whale sighting

    Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching - fishing - Updated September 2026

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