Family friendly. The kids loved the touch tanks and the free science lessons on the spot!…read more Maritime Museum is small, so you can easily do that and still have time for a whale watch nearby.

Kelsey (Natural Resources Education) and Justin (Historian) make this museum come ALIVE!…read more This place is an absolute gem. Thank you to the staff for presenting a wonderful display of natural history and seafaring artifacts. We'll visit again!

My Grammy and I's favorite annual activity is going on a Cape Ann Whale Watch once a summer. We've…read moregone on one almost every summer since I graduated high school eight years ago. The marine biologist on board is knowledgeable and clearly loves her job! It's awesome that the captain is part of the team searching for the whales and is more than willing to change course if we find out there are whales in a different area than planned. Also, the parking lot staff is surprisingly efficient given how many people are coming in and out with such limited space. We have seen multiple whales every trip, and sometimes other sea animals too! My grandmother is 92 (she acts more like she's 75 to be honest) and whenever we go, the staff and other patrons have always been courteous and kind to her without being infantilizing. I am so grateful to Cape Ann Whale Watch for being a part of this special tradition with my Grammy. Fingers crossed that next year we win the raffle for the free tickets! It hasn't happened yet lol.

Outstanding whale watch!…read more We saw numerous whales with several quite close to the boat, so close you could hear and feel the blowing. We also witnessed numerous tail breaches and fin slapping behaviors. I have been on numerous whale watches before, but never like this one!!! The ride out to the feeding areas was about 15 miles, relatively a short distance. The boat was clean and organized. The narrator was knowledgeable and quite informative. You could tell how focused she was on the subject of whales through her excitement. It was so special!

From start to finish the employees the Friki Tiki made this 60th birthday special and memorable…read more From the first phone call to stepping of the boat, this experience will be remembered for a lifetime. Highly recommend them for any family reunions, birthdays or just a fun night out with friends!! James

This was such a fun and unique way to enjoy Gloucester! The tour guides were top notch, although…read moredon't think of this as a harbor tour specifically. You are listening to fun, booty-shaking music so there's no focus on narrating a boring tour of the harbor. They are happy to answer questions and point out anything you're interested in and they do it eagerly. Think of this as a mini girls trip on water! Bring your drinks and laughter and you will have the BEST time! Highly recommend A++!

The tour was great! The captain and his son were fun and knowledgeable, and very patient with our…read morenine year old's many questions. The boat was very comfortable and I appreciate that there was a roof covering the seating area to keep us out of the sun. Highly recommend this for ages 9-89.

This IS the thing to do when visiting Gloucester! Caught the first boat out Saturday, about 9 of…read moreus onboard. Owner pointed out boats, historical spots, points of interest, lively old salt with lots of stories. $10 paid onboard with 3 stops, hop on/hop off all day. What a way to see the harbor, learn some history of the port, brush up on nautical terms, points of interest on shore, and be entertained!! Such a value! Very fun & don't forget to get a picture with Cathy. Captain Patrick was entertaining with stories and landmarks, slowed down so we could see Wicked Tuna taping a show. Talked about fishermen bringing in their catch to the auction, very informative. First mate, Decklin did a poetry reading, very dramatic, well done. Well worth the $10!!

What a fun way to spend the day!…read more The guides are so knowledgeable, friendly and have a way of making learning fun! Definitely recommend booking a tour if you're spending time in the Cape Ann area!

Great tour to get familiar with Gloucester food, shopping, and some history! Cindy does a great job…read moreand I always send folks her way. If you've never been to Gloucester it's a lot of fun. It's not a ton of food but more like having a bunch of tapas. Great experience overall!

Tonight I had the pleasure of taking a ride around Cape Ann with Violet from the Sweet Shots Tour…read more It was truly a pleasure! I learned a lot, got to see hidden gems I didn't know existed in my own backyard and have some incredible photos to add to my portfolio. If you haven't gone out with Violet or Corey in the Jeep you really need to schedule it! We had so much fun just the two of us, it was like hanging out with an old friend! Loved it! Thank you so much, Violet! Can't wait to go again... in a week haha!

Great activity for families or large groups. We were 10; small children, parents, and grandparents…read more It was very enjoyable for all ages. The Captain, did a great job of teaching us about the Essex River, but also NOT talking and letting us experience the river. They really get that part right. It is beautiful, fun, educational, and accessible.

If you are looking for a loud, rowdy "Booze Cruise" then this is definitely for you…read more When I purchased tickets the website clearly advertised a relaxing, scenic boat cruise with bird watching and some narration of the history of the area. Perfect for my elderly family members birthday. Imagine my surprise when a large group of intoxicated people showed up and ruined the entire experience for everyone on board. They continued to drink throughout the tour making it even more intolerable. At one point two of the drunk men stumbled over to where I was sitting for a "better view." They got so close that I was pinned against the boat and one of their friends had to intervene. The captain however, did not intervene. I observed him being tipped by this group which gave him incentive to turn a blind eye to their behavior. I wanted to address all of this at the time but did not want to make a scene in front of my family. Furthermore, I would've had to complain to the captain right in front of the drunk people which would leave me open to retaliation. I did reach out to the company the next day via email and outlined everything that took place. I received an email back a few days later from the captain denying that anything happened. No apology, no compensation of any kind. He had total disregard for the safety of everyone else on board who had their experience ruined. One last note to put things in perspective. I work at a night club. I deal with intoxicated people all the time and have a high tolerance. This behavior was unacceptable and unreasonable, especially since all of their advertising leads you to believe this will be a peaceful experience.

Wonderful experience! We saw lots of whales. It was a little chilly in early September, so dress…read moreaccordingly. We were at sea for less than three hours. The tour left at 8:30 a.m. and returned at 11:10 a.m. I personally wish it could have been a little longer. There are bathrooms onboard. One thing to keep in mind is that there are not enough seats for everyone, so you may have to stand. If having a seat is important to you, make sure to arrive early. Also, check for any available deals before booking. We paid full price and later found out there were Groupon offers available for almost half the price. It may be worth checking whether any discounts are available for your travel dates. Overall, it was a wonderful experience, and seeing so many whales upclose made the trip worthwhile.

Had an amazing experience on this 3-4 hour long boat ride (we left around 1:30 pm and returned…read morearound 5pm) seeing 1 finback whale, three humpback whales, and a huge pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins! Info for potential whale watchers: there is free parking in Gloucester on Sundays, and we had pretty good experience with bringing our own snacks, but you can buy snacks and beers on the boat as well. The boat itself as two bathrooms and a lower and upper deck. They usually go out to Stellwagen bank / Jeffrey's ledge depending on where they believe the whales may be (10 to 30 miles out). The cape Ann whale watch and Boston harbor also goes to the same locations and I believe they communicate. We were pretty close to cape Ann whale watch and they seemed to be a lot more crowded than our boat. For practically the entire trip, the marine biologist was telling us facts and guiding us in how to look at the wildlife. He even came out at the end to chat with us one on one. He was quite knowledgeable and even knew the whales by name! Apparently, it's common to see dolphins, finback, minke, and humpback whales during this season (June to October). Humpbacks deliver the exciting plunge into the water with the lifted tail. We were even able to see a cool feeding lunge from a whale named patches. We saw a lot of birds as well! We luckily were able to go to Jeffries ledge this time which is only about 10 miles out. On other trips this summer they have been going to Stellwagen bank which is 30 miles out. I highly recommend 7 seas if you want to have an enjoyable trip onto the ocean and relaxing encounter with amazing marine mammals!! I believe they will refund you if you don't see any whales, but it's quite likely to see whales as they are extremely knowledgeable on finding the whales.

I guess we got lucky. Flat seas. We saw a lot of whales for about 45 minutes. We saw them make…read morebubbles in a ring to force up the fish. Then the whales would surface with open mouths and feed on the fish. And we saw this four or five times! Also saw them coming out of the water and diving down many times. The boat wasn't crowded. The captain would steer the boat left and right so that everyone on board got an even amount of time seeing the whales. The naturalist who guided the tour was very informative. Overall a great experience.

After the first two hours of our whale watch, we had our doubts. We only saw water and a few…read moredive-bombing birds. But once Captain Bill found the whales, we were treated to a non-stop thrill exhibition of fireworks in the water, from below the water, and majestically hurtling out of the water. Five stars for sure. My Sweet Lord, we saw it all. We had a ton of sightings, pods of four whales at a time, three magnificent full breaches and a dozen majestic flukes. Our guide/naturalist Rebeca added quite a bit to the experience with some expert commentary on the whales and the state of international whaling. One cool thing we learned was that whales spend their winters in the warm waters of the Dominican Republic and live off their blubber. Sounds like a good career path to me. Rebeca knew the names of the whales by their fluke markings, and she knew which whale babies belonged to which whale mommas. She was terrific. Just be warned, the ride to the whales is two hours out and two hours back to Gloucester. Our ride back was choppy and the barf-bag inventory was seriously depleted after our run. But this goes with the territory, it's a hazard for doing something like this. So if you have a weak stomache, take some pills or something . I was 100% satisfied with how this spectacular excursion played out. Well done, Captain Bill!