crew was amazing and super knowledgeable! we saw an orca pod of 6 playing for a good hour! it was an experience i personally will never forget. shout out to megan, sam and capt brock!! read more

Great tours! You WILL see whales, or they'll invite you back free. Very informative staff, and they were super helpful when we missed our tour due to a very long delay at the ferry. We went on two tours. Highly recommend! read more

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Captain Brock. Thomas and Becca were awesome. Highly recommend if you want to see Orcas. read more

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We went on the Orcas Only tour in the 3 oclock time slot. The process to check in was smooth and easy. A thing to note: parking right by their building is about $13. I believe there was street parking farther away, but we didn't look. TJ and Sophia were great hosts to us. Sophia was very knowledgeable and so willing to answer any questions we had. On the tour, we saw a grey whale from a ways a way. Orcas were being scarce today but we traveled near Seattle and pungent sound. They really went the extra mile to make sure we were able to see orcas as this was not close by. The pod had a NEW BABY! Such an exciting experience. Not only that, they were also having fun socializing and slapping their tails. Then we saw some glorious breaching. It was honestly such a great experience. We were in awe! read more

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Great crew and such a wide variety of animals! Seals, sea lions, harbor porpoises, bald eagles & killer whales! read more

We spent well over an hour watching a pod of 5 orcas breach, tail slap, and jump. They were having a great time, as were we. Drew, Kate, and the rest of the crew were very knowledgeable and into the whole experience. Highly recommended! read more

What an experience! So so happy to have seen some orcas All three of the staff on board were friendly and very knowledgeable. I will definitely be recommending them to others. read more

Outer Island Expeditions - Fishing Near Me - Anacortes, Washington

I've been whale watching off the California coast before, so I'm going to compare this experience to that. This ended up more of a pleasant boat ride than whale watching as we didn't get to see any orcas (such a bummer!) and only got to see one single, elusive Humpback whale name Victory. I can't fault the tour for that, but it definitely impacts the experience. It was still a nice boat ride, with friendly staff onboard and the fortunate luck of sitting at the back of the boat next to a conservationist-led tour group with a lot of knowledge shared. On the brighter side, the weather was beautiful and we got to see two kinds of puffin and some sea lions as well. Just wish we got to see whales, instead of just one. read more

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Had an amazing experience with an amazing crew. Saw so many whales and loved the commentary about the surrounding area.

We had an excellent experience on the orca tour. The captain was friendly and the crew very personable and invited questions from guests. Bruno was fantastic. You can tell this business cares about what they do and put their whole heart into it. Their love and respect for the wildlife shines through in these tours. They were able to identify and tell us the names of the orcas we came across and even some of their known history in the area. I was not expecting to learn so much them. read more

I acknowledge we got so lucky for our day trip! We arrived at 9:30 for an easy check in. Lots of parking. We were a huge group. They moved us along quick and easily. We started our day going through deception pass, down and around to south Whidbey Island where we were graced by the presence of T99 pod. Seasonal visitors who hunt seals. And they were actively hunting! They started in the deeps and quickly moved towards shore. Our crew had marine biologists on board who dictated the orca behavior to advice they are hunting a seal. The largest Barakat was easy to spy as he breached the water to body slam the seal. Ultimately they succeeded as a team. Epic trip. The crew was very knowledgeable. Captain had jokes, hating on our Seahawks..anyway. Overall , great boat, day trip, had a wonderful day. read more

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I had the pleasure of doing a whale watching tour with captain Rika and naturalist Sean. You can tell they both are passionate about their work. They took their time explaining the nature and wildlife we would see. On our tour we had the opportunity to see 3 different pods of orcas. Amazing! I was not the one who scheduled the trip/tour, but they were responsive to my coworker that scheduled it. read more

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Had an amazing experience and the boat captain/ guides were incredible! Very knowledgeable and stayed out a little longer to see more Orcas! Really appreciated the care the crew has for the species and their knowledge. Definitely rent or bring binoculars! They come in handy for the far out Orcas if you don't have a camera, not needed as they got great closer views but a bonus! read more

Outer Island Expeditions - Fishing Near Me - Anacortes, Washington

I've only experienced them through assistance through the booking process. Called and spoke with Ethan twice cause I needed help. He was so hospitable! Can't thank him enough! If the rest of my experience is compared to how Ethan took care of us, I know we're going to have the best time! read more

We had a daytrip to Anacortes because my SIL and niece wanted to go whale watching. his being whale season, I figured we'd see something. I'd been on whale watching trips before in SoCal and we saw tons of dolphins and seals, so I had a little more hope this time and my hope was not frustrated.Most of the trip we saw almost nothing; a fin here, a seal there, but nothing. Apparently all the boats work together and let each other know where they are seeing them and when they find a pod, they all rush over, shut their engines, and let the whales do their thing. We caught up with a pod of maybe 8 of them and those whales got close to a lot of the other boats, but kept their distance from us. It's luck of the draw, but we did get some cool video of the whales coming out of the water. They weren't breaching or anything, but you could clearly see them, even if it was from afar. It was a good day and I'm glad we did this. read more

Outer Island Expeditions - Fishing Near Me - Anacortes, Washington

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We booked the Orca Only experience this past weekend out of Anacortes and were lucky enough to see twelve transient/Bigg's orcas from the T37A, T37B and the T49A families! The captain, Trevor, and the crew, Megan, Jeff, and Sara, were all friendly, knowledgable, and clearly cared about the orcas. Using reports from the morning, they took us to areas with previous sightings and seemed to place the boat in positions that did not disturb the behavior of the whales (though I am not enough of an expert to fully know). Then, they identified the individual whales we were seeing in real time by comparing the dorsal fins/saddle patches to an online database, and displayed that information about those specific families on their TVs in the lower deck so we knew more about each of the individuals we were seeing (and even put the information in a blog post afterwards https://www.outerislandx.com/post/weekly-whale-report-07-06-26-07-12-26 !). They went out of their way to answer any questions myself and other guests had about the behavior we were seeing and the whales overall. I had a great experience and would come back again, not just for the orcas but for the friendly and knowledgable crew! read more

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This tour was very worthwhile!! we booked through blackfish tours and hard a very nice crew (Drew, Kate, Becca, and Carlie). Crew was very knowledgeable about whales and Drew did a great job driving the boat. Loved hearing facts about the orcas from Kate and Carlie! Becca kindly asked me if I was ok when I was sitting out on the deck alone which was sweet! Great tour, very beautiful. read more

6/5 My partner has been wanting to go whale watching since I met her. I finally decided to make it happen and looked into outer island expeditions since we would be up near Anacortes at the time. I was surprised to find that Groupon was still a thing and that they offered a Groupon for their whale tours! (Although after "fees" it really only saves you about $10 per ticket) THAT being said, so worth it! We were off to a bad start, arrived and it was foggy and a little rainy. After signing releases we got separated into 2 lines. One of the works told my partner and I to hang back and wait for the second boat because it served alcohol and was better over all (thanks bro!) When we got out the captain told was transparent and said that they hadn't seen any orcas the past few days but he was dedicated to finding them today. We made the trek south, where we finally broke out of the fog and rain to clear skies. The entire time employees are making jokes and providing a ton of information, it was really interactive. We finally got as low as EVERETT when we saw them! 2 pods of orcas! At least 11 of them in total, there was even a little baby! It was truly an experience, my partner was brought to tears. Started off worried but ended perfectly, would absolutely recommend! read more

Outer Island Expeditions - They know each and every orca we saw! - Fishing Near Me - Anacortes, Washington

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I'm not just giving this place 5 stars because we got very close to whales, but because this overall experience was amazing. The 3 plus hours of being on the boat ride just flew by the captain and the host were very knowledgeable of the area and the surrounding animals. The best advice I can give is to wear warm clothes when riding outside. It can get quite chilly when the boat is at full speed. read more

Outer Island Expeditions - Fishing Near Me - Anacortes, Washington

I would like to add that the captains of their whale watching boats have no boating etiquette whatsoever. They do not slow down or care how close they go to kayaks on the water that happened to be in their path. I've heard other horrible stories about them, but I won't repeat them. read more

Outer Island Expeditions - No Boating etiquette at all ! "Your Wake defines you" and these guys are all about the money - Fishing Near Me - Anacortes, Washington

Avoid if you're visiting from out of town. We were visiting Washington from out of state and booked a whale watching tour for 10:30 AM. Unfortunately, we had a hectic morning checking out of our hotel and called ahead to let them know we were running about 30 minutes behind. That's when we learned that check-in is actually at 10:00 AM, not 10:30 AM, and we were told the boat might leave without us. We were encouraged to come anyway "just in case." We arrived at 10:50 AM and were told the boat had already left. They would not offer a refund -- instead, their policy is to "resell" your tickets and give you vouchers, which doesn't help when you're traveling and won't be back to use them. Trying to make the best of the day, we went to a nearby beach. Around noon, they called to say they had space for the 3:00 PM tour if we were still in town. We stayed, checked in, and then were told Groupon had contacted them about our refund request -- they wanted a screenshot showing we had closed the claim before moving forward. After waiting, we got a call at 3:30 PM saying there were only 3 seats left for the tour, but we have 4 people in our family. We ended up waiting around all day for nothing, did not receive the service we paid for, and this completely ruined my husband's birthday (this tour was meant to be his gift) as well as disappointing our 7-year-old who had been so excited. I understand things happen, but the lack of flexibility, poor communication, and having us wait hours just to be turned away again was extremely frustrating. We left with no experience, no refund, and a wasted day of our trip. read more

Outer Island Expeditions - Line - Fishing Near Me - Anacortes, Washington

Unbelievable experience - we saw harbor seals, a blue heron, vultures, rams, deer, bald eagles, steller sea lions, and multiple pods of orcas. We were even lucky enough (our guide said this is very unusual so please don't expect it going in) to witness the whales jump out of the water on several occasions. The guides were excellent - friendly, funny, incredibly knowledgeable, and managed our tour effortlessly. Highly recommend the tour! read more

If it's within your means, I absolutely recommend chartering a boat with outer island excursions for wildlife viewing! We arrived for our three hour excursion and were immediately greeted and helped aboard, our captain was helpful, informative, courteous, clearly well-versed in the area, and the history which he shared throughout the tour, we were very fortunate to see a pod of Orcas doing battle with a family of sea lions, as well as eagles, otters, seals, and absolutely beautiful scenery! The water was gorgeous, the Salish see is lovely! it was absolutely amazing! I cannot recommend this experience more highly and absolutely would do it again read more

Highly recommend outer island for whale watching. With the Groupon, they had by far the best prices in Washington or Vancouver. The staff are very attentive and helpful during the journey and they will do everything it takes to find the whales, even if that means boating very far into Canada. I recommend the evening tour unless you get seasick more easily. read more

Great crew, Matt, Trevor, Brook, Bruno, and Ethan. We saw a humpback whale, sea lion, sea otter, and 2 orcas. Very knowledgeable about sea life. Great time! read more

Outer Island Expeditions - Humpback whale - Fishing Near Me - Anacortes, Washington

Jim Sam Isabelle Hannah Great, great great service The staff were very knowledgeable and gave us the history of the whale watching experience read more

Outer Island Expeditions - Saw 2 pods of whales, a bald eagle and some seals - Fishing Near Me - Anacortes, Washington

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We saw a rare visitor to the Salish sea a fin whale, a humpback, and three orcas. Captain Drew was funny, energetic, and respectful of the community around the area. The naturalists on board were so knowledgeable and friendly. Thank you, Sophia, Becca, and Bella read more

Went whale watching and saw three pods. Amazing! The captain had a great sense of humor. So much fun!!!

Super easy and excellent day out on the water. Matt and crew were amazing - always checking in with the passengers and explaining the work they do beyond tours. Matt had just been part of an expedition to free a whale from trap lines. Highly recommend! read more

We took a salmon fishing charter from Friday Harbor and I can't say enough good about it! Jake was our captain and if you go, try to get him! Great captain, great fisherman! The boat was very comfortable and stable! Highly recommend!! read more

Brock and Kate are great!! Highlight of our visit! Planning to come back next year! Great information. Kids loved it. Thank you!

My friend and I were in Seattle for an extra long weekend to attend the Cleveland Browns vs Seattle Seahawks NFL game We have both been to the Pacific Northwest a number of times so we were looking for something unique to do on this trip besides walking around Queen Anne, stuffing our faces with seafood and hitting the dispensaries (Which we did all that too btw. LOL.) He was walking around the lobby of the timeshare high rise we were staying at and literally came across one of their color folders pamphlets and was like "hey, how about Whale watching?" I had never been before and it sounded like fun, so we booked it. We had a rental car so it was about an hour and a half from downtown Seattle up to Anacortes. It was a lovely sunny day drive up I-5 North that Saturday. We all gathered at the designated location at the marina, (which had good signage for where to park) checked in, did roll call and took off about 1:30 pm. There were about 20 or 25 or so passengers on the day we went so there was still plenty of room to move around on the boat both on the inside downstairs and on the outside observation deck upstairs. The 3 person Crew (Captain and two Marine Biologists) were very friendly and knowledgeable about everything that we could possibly come across during the day. After our safety briefing, we loaded up and were off into the waters surrounding the Pacific. We really lucked out that day, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was windy, about 55 degrees and sunny. It was just a perfect day in the Pacific Northwest. It wasn't very long, maybe about 45 minutes into our voyage, when came across a family of Orcas. There was a mamma, two daughters and a male named Stanley. The marine biologists told us all of the backstory about the group, what they ate, migration patterns, etc. They were knowledgeable and you could tell they really enjoyed what they did in this part of this world. We followed the Orcas around and got pictures and it was amazing. At one point one of them leap up about 30 yards in front of the hull. It was so cool. We followed them for about an hour or so and then moved on. As we were making our way back to the marina, we stopped and circled around at this rock island that was covered in seals. There was also a bald eagle sitting atop the highest point on the rock island. It was very cool, I had never seen one before. Overall I definitely recommend Outer Island Expeditions for a fun Saturday Whale Watching in the PWN Washington. Pros: friendly and knowledgeable crew, plenty of room on the boat, easy check-in and departure process. You can bring your own food and drinks. They also have sodas and snacks for purchase at reasonable prices aboard the boat. Cons: Not really any but you will need a rental car to get there if you are staying in Seattle proper. An Uber would be really expensive. Tips: Make sure you bring some Dramamine J.I.C, as it can get bumpy on the water in some spots or depending on the conditions. Also don't forget the sunblock and warm layers for the various temps you might encounter. You might want to bring some beverages and picnic food with you as you'll be out there for at least four to five hours. P.S. - just as an aside... I left my sweater on the boat and Brooke with OIX was kind enough to go and find it on the boat and then go to the local post office to ship it back to me all the way to South Florida! Just a great group of people. Thanks again Brooke! Overall, this is a must do event the next time you are in the greater Seattle area. You won't regret it and will have a great time. (Pictures aren't the best as I took them with my phone. Some people had brought DSLR cameras with telescopic lenses and had some amazing shots) read more

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We saw a pod of killer whales! It was truly amazing; very happy we booked the tour. We were on the water for about 3 hours. Everyone was really nice. Highly recommend. read more

Yes, could have been better. The woman on the boat staff started off very rude and then ended the day all "nice" just before trying to collect tips. She was fake and it was gross. All we did was go out about 1.5 hrs. see a few Orcas from very far away and go back to Annacortes. Really not much of a "whale watch", sort of boring...especailly for the price. read more

Captain Elliott and Naturalist Drew showed us an amazing adventure today. We were able to see sea lions and orcas along with bald eagles feeding! They were both knowledgeable in there duties and very friendly! I definitely recommend this charter! read more

Outer Island Expeditions - Orcas - Fishing Near Me - Anacortes, Washington

Had the pleasure of going out on Blackfish VI for the 1530 sailing on 7/17/25. The crew consisted of Thomas, Ethan, Sofia(spelling? Sorry if wrong) and Drew. Absolutely breathtaking. We were able to come across Orca Pod T-36a consisting of 4. such beautiful mammals. The Orcas provided us all with outstanding picture and videos. Here is just one sample where they snuck around and came across the front of the boat within about 20 feet while we were drifting. read more

Great tour seem a pod of 8 orcas and spent 45 mins following them. Your guy and caption were amazing and very knowledgeable. Shout to Jerret and Megan. You guys made the trip worth while. read more

Outer Island Expeditions - Orcas at sea - Fishing Near Me - Anacortes, Washington

Great outfit for whale watching! I will be back and will be recommending Outer Island.

Took the family whale watching. We've gone whale watching up and down the US coast so this review compares against other similar experiences. The good: - The staff was friendly. - The ride was smooth. - Boat was clean. - Boat was new and we felt safe. Room for improvement: - Pricey. We live by the beach in a popular city and prices for this tour are pretty inflated. - We saw ONE whale and watched it for 3 hours. Monotonous. Not a whole lot of variety. I know this is not all within the captain's control but a longer joy ride around for general sight seeing would have helped. - A true naturalist or marine biologist would have been nice. Instead, a psychology major was at the mic. Imagine a 3-hour ride where (due to lack of whales), the speaker became our sole source of entertainment: she exhausted her whale knowledge and it became a bit repetitive and hypothetical / I-am-not-sure's. Very nice young lady but I'm expecting a true expert at these prices. I don't need a Nobel laureate or professor emeritus. But please find someone who is working through PERTINENT grad school or a post doctorate. I really would have preferred a tour that was half as long. Pricing likely would have been more in sync. This shorter duration may have also prevented the reveal of no-expert-onboard. read more

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Great experience with Outer Island Expeditions! We took the whale watching trip out of Anacortes. Captain Drew, Alex and Tiffany were friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive. 45 foot Blackfish 4 was spacious, had padded, comfortable seats, and was easy enough to navigate around. It rode very smoothly. 32 passengers on 2 decks meant everyone could clearly see the whales (and oh did we find whales!). There was an enclosed cabin with big windows for those who preferred to stay inside. Bring your own snacks and drinks. There's a small selection at the office where you check in for purchase but nothing on the boat (except some ginger ale and crackers in case of emergency) * They didn't require my 1.5 or 4 year old to wear a life vest, which I thought was weird. I brought our own and put the littler one in his, if only for the handle at the top to help him up and down stairs. They have a whale guarantee, a free trip another day if none are spotted. No problem today! We saw 4 orcas (one calf, so cute!), 1 humpback, in addition to harbor seals, sea lions, an otter, and assorted sea birds. Alex and Tiffany came around to each group to discuss exactly which whales we saw, with information about how they were identified, age, size, etc. We got discounted tickets on Groupon. Even at full price, it would have been worth every penny! read more

Outer Island Expeditions - Fishing Near Me - Anacortes, Washington

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