Whale watching season in New England ranges yearly from May through October when humpback, finback and minke whales return from their southerly winter waters to summer feeding waters in the New England coastal waters. Many ports offer whale watching tours in the New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. Ports located farther to the North, such as those in Maine, have the shortest sighting season as the whales are latest to return and earliest to depart from them. Lengthier season is available farther south on Cape Cod. High tech sailing vessels carry guests directly into these feeding waters for exceptional whale sighting possibilities.
Boston, Massachusetts, is a frequent New England port of launch chosen by visitors who wish to enjoy a whale watching tour. Boston Harbor Cruises, operating out of Long Wharf on Boston Harbor, offers daily scheduled launch service daily from early April to late November in 2010. Each tour lasts approximately three hours and allows visitors the opportunity of possible humpback, finback and minke whale sightings in their natural seasonal habitat off the New England coast. Professional guides accompany each sailing who are certified researchers at the Whale Center of New England.
Massachusetts visitors interested in combining a New England whale watching tour with a day at a world class research and ocean habitat aquarium facility should stop at the New England Aquarium on Central Wharf at Boston Harbor. Tours are operated by Harbor Express of Quincy, Massachusetts for the New England Aquarium and each last from three to four hours on The Voyager III high-speed catamaran sailing vessel. Guests can enjoy a day touring exhibits within the aquarium while awaiting one of the vessel's daily launch times. The main deck is accessible for handicapped visitors and reservations are recommended for this often sold out attraction.
Cape Cod visitors vacationing on Cape Cod's beaches who are interested in whale watching can take advantage of the local Hyannis, Massachusetts, port launchings offered by Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruise Company. Established in 1981, tours sail from Barnstable Harbor on The Whale Watcher mono hull vessel which is designed for whale watching cruises specifically. An on-board galley offers guests refreshments as they whale watch from three exterior viewing decks and has room for 392 viewing guests and crew. Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruise Company operates from early May through late October in 2010.
New Hampshire visitors spending time on the state's rocky shoreline can set out daily during whale season on a whale watching excursion cruise from port in Rye, New Hampshire, aboard the 80-foot-long Atlantic Queen II super cruiser vessel. The ship is Coast Guard certified to 100 miles off the coastline and offers an experienced naturalist on each whale watching excursion for guide information. The Atlantic Whale Watch company draws visitors with low rates and a unique Guaranteed Sightings program which allows guests a complimentary ticket to return if no whale sightings occur on their first excursion.
Located in scenic Bar Harbor, Maine, the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company offers visitors whale watching tours which last three to three and one half hours off its Atlantic shoreline. Daily launches from late June through mid October on the 140-foot-long Atlanticat high-speed catamaran sailing vessel take guests straight to waters frequented by whales as well as porpoises, seals, dolphins and offshore seabirds. Shipboard refreshments are available to guests who can enjoy watching whales from the Atlanticat's enclosed viewing cabins or its large sundeck.
