VERDICT: We gave 5 out of 5 tickets and here’s why!
This guide forms part of our complete Canada Travel Guide featuring scenic road trips, iconic destinations, practical travel advice and honest first-hand travel experiences from across Canada.
Just a few recommended places in British Columbia to visit:
- Fort Langley – B.C.’s Birthplace
- Vancouver – Pacific Ocean, to Ski Hills
- Okanagan – Wine Country
- White Rock – Crescent Beach
- Steveston Village – Quaint Fishing Village
- Stanley Park – B.C.’s Biggest Park
- Hornby Island – Perfect Island Life
- Vancouver Island – Spectacular Coastline
- Harrison Hot Springs –Watersports, Beaches, Cafes & Restaurants
Humpback Whales, Lunge Feeding and an Unforgettable Family Adventure from Steveston
One summer, we had family visiting us from England, usually it’s the other way around and wanted to show them another side of British Columbia.
It was a beautiful blue-sky morning when we drove to Steveston in Richmond. We have visited this quaint fishing village many times, but somehow we had never considered taking a whale-watching tour from here.
Today that was about to change.
► Arriving in Steveston
We arrived early and found paid parking before walking towards the harbour.
Parking in Steveston can become challenging on busy summer days, particularly at weekends, but fortunately we found a space quite quickly.
Vancouver Whale Watch operates from Second Avenue, only a short walk from Steveston’s waterfront. We checked in and discovered we had around an hour and a half before our departure.
That wasn’t exactly a hardship.
Steveston has plenty of cafés, restaurants and patios, so we found somewhere for coffee and sat outside enjoying the sunshine before heading back for our tour.
► Getting Ready for Our Whale-Watching Adventure
Back at the office, we were prepared for the trip and given a safety briefing before meeting the other passengers and walking towards the harbour.
Because we had children with us, we wanted an experience that would be comfortable and suitable for everyone rather than travelling aboard one of the smaller open Zodiac boats.
Our larger vessel provided plenty of room to move around and areas where we could watch the water while still having some protection from the weather when required.
With everyone safely aboard, we left Steveston Harbour behind and headed towards the open waters of the Salish Sea.
🐳 Our First Humpback Whale
There are some moments on the Salish Sea that happen so quickly you barely have time to understand what you’ve just witnessed. Within about 30 minutes of leaving the harbour, the water suddenly erupted.
An enormous humpback whale surged towards the surface with its mouth wide open, sending water in every direction. And then another whale appeared.
For a few seconds, nobody seemed to know where to look.
We were witnessing lunge feeding, one of the most dramatic feeding behaviours you can see from a humpback whale.
It was spectacular.
What Is Lunge Feeding?
Humpback whales are baleen whales.
Instead of teeth, they have rows of baleen plates hanging from their upper jaw that allow them to filter prey from enormous quantities of seawater. During lunge feeding, a humpback accelerates towards a concentrated school of prey before opening its enormous mouth.
The whale doesn’t just swallow the fish. It engulfs an extraordinary volume of seawater at the same time. Look carefully at the underside of a humpback whale and you’ll see long grooves running along its throat and belly. These are called ventral pleats, or throat grooves. They allow the whale’s throat region to expand dramatically as its mouth fills with water and prey.
Once the whale has completed its lunge, it closes its mouth and forces the seawater back through its baleen plates.
The water escapes. The food doesn’t. The whale can then swallow the prey trapped inside.
What makes the whole spectacle even more extraordinary is the difference in scale. Humpback whales are enormous animals, yet they can feed on comparatively tiny prey, including schooling fish such as herring and small crustaceans such as krill.
Watching this happen in front of us was completely different from watching it on television. We could hear the water. We could see the whale’s mouth breaking the surface.
And we could appreciate just how enormous these animals really are.
Two Whales Feeding Together
Seeing one humpback lunge towards the surface would have made our trip. Seeing another appear at almost the same time made the encounter even more memorable. Our captain and wildlife guide kept us informed about what was happening while maintaining the appropriate distance from the whales.
Then came the waiting game.
A whale disappeared beneath the surface. Everyone watched. Cameras were ready. Someone spotted movement. And suddenly there was another blow in the distance.
That uncertainty is part of what makes whale watching exciting. These aren’t trained animals appearing on schedule. We’re visitors in their environment.
🐋 And Then We Found Six Orcas!
We were already ecstatic to have unexpectedly encountered two humpback whales, but that wasn’t the end of the surprises.
As we travelled farther across the Strait of Georgia, admiring the blue sky and seemingly endless water around us, there was suddenly more activity ahead.
Orcas!
Not one or two, but six killer whales travelling through the Salish Sea.
After the excitement of watching humpbacks lunge feeding, we could hardly believe our luck. Everyone’s attention immediately returned to the water. Cameras came out again as we watched for dorsal fins breaking the surface.
Orcas are highly social animals and frequently travel in family groups. Watching several animals moving through the water together gave us a completely different experience from our humpback encounter.
We watched from the required distance as the orcas surfaced, disappeared and surfaced again. Every time a dorsal fin appeared, there was another rush of excitement around the boat.
This was exactly why we had come whale watching, but we never imagined we would encounter two humpback whales and six orcas on the same trip.
The Salish Sea Is Always Changing
Our encounters also demonstrated something important about whale watching: the Salish Sea is a dynamic ecosystem. Weather, tides, currents, prey availability and ocean conditions are constantly changing, influencing where wildlife chooses to spend its time.
A humpback whale feeding in one area today may be kilometres away tomorrow. A group of killer whales might travel through the region during the morning and be gone by the afternoon.
Even a change in tide or the movement of a school of fish can alter what happens during a tour. That’s why no two whale-watching trips are exactly alike.
There are no guarantees about which species you’ll encounter, where you’ll find them or how they’ll behave. For us, that uncertainty made the experience even more exciting.
Responsible Wildlife Viewing Comes First
As exciting as it was to see the whales, protecting wildlife must always be more important than getting a closer photograph.
During our trip, we learned about Canadian marine mammal viewing regulations designed to give whales the space they need to feed, travel, rest and socialize without unnecessary disturbance.
Those distances are particularly important for killer whales. Responsible whale-watching operators adjust their speed, direction and viewing distance depending on the animals present and the applicable regulations.
For us as passengers, that sometimes meant watching from farther away than we might have expected.
But that’s exactly how it should be. By respecting their boundaries, we can observe genuine wildlife behaviour without demanding that the animals change what they’re doing for our benefit.
After all, we’re visitors in their home and environment.
► What You May See on a Steveston Whale-Watching Tour
Humpback whales may have been the stars of our particular trip, but the Salish Sea supports an extraordinary variety of wildlife.
Humpback Whales
Look for the distinctive blow first. As a humpback surfaces, its exhalation can reveal its position before you clearly see the whale.
If you’re fortunate, you may see the back and dorsal fin followed by the tail flukes as the whale begins a deeper dive.
Orcas
Both Killer whales and Southern Resident killer whales use waters of the Salish Sea, although their diets and behaviours are very different.
Never assume that a whale-watching tour means you will see an orca. These are wild animals moving through an enormous marine environment.
Harbour Seals
One of the most commonly encountered marine mammals around the BC coast. Watch rocky shorelines, reefs and the water around islands.
Sea Lions
Sea lions can be particularly noticeable during spring and fall. Sometimes you hear them before you see them.
Harbour and Dall’s Porpoises
Keep watching alongside the boat and across the surface. Porpoises can appear quickly and disappear just as fast.
Bald Eagles
Remember to look upwards as well as towards the water. Bald eagles are frequently seen around BC’s coast and islands.
Great Blue Herons
The shallow coastal waters and shoreline around the Fraser River and Salish Sea provide habitat for these unmistakable birds.
River Otters
Another possibility around shorelines and islands, although sightings are never guaranteed.
► Where Does a Whale-Watching Tour from Steveston Go?
There isn’t one fixed whale-watching route and that’s important.
The boat goes where the whales are. Captains and wildlife guides use current sightings and communicate with a network of other operators to determine where whales have been located.
A typical journey begins by leaving Steveston Harbour at the mouth of the Fraser River. From there, the vessel can head towards the Strait of Georgia, travelling into the wider Salish Sea.
Depending on where whales have been reported, tours may continue among the Gulf Islands or travel farther south towards waters around the San Juan Islands.
The route can therefore be completely different from one day to the next. On one tour, whales might be relatively close to Steveston. On another, the captain may need to travel considerably farther.
That’s why whale-watching tours from Steveston generally last three to five hours rather than having a fixed return time. Seeing Humpback whales so soon on our tour was very fortunate!
► The Journey Is Part of the Experience
Don’t spend the entire outward journey staring at your phone waiting for someone to announce a whale. Look around.
Leaving Steveston gives you a fascinating perspective on the Fraser River estuary and the BC coastline. As you travel farther into the Salish Sea, the landscape opens dramatically.
On a clear day there are mountain ranges in the distance, islands scattered across the water and marine traffic moving through one of Canada’s most important coastal waterways.
Even before the first whale appeared, we were enjoying simply being out on the water.
► Why We Chose the Larger Boat
Travelling with children influenced our choice considerably.
The company’s larger open/semi-covered vessels are designed for families and groups, with comfortable bench seating and protection from the elements when the roof is fitted. There are also washroom facilities aboard.
For visitors who want something more adventurous, smaller 12-passenger open Zodiac tours are available, although passengers must be at least eight years old. We have done this trip before from Victoria, however it was extremely bumpy!
For us, comfort won. And considering we still had the same opportunity to encounter whales and other marine wildlife, we didn’t feel that we were compromising on the experience.
► How Long Is the Tour?
Allow three to five hours for the whale-watching trip itself. The exact length depends largely on where the whales are located that day. You should also arrive well before departure. Check-in is required one hour before the scheduled tour, so realistically this is at least a half-day experience.
We’d avoid scheduling anything important immediately afterwards. Whales don’t operate to your itinerary.
► Best Time to Go Whale Watching from Steveston
Vancouver Whale Watch operates its larger-vessel whale-watching tours from April through October.
During peak summer, there are morning and afternoon departures, while spring and autumn generally have fewer departures.
Summer offers longer days and potentially beautiful weather like we experienced, but don’t dismiss spring and fall. Wildlife changes throughout the season, and sea lions, for example, are particularly associated with the spring and fall periods.
Whatever the month, remember that conditions on the Salish Sea can be considerably cooler than they are back in Steveston.
► What Should You Bring?
Even when Steveston is warm and sunny, conditions can change once you’re travelling quickly across open water.
We recommend bringing:
- Warm layers
- Windproof or waterproof jacket
- Sunglasses
- Sunscreen
- Hat
- Camera with a zoom lens
- Fully charged phone
- Binoculars
- Water
- Small snack
And hold onto your hat when the boat accelerates!
If you’re particularly susceptible to motion sickness, consider appropriate precautions before departure rather than waiting until you’re already offshore.
● Photography Tips
Whale photography sounds easy until you try it. The whale doesn’t surface where you’re pointing the camera.
The boat is moving. You’re moving. Everyone around you is moving. And the whale certainly isn’t waiting for you to adjust your settings.
Rather than watching everything through a screen, we recommend taking photographs in bursts and then putting the camera down occasionally.
Watch the whale with your own eyes. Some memories deserve more than a camera roll.
Make Time for Steveston
Don’t simply arrive, take the boat and immediately leave.
Steveston is worth exploring in its own right. The historic fishing village has a working harbour, waterfront walks, restaurants, cafés, shops and important connections to British Columbia’s fishing and canning history.
We particularly enjoy having time for coffee before a tour and walking along the waterfront afterwards.
If you have longer, turn the whale-watching excursion into a complete Steveston day trip.
Returning to Steveston
Eventually, our time on the Salish Sea had to come to an end.
As the boat headed back towards Steveston, we sat looking through the many photographs we had taken and talked about everything we’d just witnessed.
We had left the harbour simply hoping to see a whale or two. Instead, we’d watched two humpback whales lunge feeding and encountered six orcas.
Not a bad day’s whale watching! Eventually Steveston came back into view and we entered the harbour. We stepped ashore, returned our life preservers and thanked the crew for what had been an extraordinary experience.
There was really only one sensible way to finish the day. We found a restaurant overlooking the harbour, settled down for a lovely meal and watched the water we’d just returned from.
✓ Was Vancouver Whale Watching Worth It?
Without question.
The entire day had been filled with anticipation. Would we actually find whales? Would they be close enough to see? Would the children enjoy being out on the water?
Our wishes came true and then some. Having our family from England there to experience it with us made the day even more memorable.
Whale watching isn’t predictable, and that’s precisely the point. You leave the harbour not knowing what the Salish Sea is going to show you.
On this particular day, it gave us far more than we ever expected. Our Ticket Rating: 5 out of 5. This was an incredible family adventure and a day we will always remember.
◆ Visitor Information
For 2026, Vancouver Whale Watch lists its larger-vessel tours at $195 adults, $175 seniors 60+ and students, and $125 children, before taxes and fees. Tours run 3–5 hours. From June 20–August 31, departures are currently 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.; spring and autumn schedules differ. The operator reports a 98% whale-sighting success rate and offers a return trip if no orca or humpback is seen.
For parking, the operator currently recommends the paid lot at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery, approximately a three-minute walk from its office, and asks passengers to check in one hour before departure.
Nearby Attractions Across BC
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With every trip, we offer feedback to travel companies along with honest views for you, the reader. We rate adventures on a scale of one to five tickets, judged on quality, service, memorability, and price. A perfect ‘Ticket Rating’ of a five-ticket score means the experience was flawless and we’d eagerly return. Your desire to go back is the ultimate measure of a trip’s worth. Exclusive to My Return Ticket.
