Five Star Whale Watching

The tour started promptly. The crew was knowledgeable, friendly, & very engaging. While i would’ve LOVED to have seen the orcas up close, the crew was careful to keep the legal distance from the animals, even having to change course a couple of times. We saw orcas, harbor porpoises, seals, & many different seabirds. All in all, very enjoyable.

Five Star Whale Watching truly is five star! My family went whale watching with Five Star on April 9, 2015. I booked the trip through Tourism Victoria. Five Star had the most reasonable pricing and had a great new boat that was custom built. It sounded perfect. I was a bit worried we might not see whales since it sounded like it wasn’t the prime season for the resident pods.
The weather was perfect and the crew (Andrew, Kayla, Trev the Captain and Ron the Whale Specialist) couldn’t have been more knowledgeable or better. They told us what to watch for birds, etc. We departed and started out. It was such a nice day that we were all enjoying the boat ride. Since we had brought our kids along we had to sit in the inside portion on the lower deck which was comfortable. Once we went a ways they stopped the boat and sure enough, Andrew who was on the lower deck, pointed out the transient Orcas. We were able to get such great views of them. It was amazing. We had plenty of time to enjoy the Orcas and take pictures. I’ve been whale watching before in a zodiac and I would have to say this was far, far superior to what I experienced in the past. We watched the Orcas for a long, long time. Since our crew knew the Orcas were going to the lighthouse they decided that we should go there to view the Sea Lions and Seals before the whales get there, which we did. We saw two bald eagles, lots of Sea Lions and Seals and then on the way back saw the Orcas again. My personal highlight was when a small pod of Dall’s Porpises started swimming back and forth under our boat. It was amazing. My kids will probably never forget it.
All in all, I would highly recommend Five Star, and even my 8 year old son said: «They truly are Five Star!» Best whale watching I have experienced and far exceeded my expectations.

I went whale watching twice this summer. The first time, with a much smaller company, we saw humpback whales (right under the boat), and two pods of travelling orcas, some seals and sea lions. The owner/​operator drove many miles up and down the coast and spent a lot of time communicating with other boats in order to find the whales.
The second time I chose 5 star because I was buying two tickets and they had a better price. The boat was much more comfortable and the guide was very well-​informed and friendly. However, their method of finding whales was completely different. Several times we stopped out in the middle of the ocean and they said, Okay, now look for something. We saw lots of sea lions at the light house but not one whale the whole trip. It was very disappointing, and although I wish I had had the nerve to ask for the no whale guarantee, I did not. It would have been nice if they had offered because my son was very disappointed, and it’s a lot of money to pay not to see any whales at all.
What I would recommend: if you want a nice, warm, comfortable boat ride, go with 5 Star. If you really want to see whales, go with a smaller company.

I went whale watching early this morning and we were lucky to see about 10 killer whales and it was so beautiful!
I chose five star only because they were the first on the web page of Victoria official website. As a matter of fact the price of five star is lower than some others I saw. I don’t know why but I guess it had some thing to do with the ads which five star hardly put.
Never experienced any other whale watching so I don’t know if it’s better, but I am satisfied enough that I got what I wanted: whales, safety and warmth. And, I was in a hurry this morning that I took a waffle from the Cora’s and I had no fork with me that I tried to ask for one at five star office, I knew it was ridiculous but I was amazed that the guide later on the vessel, his name was Andrew, he went back to the office and gave me a fork! I just can’t image. Thank you so much. And the orcas really worth the coldness on boat.
I will surely do this again.

My family had tried to do a whale watching tour when we went to Victoria a number of years ago. But the weather turned bad and we were never able to go.
This time I was lucky. Thanks to Groupon I was able to get a good deal on this tour. I really liked my whale watching experience with 5 Star. The boat was a good size. I was worried about getting seasick, but I didn’t have any problems, and I didn’t even take anti-​seasickness pills. The staff was really nice, and my guide was very funny (I can’t remember his name, he was from Australia). We ended up seeing seals, porpoises, a bald eagle and orcas (the Jpod). I didn’t get a lot of pictures, so I was glad to see that the offer some up on their blog. My shots wouldn’t have turned out so good anyways (I don’t have the right lens). The staff were very informative and able to answer any questions we had.
Whale watching is something I think everyone should do at least in their lives. 5 Star was a really a great company for whale watching and I highly recommend them.

The staff at Five Star Whale Watching were great. They took the time to walk from one end of the boat to the other throughout the entire three-​hour trip to provide each passenger with information about the whales, major sights and to point out nearby whales and wildlife. There was a comfortable indoor seating area but we sat outside on the back of the boat for most of the trip (which was super cold) for a better view. It was quite foggy so it took a long time to find an orca pod and a couple of gray whales, and they were a bit further from the boat than I expected, but we were able to get some great photos and it was exciting nonetheless. The Five Star staff also posted photos from our tour online later that day for all of us to download. Overall the trip was great but we will probably book the afternoon tour next time to try to avoid the morning fog.

I went Whale Watching on over Labor Day weekend — my friends and I traveled from Seattle, so this was part of our day trip to Victoria!
We arrived at 5-​Star Whale Watching and the staff was incredibly enthusiastic. After a quick intro about what to expect on trip, we were off on our adventure!
I sat on the top deck — which was INCREDIBLY windy. But after about 45 minutes — we located a pod of orcas — were were about 100ft away from them AND were were the closet boat to the pod. At first, they were really difficult to see, but once you spotted them, it was great. The staff on the boat ws very knowledgeable and was able to answer so many questions — about Orcas, their behaviour, lifestyle, etc. Keep in mind, photography is really tough, unless you have a professional lens/​camera. With a digital, the photographs are hit or miss — because you are 100ft away.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable trip and I would definitely go again. The value for what we saw was good — 5-​Start is comparable with their competitors in price, however, I felt the staff really made the experience better.