Orca & Humpback Expedition

6 days
Save this trip to your favorites or other list
Map not provided by operator
Additional images not provided by operator
Video not provided by operator
5/5 Excellent
81 reviews  
100%
Save this trip to your favorites or other list
premier

Health Safety

Cancellation Policy
Group Tour
Located in an incredible glacier-carved waterway, are the beautiful Johnstone Strait and Blackfish Sound. From July to September, both orcas and humpbacks come together in this area to hunt for salmon. Throughout the narrow Strait, more than 220 orcas each year are able to roam the protected channel in search of salmon, while occasionally stopping to rub thei...

Member Savings

Save up to $700!

Sign in to see which companies give additional
savings to Travelstride Members (it’s free)

Unlock Savings

Overview

Trip type
Group Tour
Lodging level
Standard - 3 star
Physical level
Moderate

Highlights

    • Enjoy a happy hour of local wines and hors d'oeuvres
    • Hike and learn about the natural history of the area
    • Experience Paddle to Robson Bight Orca preserve as well as first nations pictograph sites
    • Visit to the Telegraph Cove Whale Museum

What's this trip about?

    Located in an incredible glacier-carved waterway, are the beautiful Johnstone Strait and Blackfish Sound. From July to September, both orcas and humpbacks come together in this area to hunt for salmon. Throughout the narrow Strait, more than 220 orcas each year are able to roam the protected channel in search of salmon, while occasionally stopping to rub their bellies on one of our basecamp beaches. Within the sound, humpback whales are able to breach freely. As you watch for the birds landing on the water in search of salmon, don't be surprised if a humpback seems to quickly find the same location.

Details

Itinerary focusOperator does not provide
Group sizePrivate - your group only
Age range14 years and up
Flights and transportAll internal ground transport included
Start CityPort McNeill
End CityPort McNeill

Travel Themes

  • Family Friendly
  • National Parks
  • Nature & Wildlife
  • Rafting, Kayaking, Canoeing

Destinations

  • North America
  • Canada

Activities

  • Adventure & Adrenaline
  • Hiking
  • Kayaking
  • Nature
  • Whale watching
  • Wildlife viewing

Trip includes

    • All meals while on tour
    • Transportation to and from the launch site
    • Kayaking instruction, all kayaking and camping equipment, dry bags for your gear, neoprene booties, service of our certificied professional Guides, and the full service of our Adventure Consultants.

Popular Trips

Itinerary

Day: 1

Meals: Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Beachside Camping

You'll start the day with a morning commute to the launch site in Telegraph Cove. On arrival, our superbly talented guides teach a lesson in kayaking safety. After launching from the cove, we begin...

Day: 2-5

Accommodation: Beachside Camping

Leisurely rise with the sun as it crests over rainforest boughs. Your guides are already hard at work preparing a warm breakfast, coffee, and tea. Spend part of the morning strolling along the beach, reading, or watching for orc...

Day: 6

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Haida Way Motor Inn or Black Bear Resort

After breakfast, we break camp and paddle to our take-out location at Telegraph Cove. Along the way, we stop for lunch and a visit to the Telegraph Cove whale museum. In the afterno...

Want a tailor-made trip instead?

Your trip, your way, planned by an expert:

  • You choose budget, destinations, activities, transport & lodging type
  • Expert designs the itinerary for you, and once approved, takes care of logistics
Design custom trip

Dates & Availability

Price From $1,545
Price per day$258
Last Updated: 9/28/2018

Check Current Availability, prices, specials with ROW Adventures.

The total tour cost includes the tour price (regular or promotional) and the compulsory local payment. The promotional price is subject to change. Check directly with the operator for the latest price offer. The tour operator requires you to pay only the tour price to purchase your travel. The compulsory local payment will be paid when you join the trip. All prices are based on double, twin or triple share occupancy. Solo passengers will be accommodated in a double, twin or triple room according to availability with a passenger(s) of the same gender. Single supplement only needs to be paid if the passenger does not want to share and requests their own room. Discounts can only be applied at the time of booking and cannot be added at a later date, regardless of any changes made to the original booking.

Prices may vary due to local taxes and trip seasonality. Click "Request Info" to inquire directly with the tour operator for the final trip price.

Travelstride Gift Card
One card, thousands of extraordinary trips
Gifts Card

ROW Adventures Reviews & Ratings

5/5  Excellent
Excellent
80
Great
1
Average
0
Disappointing
0
Terrible
0
Write a Review

Other ROW Adventures Reviews

A

Andrew

Mar 2020

Provided byROW Adventures

Great trips--great company

I have travelled with ROW numerous times, including four trips on the Rogue River. Every trip has been wonderful and every person associated with ROW has been nice, ...

P

Pip

Mar 2020

Provided byROW Adventures

most memorable holiday

Wow, wow, wow, wow. As a family group of six adults we have just returned from four day Whale Camp at Magdalena Bay. We were so well looked after by Monica, ‘Sherman...

J

Jackie

Dec 2019

Provided byROW Adventures

My dad and I had a wonderful time, and would not hesitate to recommend ROW!

My dad and I booked this trip as a special experience to share together, and we knew we wanted to go with ROW because we had taken a family rafting trip with ROW 20 ...

Write a Review

Travelers also viewed

Tour Operator

ROW Adventures

premier
View Profile

Connecting people to culture, wildlife, and nature

If there is water, there is ROW Adventures! While we started out as a Northwest whitewater rafting company in 1979, we have since expanded our reach to include tours on five continents and over 25 countries. Our ultimate focus is providing life-enriching journeys around the world that not only benefit you, but also our guides, and the people and places we visit. Rated by National Geographic Adventure as one of the “Best Adventure Travel Companies on Earth,” and voted “World’s Best Tour Operator” by Travel & Leisure magazine readers, we continue to pioneer new trips and ways of adventuring in both popular and remote places of the world.

ROW offers a wide variety of trips that cater to many different activities - rafting, kayaking, hiking, biking, fishing, multisport, etc. – interests – family-focused vacations, lodge-based tours, wildlife viewing, custom itineraries – and locations – camping in the Galapagos Islands, hiking in Machu Picchu, ecolodges in the Amazon, safaris in Africa, yachting in Europe, wildlife viewing in Antarctica, sea kayaking in Baja, kayaking with orcas in British Columbia, and more.

At our core, we are all about “sharing nature, enriching lives.” We strives to connect you to the places we visit in a meaningful and personally relevant way, inspiring you to be a part of the culture and lifestyle, and creating a safe-space for you to grow and gain new insight through your travel experiences.

The driving force behind our company is a team of people passionate about travel and customer service. Setting the pace and tone are the original ROW owners and founders Peter Grubb and his life partner Betsy Bowen. With our superlative team who have an average of eight years of guiding experience, many with extensive wilderness medical training, and natural and cultural history interpretation training in order to share a deeper understanding and appreciation for the incredible places you visit, we continue to set the high watermark in adventure and guest service.

ROW has a high guide-to-guest ratio, allowing our guides to be more involved with you – joining in on meals, ensuring your comfort, answering questions, telling stories, entertaining, and sharing in on the fun and adventure. And not only are our guides there to lead the adventure, they also do all of the heavy lifting, food preparation, gear transfers, camp setup, and more, so that you can focus on your vacation.

Our guides prepare each meal for you using fresh, healthy ingredients, and there is beer and wine to boot. Luxury camping, with spacious tents, dining tables, chairs and sun showers, provides a high level of comfort even when you’re exploring remote wilderness areas. ROW provides all camping gear including tents, sleeping bags, and thick foam mattresses, and watercraft for our trips; you just need to bring clothes, yourself, and enjoy being on your adventure! And of course, we are passionately dedicated to “Leave No Trace” camping ethics and supporting a variety of conservation efforts around the world. 

We have it all covered, and we are here to provide you with the best travel experience out there. But don’t take our word for it; check out our reviews, join us for an adventure, and go home with incredible experiences and lifelong memories!

Tweets by ROWadventures

Why we love this operator
They’ve been recognized by major travel publications for their pioneering adventure travel expertise that spans back to their founding in 1979.
What they’re known for
Industry-leading adventures for outdoor enthusiasts that want a comfortable but exciting experience and all equipment included.

About Travelstride

Find your perfect trip

An epic selection of pre-planned trips on every continent, for every style. Thousands of itineraries from over 1,000 trusted travel companies.

Save time

Use simple search and comparison tools to easily find the best trip. Don't sweat the logistics — travel providers plan for you.

Save money

Book directly with the operator. See inclusive packages for the best values, and get access to amazing deals.

Travel confidently

Read unbiased user reviews, pick the operator that suits your needs, and connect with them directly.

Logistics

What's excluded

    • Transportation to and from Port McNeill
    • Hotel before and after the tour
    • Meals before or after the tour
    • Gratuity for guides
    • Items of a personal nature

Accommodation

,Full-Service Exploration -Our exclusive clean beach campsites include all camping equipment, featuring spacious, comfortable canvas tents with standing room height set on cedar bark. Gourmet meals are prepared daily from scratch. Camp library available with no library card required. Hydrophones present on all tours for listening to the whales communicate underwater.
Cancellation policy

Cancellations and Refunds

If you find it necessary to cancel your trip, you should notify ROW Adventures in writing, by e-mail or fax immediately.  If written cancellation is received (call to verify) before the final balance is due, you will be given a refund less the amount of the deposit.  Deposits are not refundable.  If cancellations are made on or after the final due date, no money will be refunded.  If you are unable to go on the trip, you are welcome to find a replacement for yourself.  Please understand that once you’ve signed up, we lose the right to sell your reserved space to other individuals or groups.  Therefore, we regret that we cannot make exceptions for personal emergencies.  For this reason we strongly recommend you consider purchasing the Travel Protection Plan ROW offers.

Travel Insurance
We strongly recommend purchasing travel insurance alongside your travel package to safeguard against unforeseen circumstances such as medical expenses, trip cancellations, and other contingencies. It offers you peace of mind and ensures you are prepared for unexpected events that may occur before or during your journey
Visa requirements
Visa requirements vary depending on your country of origin and your country of destination. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the relevant requirements. For a handy tool that can help you quickly find the requirements, please visit this link .
Meals Included

1 Breakfast, 2 Lunches and 1 Dinner

Age Requirements
14 years and up
14 years - must be in tandem with adult
Additional Information

Extension

We have two recommended trip extensions available through local experienced operators that can take you where the orca sightings are reported. These extensions are both by boat, which allow for a better opportunity to keep up with the whales. Our friends at Mackay Whale Watching tours or Stubbs Island Whale Watching can help you with this

 

Trip Between Sixth day and Fourth day

Our four-day trip utilizes one campsite for all four days and our six-day trip has three potential campsites. The four-day often allows you more time to relax and enjoy the beautiful wildlife and scenery. Families with teens, novice kayakers, or those who prefer a slower pace would be ideal for this tour. This site, located on Vancouver Island, is close to Robson Bight. The shoreline is composed of sea-polished stones that lure an orca to rub its six-ton body along the beach, or herd salmon into the curve of the shore. Orcas regularly pass by directly in front of camp. Paddlers can scramble down the rock outcropping and stand at water's edge to watch orcas cruise by just below their feet. The camp offers great orca viewing right off shore. We never just "wait around for orcas" on the base camp. We take daily day trips, paddling to different beaches for lunch, hike, observing wildlife. Each trip includes about 4 hours per day of kayaking: two hours paddling in morning, and another two hours paddling in the afternoon after lunch. Often there is a hike at the lunch stop, and the evenings are filled with campfires, games, or fishing. The six-day tour option involves up to three different campsites, weather and current depending. All are located along the travel routes used by the orcas. Because of the trip route, you are much more likely to see wilderness areas and a more diverse selection of marine life, including humpback whales that are often feeding on fish in Blackfish Sound. First Nations pictograph areas are also explored on this tour, and the base of the Broughton Archipelago, while remaining firmly in whale waters.

Trip ID
rowadv-OrcKayRow

Become a member

(it's free)
  • Save up to $700 per person
  • Access members-only specials
  • Personalize trip recommendations
Sign up and save

Popular Trips

Top Tour Companies on Travelstride:
All 1,600+ companies >
Sign in to reveal savings up to $700 per person!