SPIRIT OF ORCA Whale Watching,
Birding & Wildlife Tours
Experience the Salish Sea on a private, comfortable tour designed around your bucket-list adventure to see orcas and other marine life.
For many guests, seeing orcas, also known as killer whales, swimming freely in their natural environment is a lifelong dream. Our private tours offer a comfortable and personal way to experience this incredible wildlife among the San Juan Islands.
Whatever your interest, whether it’s primarily ecotourism, whale watching, or birding, we will do our best to tailor the tour the experience. We have over 400 orcas in this region, and you’ll also see other wildlife on your adventure here among the San Juan Islands of the Salish Sea.
Join us as we explore the Salish Sea and the San Juan Islands. We depart from Anacortes, Washington, one of the best places in the world to see orcas.
Departing from Anacortes has the advantage of avoiding ferry reservation hassles, late ferries, or ferry cancellations.
We offer private three or six hour tours aboard Spirit of Orca II. Spirit of Orca II is a very comfortable, seaworthy, and stable catamaran, perfect for one to six passengers. With a walk-around cabin open on three sides, you are poised for optimal viewing and a truly extraordinary experience for you, your family, or a small group of friends.
People often ask about the advantages of a six-hour tour compared to a three-hour tour. It is simply this: more time spent viewing the marine life. A six-hour tour offers up the possibility of reaching pods that might be out of reach on a three-hour tour.
What do we see?
You may see orcas, humpbacks, minkes, and maybe a gray or fin whale. Additionally, we may see stellar sea lions, harbor seals, Dall’s porpoises, harbor porpoises, Pacific white-sided dolphins, 172 species of sea birds, including bald eagles, tufted puffins, kingfishers, great blue herons, pelicans, and many other species of marine life.
This is one of the best places in the world to see orcas and whales. A huge advantage of touring with us here in the San Juan Islands is that there are only a handful of days a year when whales are not seen.
We Care, as reflected in our private whale watching, birding & wildlife ecotours.
Spirit of Orca is privileged to work, play, and educate thousands of local and international visitors within the traditional territories of the Coast Salish-speaking peoples of the Samish Indian Nation. Hóy7sxwq’e si7ám. (“Thank you, respected or honorable one.”)
It is important to recognize that protecting whales in their wild and natural environment is one of our greatest passions. After touring with us, we are confident it will become one of yours, too, so that you will have the knowledge to take home and advocate for our whales, orcas, and other wildlife.
Firstly, we practice responsible sustainable viewing, conservation, ecotourism, and education of our guests. Moreover, we are the first line of defense by serving as sentinel guardians of the whales, alerting other vessels unaware of their presence, and notifying marine mammal rescue of entanglements with fishing gear or injured mammals. In addition, we also supply photos to marine biologists to further their studies and work, and to law enforcement in instances where whales are being harassed.
Equally important, our viewing guidelines are among the most conservative in the world. With this in mind, the state of Washington has taken our viewing guidelines and adopted them into law for all vessels. Furthermore, our top priority is the safety and well-being of our guests and the whales.
No two whale-watching tours are the same. Each is a unique and beautiful experience as you take in the beauty and marine life of the Salish Sea.
Posted on Tripadvisor 
Felicia Y Verified Orcas in October My family and I had a great time on our tour. Ken was very knowledgeable of the area and its wildlife. We saw orcas, bald eagles, and seals. The boat ride was exciting and Ken provided blankets to help us bare the autumn chill. Posted on Tripadvisor 
aldair m Verified Amazing Experience We had a great time with the guide, He was really knowledgeable and friendly. We appreciated all the accommodations. For the price it was in the midrange. It wasn’t extremely expensive for everything they did. We were able to watch a family of Orcas and 2 Humpback Whales! We hope to come back later one maybe with a little bit more friends or family. 5 Stars all the way! Posted on Tripadvisor 
Darpelk Verified Excellent photography experience We had a group of 6 and focused on getting some quality pictures of orcas and other marine life. We had an excellent experience and it was a perfect setup for a group that size. Highly recommend especially if you are interesting in photography during the trip. Posted on Tripadvisor 
rabbichaim2024 Verified It’s amazing! We enjoyed our whale watching experience immensely. Ken took us out to see orcas, sea lions, harbor otters, puffins, eagles, and more. He was kind, knowledgeable, and professional! He was appreciated by adults and kids alike. Posted on Tripadvisor 
Kathryn S Verified Great day and a wonderful experience. We had a wonderful day, 10am to 1pm, August 28, 2024 with Spirit of Orca and Captain Ken explaining all the wildlife we saw. It took awhile to find a pod of Orcas, but the ride was very scenic and we learned so much. We would recommend this tour to any age, individuals and families. We felt very safe and would definitely go again. This was our second trip with Ken. We received professional photos of our trip that Ken took and sent to our email shortly after the trip. Beautiful! Thank you, Spirit of Orca! Posted on Tripadvisor 
dull2shinetoo Verified Stunning even in thick fog! We took a morning excursion to the Saltish Sea with Captain Ken. The fog was very thick, yet our experienced, competent captain expertly guided our vessel to and close to a stunning variety of marine and bird wildlife with sufficient pauses for successful photography. I hail from Virginia, and this was my first tour of Puget Sound; my list of newly encountered animals rose significantly! Perfect for small groups, priced reasonably for the intimate view of the special habitat found around those islands. Posted on Tripadvisor 
Dave S Verified A relaxing three hours out on the water… with wildlife Ken took out our family of four in mid July. We had corresponded several times before the trip, which I appreciated. He knew what we were looking for. We saw two eagles and a big eagles nest, a few harbor seals, quite a few sea lions, I think three orcas and two puffins, among other things. Ken was respectful of keeping a proper distance from the wildlife, which was not really true of at least one other boat near the whales. I’m a reasonably knowledgeable photographer, but since Ken has been doing this for years I probably should have asked him about his preferred settings when you are rocking a little in a boat. Posted on Tripadvisor 
Tayva B Verified Exceeded Expectations Captain Ken made this a wonderful experience for our family! He scouted out where the orca pods were the morning of the tour, shared so many fun facts about the sea life in the area, and captured amazing pictures for us! We had no idea we would be getting professional pictures, in addition to the tour. Thanks Ken! Posted on Tripadvisor 
peggyburr Verified Worth It! Thank you, Captain Ken, for the wonderful wildlife tour on Tuesday. We want you to know it was everything we had hoped for and more. It was unique and notably different than experiencing the Orcas and wildlife any other way. Thank you for the beautiful professional photographs, too! We were impressed and grateful that you were so determined to go the extra miles and gave us the additional time needed to achieve all the goals of our tour. We never expected to travel all the way to Victoria B.C. and that boat ride across the water alone was a thrilling and awe provoking experience. We loved being so close to the power, movement and the beauty of the Salish Sea. It was truly memorable. The highlight of the trip was definitely seeing the incredible Orca pods in their natural habitat against a stunning backdrop of Canada’s shoreline. it is a treasured memory for all of us. We loved it!Thanks again for making your professional photos available to us. They turned out great. I took some great candid photos of my family enjoying the boat ride, too. Posted on Tripadvisor 
Lindsey H Verified Exceptional trip We had a blast with our daughter seeing whales, puffins, bald eagles, sea lions, otters, seals, and many birds! Once in a lifetime experience
Verified Verified Verified Verified Verified Verified Verified Verified Verified Verified Private Party Tour Pricing
3 hr – $975
6 hr – $1950
Private Whale-Watching Tour
Bird Watching / Birding Tours
(172 species of seabirds in the Salish Sea)
Photography Tours
Islands Cruise / Wedding / Marriage Proposal
Let us know how we can fulfill your dream.
