Whale Watching Panama | Whale Tours, Swim with Whales
Whale Report
Check out our reports from our recent Whale & Dolphin Trips.
July-Oct. 2010
We were blessed with 100% sightings of Humpback whales in the Pearl islands and about 75% sightings of whales and dolphins on the 1 day trips from Panama city.
March 2011
spent 3 days on a catamaran sailboat sailing from the West side of the Azuero peninsula and on Day 1 had several groups of spotted dolphins come to play in our bow waves of the boat. Then had a huge single Pacific bottle nose dolphin come to check us out, gazing up at us as he rode our bow wave.
Day 2- More spotted dolphins who came to play with us on the boat. It was a clear and sunny day, so we stopped to take a dip in the refreshing tropical water and as we got in the water several spotted dolphins came to check us out briefly. We found a lovely bay on Cebaco island to stay for the night.
Day 3- I woke up and looked out over the tranquil bay as the sun rose and saw a pod of spotted dolphins feeding out in the same bay we were anchored in. I can't think of anything better than to wake up to the sound and sight of dolphins around. I took their kayak out into the bay and saw the dolphins up close as well as a curious sea turtle. As we headed out of the bay, the dolphins all came to swim with the boat and made several big jumps around us, including a young dolphin who jumped about 6 feet out of the water directly in front of the boat. A lovely way to start the day.
July-Oct. 2011
June 26- We started the season early with a group of 6 people who requested a 1 day whale & dolphin trip from Panama city. We were rewarded with a large pod of spotted dolphins playing with the boat for about 30 minutes. Jumping very close to the boat for all to see. Then 3 humpback whales spotted off in the distance. A great start to the season.
July 3- Another 1 day trip from Panama city with 8 guests. A quiet day on the sea, but soon hit with rain and low visibility as we reached Isla Taboga. We went back to Taboga for an early lunch and to let the rain pass. It did, we headed out and the weather cleared to a lovely day. Unfortunately, the whales and dolphins were hiding on this day. Such is the life of wildlife viewing. We do everything in our power to find the animals, but some days it just does not work out. We still had a fun day on the water. When you go whale & dolphin watching it is all about having the attitude of having a fun day on the boat.
Photos by James Bloomfield. Notice the dolphin in the water under the feet.
July 6- A 1 day trip from Panama city some visitors from the Netherlands. Lovely weather and calm seas. We found several groups of common dolphins who chose to come and spend some time with us riding the bow waves and jumping near us. We even got in the water with them and even though we did not see them under the water, we could hear them and see them swimming nearby as we floated in the buoyant and warm waters. It was a thrill for all.
July 9- First day out in the Pearl islands for a 5 day whale & dolphin trip. We had an amazing day. 30 common dolphins with us for about 20 minutes. Then we found about 10 humpback whales spread out in front of Saboga island who stayed near us for several hours. Several of the whales came within 10 feet of the boat. One was right in front of the boat as we slipped into the water off the stern or back of the boat. It was amazing to be surrounded by the energy of the whales, even though we did not see them underwater. We were whale kissed with the spary of their breath once! Then later we found a mother humpback with her baby between Contadora and Chapera islands. They seemed very curious about us and came close to check out the boat. We got in the water and they swam close enough for us to see them clearly underwater! What a thrill. At one point we were in the water and the whales surfaced between us and the boat. We are off to an incredible season!
July 10- A quiet introspective day to integrate all the intense whale energies that we were immersed in the day before. The whales were with us near by and also in quiet moods. We saw a number of pairs of whales and a another mother and her baby. We also saw a Mahi Mahi or also known as a Dorado fish jump twice hunting his smaller fish prey.
July 11- An amazing day with 5 humpbacks for 5 hours. They showed us a lot of pectoral fin waving, tails and a few full body, out of the water jumps. Two of them surfaced next to our drifting boat and rolled their bodies so they could look at us in the air. Amazing to see their intelligent eyes gazing at us. They ended up by two of them coming literally 2 feet from the boat and diving under us!
July 12- We found 3 humpbacks right away and spent some time with them. One of them came quite close several times and swam under our boat twice with her white belly up so we could see her very clearly in the clear tropical waters as she passed under and next to us. Then we found a mother and baby humpbacks who came quite close to the boat, and then we could hear them vocalizing under the water. Their voices were so loud we could hear them outside the water from the boat deck!
July 13- We started out with what appeared to be 2 female humpbacks who were being wooed by a male. The humpbacks come from Antarctica this time of year to breed and give birth.We spent an hour or so with them. We heard some grunting sounds one of them made when he came to the surface. Then we had quite a dilemma. I spotted some dolphins nearby also. We had whales to the right and dolphins to the left. Which way to go? I love this kind of problem!! We chose the dolphins as we had spent time with the whales already and it was fun as the dolphins allowed us to swim with them and many came quite close in the water and we could see and hear their whistles and clicks all around us. At one point as we stopped to drift for lunch on the sea and the whales and dolphins were off in the distance. One of my guests and I took a refreshing swim to simply float and enjoy the feeling of being supported by the sea. She commented on how she was so relaxed floating she could not even feel her body. We headed back to the boat for lunch. I was the last one out and had just climbed onto the boat when I turned around and looked behind the boat to see 5 spotted dolphins heading straight towards us about 20 feet back. I quickly grabbed my mask and slipped into the water to see them swim right past me and one of them roll to really look at me. Later that day we found the same mother and baby humpback that hangs out between Contadora and Chapera islands and we spent some time with them. One of my guests had said earlier in the day that she wanted to see a shark. She is a powerful manifester as that afternoon we saw a shark swimming on the surface past the boat. There are small and harmless white tipped reef and nurse sharks in the area.
