Ocean Ecoventures Whale Watching

I went on a whale watching trip on 1st of July 2023. The trip was great and I was really happy when our captain offered to send us some photos as he had a professional camera. He noted that it will take him few weeks to send the photos. 4 emails, 3 months and 16 days later I still haven’t received any photos: (

Booked through Tripadvisor, super nice people to meet and really worth every dollar.
Thanks to experience and knowing the Killer whale groups, there is a very good chance that you will spot them.
And undoubtedly if it doesn't work out, the guide will pull out all the stops to go to places where other special animals live.
Our guide Jane was super passionate and knew the killer whale families from experience.
She could tell a lot about their behavior and way of life.

Awesome whale watching experience with Ocean Eco Adventures out of Parksville! Shaun was professional and a great captain and tour guide - passionate about the whales and marine life. The scenery is just beautiful - we did the sunset 3 hour trip - found a group of 4 Humpbacks that included a baby and were very active. Communication to book was also very quick and informative. Highly recommend this company and will be back!

This was by far the best whale watch I experienced in the last week in Victoria.

I went on 2 zodiac tours and one covered boat trip with different companies and Ocean Ecoventures stood out by a mile.

Captain Taz was passionate about the whales, knowing several of them at a glance, and very respectful of their movements. She made sure our presence had no effect on their natural behaviour, and as a result we got to witness a pod of 3 orca hunt and kill a porpoise.

We also saw humpback whales and seals, but seeing the killer whales was a lifelong dream of mine, so that was a thrilling experience.

I highly recommend taking a tour with this company. Bring layers, gloves, a warm drink in a thermos, a strap for your hat, and binoculars!

Our guide was Taz who is so incredibly knowledgable. I learned a lot. We saw 2 hump backs, a pod of orcas and seals. We came in all the way from Vancouver to tour with this place as the reviews here were the best! These people clearly care about what they do and the animals that are in the area.

Hands down the absolute best whale watching tour ever. Small personal experience and the guide was very knowledgeable about the whales and knew each individual.
An experience I'll never forget. I've been on many other whale watching trips and nothing compares.

Jane was brilliant. Great RIB, fantastic experience. So lucky to see T36 and her family playing. Great visibility from all positions in the boat. I recommend highly

The best whale watching tour I've been on. Our guide was very informative and clearly had lots of experience around the animals. We were guided to 2 pods of Orcas, 3 hump back whales as well as seals! Incredible experience!

Fantastic guides. All extremely knowledgeable. The other tour boats follow this one This is the tour to choose

Amazing tour with amazing guides! You cannot get as close for pictures so if that’s what you’re looking for bring a good camera and a way to keep it dry. But the in person experience is very much worth it. We got to see sea lions, eagles, humpbacks and orcas. It is luck of the draw, and we hit the lottery!

It's a very long way out to see a few orcas. We saw three small orcas from far away and then had to return back. Sorry but not worth the money. We had a much better experience in Telegraph Cove and Victoria.

Merci pour cette magnifique expérience a notre capitaine qui nous a fait profiter de son expérience, de sa connaissance des orques que nous avons eu le plaisir de contempler. Un moment inoubliable.

Our family had a fabulous adventure. We got to follow a group of whales for nearly two hours. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and friendly.

Most amazing tours ever. Highly recommend the last trip of the day as you get a spectacular sunsets

We had an incredible time on Sonic with Captain Taz. She was so knowledgeable and answered all of our questions and she had an amazing respectful and appreciation for the whales. We saw the humpback whale, Big Mama and a family of orcas, with wonderful stories. Definitely recommend this company for your whale watching adventures.

Captain Tas was amazing for the entire tour! Very knowledgable and able to answer all our questions! Orcas, Humpbacks, Eagles, Habour Seals, Osprey, a sea lion, and sea birds and lets not forget the amazing scenery! Couldn't have asked for a more perfect day! Lots of time spent with each animal we spotted!

Having a hard time even giving 3 stars. This experience was a disappointment to say the least. We DID see orcas but they were so far in the distance that trying to take photos with anything other than a high powered zoom lens was senseless. While our boat pilot seemed knowledgeable about the area and wildlife/marine life in general, they never pulled in close enough for us to really SEE the orcas. I understand there are restrictions and regulations for how close you can get to the marine life, but other boats in the area were CLOSE (one was almost touched by an orca!). The orcas could be seen swimming closer to the shoreline but our pilot stayed pretty much in the middle of the channel the whole time; never brought us in close like the other boats were doing. BIG disappointment especially when one considers the cost of the excursion. The only real positive was that it was a gloriously beautiful day to be on the water. However, I will NOT recommend Ocean Ecoventures to anyone.

If your trip got cancelled for any reason they give you a hard time to refund your money. They can put you on hold to speak to the manager for a good 2hrs
Bad customer service. I don’t recommend them.

What an incredible experience, our guide Taz has a total addiction to her work, which comes through like a shining light accompanied with the vast knowledge base she has makes the tour all the more exciting. We were very fortunate to find one of the local pods (many pictures enclosed) and some Sea Lions which were on their way south.
I would highly recommend these people they all truly love what they do.

THANK YOU for the last minute booking and for the trip we will remember!
Captain Simon you are the best! Besides the whales, sea lions, beautiful islands, It was the best water ride ever! Definitely more than we expected! What a great experience!

The tour was a bit disappointing as we didn’t spot any whales, only some seals. Before the tour started, we could overhear the guide on the phone talking about not knowing the area and how his whale tracking app wasn’t working which didn’t fill us with confidence. The guide did try really hard to find the whales but with no luck and he kept up his enthusiasm. One thing that’s a bit misleading is the website talks about the resident orcas; however, the guide informed us they’re not actually permitted to track them as they’re endangered. The tour company does offer you the opportunity to attend another tour as a ‘standby’ if you don’t see any whales; however, this isn’t very helpful for travellers who aren’t sticking around.

The short version of my story is that these guys went above and beyond to provide excellent customer service! I very much look forward to booking with you in the future. Outstanding service!