My mum and I hit the road for 16 days to explore the beauty of California. We rented a car, took a camera with us and just drove. We had one destination set: San Francisco on New Year's Eve. How we would get there was not determined until a couple of days before our trip. We ended up driving up to San Francisco through the National Parks (Joshua Tree, Sequoia, King's Canyon) with a stop in-between in Modesto and on our way back to San Diego we drove through Morro Bay, Monterrey, Carmel by the sea, Big Sur, Santa Barbara and Malibu. It was relaxed and spontaneuous. We'd book our hotel the same day of our arrival and got real masters in browsing for the cheapest price on hotels. During our road trip on the highway #1 heading south we kept looking for a good place to take a boat tour to see life on the open sea. Somehow we ended up doing the whale watching tour back in San Diego and we could not have picked a better day. The air was warm, the skies lightly clouded but mostly clear and we got real lucky with whales. We saw four (!!!) grey whales out in the ocean and later added a giant school of dolphins to our list of sightings. The captain estimated around 700 white-sided dolphins. It was breathtaking and people on board made squeaky happy noises once they spotted the dolphins. It was a dream that lasted for 5 minutes but which I will surely remember for a very long time. I was holding the camera in my hands, but was overwhelmed by all the action around us so that I was only able to take a few pictures towards the end of our trip. I was just enjoying every second, every moment. At one point it felt like we were riding on a sea of dolphins, everywhere you looked there were dolphins jumping around and swimming closely to the surface, trying to keep up with our boat. My heart filled with joy and I was experiencing a giant adrenaline rush. To put it in one word: epic.
For anyone who is interested in participating on a whale watching tour: we choose San Diego Whale Watching Tour in Mission Beach. They have a Tuesdays special, a 2-for-1 offer and is the cheapest price on the San Diego market. And every tour is different they say. If you go during the winter time (December-May) you'll be seeing grey whales just as we did. They migrate from Alaska to Mexico to give birth and avoid the cold winter months in the north. Once the surface closes up from the icy winter temperature in the north, the whales need to look for places where they can come up to the surface easily to get their oxygen dosis. The crew on board will give you all the amazing facts around whales and sea life - you'll enjoy every second of the 4 hour-tour.
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| the top part of our boat |
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| our first sighting |
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| "batman birds" as our guide liked to call them. Their feathers are not waterproof so they have a constant need to stretch their wings and let them dry in the sun. |
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| hot spot |
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