Santa Cruz Whale Watching

This past Sunday my Son-in-Law and I went out on a Rock Fishing trip. In town it was rainy and dreary. Out on the bay it was sunny, with blue skies. The water was a little choppy in the morning, but layed down later.

Fishing was very good. Started catching some nice rock fish right away. Captain wasn't happy with the size, so we made a move. Then the huge fish started coming onboard. Nice reds, yellowtail rock fish, widow rockfish and a lot of nice petrale sole.

The captain really put us in the right spots and the deck crew were tremendous at helping us and keeping us untangled and keeping us fishing.
A really great day. Thanks so much.

I was thinking I was just lucky but the whole boat limited out. Not only that but personal best for me and my friend.
Even if this was just a "right time at right place" I couldn't feel better about the captain's persistence to keep us on fish. I highly recommend the 7hr Santa Cruz deep water charter. The captain and crew were the best I've been around.

I have wanted to go on a fishing trip for years. We did the Stagnaro's Twilight fishing trip on 7/28. The deckhand, Jacob, practically did everything for us -- baited hooks, removed fish from hooks, and fileted all of the fish we caught. He is the nicest and most helpful person ever! The whole family got super seasick on the outing, but we were not prepared for the boat rocking and rolling. Next time I will try meds before the trip. I was lucky and caught a lingcod with our total of 25ish fish (4 of us). They said it was a slow fishing day, but we were thrilled beyond expectations on what we caught.

Went whale watching on 4/3/24 and it was such a fun experience! We set off at 10am and back about 1:30pm. We saw 3 humpback whales, dolphins, sea lions, and some jellyfish. Our crew made sure to get us a close to the dolphins and whales as possible! Very professional, experienced and knowledgeable. The Velocity boat felt safe but limited seating and you may find yourself standing often. Worth the money and would recommend if you want a memorable experience with friends and family.

Took my gf on a 7 hour rock cod bday fishing trip and Stagnaros did not disappoint! I've been on a few charters and you can definitely tell how experienced the crew was. The Captain put us on several spots with some nice fatties! The deckhands were friendly, quick and attentive. We're already looking for our next trip. Highly recommend them

Great experience. Saw some otters and seals and lots of birds but the star of the show were the humpbacks!
One baby humpback kept coming up to the boat and gave us lots of close shots. It probably spent more than half an hour around the boat and under it.
Kudos to the boat crew that was super knowledgeable and kept us aware of the side of the boat the whales were gonna be on!

On a cold and foggy early October morning we stepped foot on the velocity, a 75 foot whale watching boat based in Santa Cruz Harbor.

Our crew were three very capable women mariners. All where knowledgeable about the wildlife we were seeing as well as getting us to the whale area quickly (as the fog would allow).

The excellent experience started when I spoke with their representative by phone to make reservations a week earlier. She was helpful and gave me all the information I needed to get to both the the check-in office and the boat at the marina.

We saw 10 humpback whales, most from 100 yards or so. The Orka whales where much more willing to come close to our boat. I got 3-4 really good photos of several pods of Orkas.

We stayed out much longer than the itenery planned as we kept seeing more and more humpbacks. We saw several lunge feeding (breaching) and several that waved their tails at us.

I highly recommend this business to anyone who wants to both see and learn about the whales and other mammals of the Central California Coast.

Went for the whale watching trip on Monterey Bay on July 4th. The boat and the boat ride itself was fine and the all female crew was nice and knowledgeable. We saw a few humpbacks lunge feeding but the disappointing part was we were not any closer to the whales. All we did see were the tops of the whales in the distance. Also the speakers on the boat are useless. You can't understand a word of what is said and you can hear the crew explain stuff only if you stand close to them. The top deck is closed off for crew only.
I frankly do not understand the deceiving 5 star reviews but a lot of those seem to be for fishing trips.

We went on the Twilight Cod Fishing Trip on Monterey Bay and it was awesome! Spent a half-day Rockfish Fishing and had a wonderful time. Definitely will be back for Halibut and Tuna! Maybe crab.

One of the best experience I've had. Sydney and the whole crew were just amazing. Saw some really awesome ocean life and really enjoyed my experience.

They were so caring of everyone who started to get motion sickness. Like my friend, and they just made the whole experience feel great.

I would do it again in a heartbeat. Just minus the motion sickness and maybe not for a 3.5 hr tour.