Harbor Cruises & Whale Watch Tours, Boston

Taking a harbor cruise is a lovely way to spend about an hour in your day. You can board most of them in the area by the aquarium and if you take one of the trolley tours of the city a harbor cruise is usually included. The one I did took about 45 minutes and offered some great views of the Boston skyline. The commentary was average, but it was a beautiful day and everybody was out on the water. I really enjoyed the sailboats and other vessels that floated around us and some of my best pictures came from that trip. They offered small snacks and beverages, including beer, on the boat but only take cash.

We took our trip with the New England Aquarium whale watch boat. The day was foggy and we didnt expect to see anything. But when these people say you will see whales they mean it.

Despite the fog they located two humpback whales and we watched them play and observe us for over half an hour. Close up to the boat.

The mist just added to the magical atmosphere.

We couldn't travel all this way and not try this. Not being a lover of water, I didn't enjoy the boat trip out, although everyone else did, but the experience of seeing these huge creatures was worth it. The trip was a conservation led one and the commentary was brilliant. Seeing these things in theire natural habitat was incredible. They were almost playing with us, blowing whale breath at people hanging over the side. Quite a long trip, but the weather was amazing, and it's something I will never forget.

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This is a wonderful way to spend two hours and enjoy a lovely meal. I planned our work outing and chose the Odyssey because I can't think of a better thing to do on a hot summer's day than to vist Boston's waterfront and then get on a boat. And the price is great too. For approx. $58 a person you're served a 3 course lunch, have access to all boat decks, get a guided tour of the harbor and there's a band that plays the fun kind of "lounge" music that makes you wanna sit back and have a martini.... And you can do that too, if you want!

As you board you're seated in the dining room and served lunch. However, since we had also had breakfast at a waterfront restaurant, our group decided to spend the first hour on the decks (There are two.) to enjoy the sun and sights and then had our lunch at 1:00 instead.

Well, it was our first time and we didn't know what to expect. It was great! It takes more than an hour for the boat to reach the feeding grounds of the whales called 'Stellenwagenbank'. The behaviour of the whales make it easy to observe them. It often feels like they like to show off to the tourists. We saw one whale "breach" which means jumping out of the water and falling back in the water on its back. Your chance to see this is 1/20. Professional biologists accompany every tour to make observations for science and give excellent information. We opted for the fast-catamaran to save some time. It is more expensive but it goes really really fast! .You get knocked about a lot and you run all over the place to see the whales, not a good combination but only a few unlucky people got sick. And yes, me too (donuts for breakfast).

On one off my day's in Boston we make a Whale Watch trip, sailing abouth 2 hours from Boston with the depart from the New England Aquarium, we go on the New Catamaran Voyager III, the only vessel in Boston built specifically for whale watching.
We leave the beautufull skyline of Boston behind us.

Okay, I've never done a Codzilla cruise but I have taken cruises of the Boston harbor and since I snapped this great photo of the boat....well, here you go.

I did, however, look up the website and have posted it below. So, if this looks like something you'd like to do then this tip will bring you one step closer to finding out what it's about.

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We chartered the Majestic Princess for a sunset dinner cruise and murder mystery. It was so much fun!

We started out sailing away from the harbor and along the river where we passed the SS Constitution just as the sun began to set and the canon was fired. We tore ourselves away from the views of the city to pay attention to the clever troupe of actors who were involving the employees in their murder mystery. The several actors and their musician sang, chatted and introduced us all to their very weird story as the murder unfolded. As we ate the excellent buffet dinner they wandered from table to table, letting us all get to know them and ask them questions in our quest to solve the question of who committed the murder.

The 3 hour cruise flew by and nobody was ready when it was time to deboard. It was a great evening.

Take a harbor cruise! There are a number of cruises in the Boston Harbor, departing from Long Wharf, Rowe's Wharf and Boston's World Trade Center.


Mass Bay Lines departs from Rowes's Wharf and has 'A Seafaring Adventure Through Boston's Past.' As you cruise the harbor, actors perform skits and reenact true stories from Boston's past.
For more info, call the Boston History Collaborative at 617-542-8000.

Boston Harbor Cruises departs from Long Wharf and has various cruises in the harbor. You can: Cruise the Harbor Islands; See the USS Constitution; Whale watch at Stellwagen Bank; Cruise at sunset, or choose another themed cruise.
For more info, see their web site at http://www.bostonharborcruises.com/.

One of the classic 'Booze Cruises,' the Spirit of Boston cruises depart from Boston's World Trade Center in the Seaport District. The wait-staff will sing and dance while you dine & drink the night away! See http://www.spiritcruises.com/boston/location.asp for more info.

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Boston Harbor contains Boston Harbor Islands National Park, 34 islands with various historical sites, recreation areas, and natural preserves. Some of the most famous areas are the historic Boston Light on Little Brewster Island and Fort Warren on Georges Island.

The newest addition to the park is Spectacle Island which was used in the 1990s as a location to dump the excess earth from the construction of the Ted Williams Tunnel. Today Spectacle has a marina, restaurants, and other recreation.