Winter whale watching

We've blogged about great places to check out the butterfly migration and the elephant seal pups, and now we can add whales to the mix. From December through April, some 15,000 gray whales head south from Alaska to Mexico, where, being the smart mammals they are, they give birth in those warm waters and then start the long journey back north. Then, in the summer, blue whales and humpbacks cruise the waters. While various tour operators provide the chance to get up close on their boats if, like me, memories of a rough ocean voyage have permanently dampened your enthusiasm for whale watching tours and the like, these enormous creatures can also often be spotted from shore.

A couple of great local vantage points:

Point Reyes Lighthouse at the western edge of Point Reyes National Seashore, north of San Francisco. This is a great place to watch the gray whales migrating south in December-January and then heading north again in March. (With or without whales, the Lighthouse and its Visitor Center, located at what is considered the 2nd most foggy spot in North America, is worth a stop on its own. http://www.nps.gov/pore/historyculture/people_maritime_lighthouse.htm

Monterey: Here the whales come close enough to shore too see with a good set of binoculars. Or, Fisherman's Wharf is chock full of operators offering boat tours. December-March is the time for the gray whales, and July-September for the blues and humpbacks.

Santa Cruz: Like Monterey, tour boats can be booked, this time from the Municipal Wharf.

Half Moon Bay: Chose between binoculars at the (very nice) beach or various tour operators offering boat trips; depending on the year they boats may go out year round or just during the peak December to April time span.