Deception Pass Tours

Avoid this tour in stormy weather! Deception Pass tours should be cancelled in stormy weather when weather conditions are stormy and possibly unsafe but they are not… and they do not offer refunds for cancellations due to weather. The waves we encountered past the bridge were very large and tossed the boat around quite a bit which was very unsettling, it did not feel safe. We brought a child with us and she was terrified and got knocked around– we requested a life jacket for her — she was not automatically offered a life jacket upon boarding which should be required for children under 12 years old. The crew is very nice and tried to make us comfortable, offering rain parkas for the pouring rain, etc. because we were all soaked, but the tour should have been cancelled and we should have been offered refunds. I’m sure the tour is beautiful and enjoyable on a calm day but avoid booking ahead until you know the weather forecast — we made a BIG mistake booking ahead. Think twice before bringing small children on this boat, if you do, be sure to pick a calm day and request a life jacket upon boarding!

The tour was an excellent experience and the staff were all very courteous and helping. Mostly importantly had breath taking views of the scenery around the deception pass.
Definitely recommend.

This was my first time doing a gray whale tour and my first time doing a tour in a smaller boat. Was very pleased with the outcome on both counts. We saw whales and the boat was comfortable. The crew members were very friendly and struck the right balance of talking about the whales and being quiet so we could enjoy the whales. Had really great luck with seeing the whales along with sea lions and seals. I intend to try one of their orca tours as well!

We hired a tour boat for a special event during our wedding. Beautiful, educational, relaxing. Everyone had a great time! A wonderful experience especially for all of our out of town guests. Well worth it!

We were on the 8÷28÷15 10AM Whale Watch Tour with 29 other people. Our experience from the moment we were greeted at their counter was 100% great. The tour lated just shy of 3 hours and we saw humpback whales and other marine life. Brett, the owner/​captain, was definitely out to please his customers this day as he traveled close to Victoria, BC so that we could spend time with a pod of Orcas. The trip, though far, was quite comfortable and definitely worth the effort. The show the Orcas put on was amazing! This is a small business operation with a big heart. The entire staff’s enthusiasm for their work is contagious and I couldn’t recommend either the one hour or the whale watch tour any higher. Thanks for an amazing day out in the Salish Sea.

We paid $ 78.00 for one adult/​one child PLUS the harbor parking fee of $ 10.00 making this an $ 88.00 affair for a one-​hour tour which failed to impress me given the great reviews on Unilocal and Tripadvisor.
I suppose this boat tour will be a grand experience for land-​locked people who live in the Midwest and don’t get much exposure time on the ocean or water, but for someone like myself who hails from an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and regularly goes swimming and snorkeling, this was not worth the money.
The tour boasts that you will see seals, eagles and porpoises and yes, we did see them, but they were TEENY TINY and in the far distance! The seals against the rock were only recognized because they MOVED. The eagle’s nest in the tree was only evident because the baby flapped in the nest and you could see the silhouette of its wings. And — Oh Look! A porpoise head dotting the distance! It was funny to hear the excited uproar of the people shouting about small TINY THINGS, I suspect due to the cuing of the tour boat operators. Of interest was a teeny tiny hole in the mountain where they housed trouble-​makers in the early 1900’s and that was the only entertaining thing on the whole ride.
The tour boat operators were very very nice and their speech was canned, as to be expected, doing this day in and day out every hour, every day. They take pictures of you under the Deception Pass Bridge but our photo was lopsided and my son’s face was cut off at the chin and I didn’t want to pay $ 10 (or was it $ 20?) for that. It said tips are appreciated and I thought they deserved one, but this was already overpriced!
The office and the boat launch area are several miles apart on one end of the Deception Pass Bridge to the other. Back at the office you can buy one of their colossal ice cream cones for $ 8 but the ice cream was soft and melted even before they scooped it onto the waffle cone. The gal working the ice cream register was irritated at a whole lot of people, including myself: «yes, I HEARD YOU!» Oh wow. I felt like telling her, «hey CHILL OUT» why don’t you stick your head in that ice creamery machine of yours and cool the hell out.
Free souvenirs turned out to be a choice of two post cards to lure you back to the office and buy their overpriced soft cones.

Great tour! The tour guide and boat driver (captain?) made sure to stop every opportunity they had to show us something. They talked about historical aspect of Whidbey Island as well as any current events or activities in the area. Did not watch any orcas but was able to spot some sea lions, dall porpoise and bald eagles.
Definitely recommend!

Great time. I’d recommend this tour for locals as well as visitors

We did the hour long tour and everyone enjoyed it. Also, the staff was very accommodating and helpful.

Great tour! Lots of good narration with fun people. We even saw a pod of Orcas!!!

We tried this and liked it very much. The captain and guide were exceptionally nice.
We will do this again and bring friends.
The only negative thing I can say is getting to the dock was okay, but first timers need more guidance as far as where it’s legal to park.
Deception PassTours may not be able to do this but, if they had a little store with their ice cream around the dock area, they could make more money.
We didn’t see any whales, but saw some seals, but it was a beautiful and fun trip.

We lucked out with a beautiful day. They warned us to dress in layers just in case and that was great advice because even though it was in the 70’s, I did end up needing my sweatshirt and was already wearing jeans. When the boat gets going fast, it gets pretty cold. There are no bad seats on the boat. When it’s going slow, you get to walk around and take pictures. When the boat is going fast, everyone has to stay in their seats. Even, then, there really isn’t a bad seat. The boat seats about 30 people. Unfortunately we didn’t see any whales but we did get to see some porpoises and seals. The guides were great and still made the tour very entertaining. We learned a lot of history about Deception Pass and the building of the bridge. I really want to see some whales so I will definitely be going back!

They called us to ask if we’d move our tour time so they could do some boat maintenance. That wasn’t a problem. When we checked in, they hooked us up with some of their ice cream on the house. The tour itself was really great. The captain and tour guide were very friendly and funny and we learned a lot of things about the area that we never knew. At the end of the tour, they offer your a photo that they take of you. Ours wasn’t a very good photo and so we didn’t want to pay $ 20 for it. But, since we were the folks who came early, they just gave it to us. So, all in all, they made us happy and we had a great time. I would recommend this tour.

I loved the tour and had a great day in the area! I was amazed how wild the park was and how much wildlife we saw. The tour was beautiful and the jet boat allowed us to see much more than just the pass itself. Worth every penny!

I’m basing this review on my experience yesterday. Some of the things were out of the tour company’s control (weather, lack of whales) but I feel like their website contributed to my false impression so I’m sticking with my one star review. Plus, I was just miserable on this tour. Miserable!
Let’s start with this statement off the website «Cruiser Suits rated for extreme negative temperatures will keep passengers toasty warm for the duration of the tour. And, a special cover will be installed for any rainy day weather. Otherwise, the Island Whaler offers a 360 degree view of the Olympics and San Juan Islands.»
OK, I have to say I was very thankful for the cruiser suit. Without it I would have been a Susansicle. But I was no where close to «toasty warm» in it. It was in the 50s when we pulled out and rainy and foggy. No special cover was installed to protect us from the rain/​fog. And that 360 degree view is exactly that, a 360 degree view because there is no covered area on the boat for the passengers at all, it is a completely open deck with lawn chairs bolted down. On a warm sunshiny day I can see where this openness and panoramic view would be pleasant. Yesterday it was completely miserable. I spent most of the trip huddled down below the sides trying to avoid the wind. My husband rode with a jacket over his face, hood in the front, covering all his skin. Not much sightseeing that way!
Here’s another statement from the website «The Island Whaler has been uniquely designed to deflect the majority of cruising wind off of passengers. We also have a heated compartment on the boat for extra warmth.» I’m not a boat builder so I can’t attest to the accuracy of the first statement about deflecting the cruising wind from the passengers but the boat is fast, that much is true. With speed comes wind. Again, if it had been a nice day it probably wouldn’t have been an issue but the wind cut right through my cruiser suit (hence all the huddling). And when we got to the boat my husband and I were looking all around it. We had read about this «heated compartment» and it was one of the aspects that sold us on this tour. We didn’t see any heated compartment. There was a small cabin for the captain with big signs that said «Crew Only». And there was a porta potty. But no «heated compartment». Until the big revelation on the way back in, our tour guide made an announcement. She said the captain had turned the heat on in the portapotty and we could use that to get warmed up if we didn’t have claustrophobia. The PORTAPOTTY is the HEATED COMPARTMENT? No, thank you, I guess I will just stay cold. I was really bitter over this issue, I had visions of a «heated compartment» with hot coffee and maybe donuts or snacks. Nope, no coffee, no snacks. If you want any kind of beverage be sure and bring it with you. Oh wait, we did get a snack. At the end of the tour they passed around a bucket of RedVines candy and you got to pick one out of the same bucket everyone else had already had their hands in.
On our trip we saw a couple of porpoise, one or two Minke whales, some seals and a bald eagle. Our boat captain was in constant contact with other tour boats in the area, they all share information about where the whales are. At the end of the tour I asked our tour guide if there had been any Orcas in our area during the trip. She said no, it would have been a 4 or 5 hour ride to get to where the Orcas were. Now I know there were possibilities of other Orcas popping up in the areas we were in but in the interest of full disclosure I wish I had known from the beginning we weren’t likely to see any.
On the ride back in to the harbor almost everyone on the boat was hunkered, heads down. When the bridge came in sight I heard the woman behind me say «Thank God it’s almost over» and I heartily agreed.
I bought an Amazon local coupon for this tour. I am very glad I didn’t pay full price. I should have read the website more fully and investigated more before I committed to this tour.

I have driven over that bridge so many times I thought it was time to go under it. I was surprised by the location of the check in, but had no trouble finding the boat dock. We got there early and were able to get a walk in before our boat left. We were the last ones on the boat but did not mind be in the rear of the boat since it is an open boat and you can see everything. Brett and Annalise were wonderfully friendly and I enjoyed seeing lots of eagles, seals and even some porpoise. I look forward to doing it again someday.

They make you check in MILES away from where you get on the boat, and pay an additional sales tax even if you have a groupon. The directions I was given on how to drive to the dock and where to go were very vague. I was told there would be an attendant there to tell me where to park in special stalls for tours and there wasn’t. Not only could I not find a parking spot, but I wasn’t even sure if I was in the correct place. They whole way the back and forth is set up I think should be different for a business that takes a lot of tourists. Anyway, After someone pulled out, I ran to the meter (I was lucky enough to spot it in my driving back and forth for 10 minutes) to pay the $ 10 parking fee, and barely made it back to my car before I got written a ticket.
The actual tour was pretty bland, but it was nice to be on the water. The red headed employee was very friendly and seemed to enjoy her job. They take a photo of you in front of the bridge, but charge $ 20 for a poorly printed copy, so I declined. At the end of the tour, you can stick your hand into the same RedVines bucket as everyone else, and drive 10 minutes back to the shop to get a free post card. I declined that as well.
All in all, if I had payed full price rather than a $ 17 groupon, I’d be upset. I would recommend spending that and the parking charge on renting a boat and going out yourself. If you do take the tour, leave very early and allow a LOT of time to find things, make u-​turns, park, and wait in line to pay sales tax.

Took the one hour tour today. The owner of the company is the captain and he and his assistant were very nice. We left at the 4pm launch time, and saw some seals, bald eagles, got some interesting history and info about the region. It was beautiful day and a great tour. We got back and they had heard an Orca Pod was seen, so they offered to let us stay on board for the next tour for free. What a treat. We didn’t get to see the Orca Pod, but just the fact they let us come along again for another trip was a very great gesture. Loved the time spent.

My boyfriend and I had a great time on the tour. We sat right at the front, and it wasn’t too windy or cold. It was nice having the shield to lean up against when taking pictures, too.
We saw harbor seals in and out of the water, bald eagles, porpoises, blue cranes, and lots of other birds. I forgot to bring binoculars, which was unfortunate since most of the animals were pretty far away. It was usually a «take a picture and hope you can see it in the photo later» kind of situation.
The crew was friendly, and the script was interesting and informative. You get licorice on the boat, and a free souvenir at the store. You also have the option to purchase two copies of a photo taken of your group at the bridge. It comes with a plastic stand and costs $ 20, which is a little steep.
I’d heard good things about the ice cream cones, and I wanted to try one. The «maui wowie» flavor looked interesting, so that’s what I got. It turned out to be sherbet rather than ice cream, which was really disappointing, especially since I wound up with a ton of it. I realized later I should’ve gotten a combination of a few flavors, but that’s pretty much my fault. The waffle cone itself was fresh, crunchy, and delicious.
I don’t know that I’ll ever drive two hours to do it again, but it’s a fun trip to take at least once.

We were having a picnic at Deception Pass State Park, at the water’s edge, enjoying a beautiful late afternoon, and the sounds of the sea, when along came this very nice young man and asked if we wanted to take a ride on this catamaran-​style speed boat along the pass. We politely declined, telling him that it wasn’t possible because we would never leave our dogs in the car and we had no one they could stay with. Then, lo and behold, he said the magic words, «It’s okay… the dogs can come.»
What? We get to ride on a cool boat AND the dogs can come! That did it, we were in.
We loaded onto the boat with the other passengers. Being so late in the afternoon (the Sun would soon be setting) the boat was not full of people, so the dogs were able to sit on the seat between us. They did very well. And they weren’t the only dogs on the boat.
The boat tours around, and stops so you can see different things. And, if you are lucky, and we were, you can see porpoises.
The crew was very nice, and informative. And, we all enjoyed the unplanned excursion. The only thing I would do different is to bring a jacket, because even in the summer, this area gets cold, especially when you are travelling in a very fast open boat.
But my bottom line is that any boat that lets us take our dogs on the tour gets 5 stars from me. That’s all.