Humpback Whale Watching, Eco-Tour, Grand Turk
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US$179.20
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2 travellers
Free Cancellation up to 24 hours in advance
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Maximize your chances of seeing humpback whales on this guided tour. In the company of a marine biologist, head out into the rich waters around Grand Turk in search of the majestic creatures. You also have the opportunity to spend time snorkeling with included equipment.
Highlights
- Maximize your chances of seeing humpback whales around Grand Turk
- Learn about whale behavior from your marine biologist guide
- Small-group tour (maximum 12): Ensures a personal experience
- Includes snacks, coffee, tea, and chilled water: No need to bring your own
What to Expect
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Columbus Landfall National Park, Grand Turk
Make everlasting memories and join an expertly guided, 3-hour eco-tour with The Humpback Dive Shack to meet the ocean's ultimate gentle giants: the majestic Humpback Whales. Learn interesting facts from your on-board marine biologist, listen to the whales' haunting songs, watch them play on the surface or even slip in the water and snorkel with them.
Duration: 3 hours
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Columbus Landfall National Park, Grand Turk
Make everlasting memories and join an expertly guided, 3-hour eco-tour with The Humpback Dive Shack to meet the ocean's ultimate gentle giants: the majestic Humpback Whales. Learn interesting facts from your on-board marine biologist, listen to the whales' haunting songs, watch them play on the surface or even slip in the water and snorkel with them.
Duration: 3 hours
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Important Information
Departure Point
Grand Turk Cruise Center, TKCA 1ZZ, Turks and Caicos Islands
Duration
3h
Return Details
Returns to original departure point
Inclusions
- Chilled water, tea, coffee
- Snacks
- Use of Snorkelling equipment
- Professional guides
- Port pickup and drop-off
- Pick-up and drop-off from arranged meeting points
- Informational briefings
- Listening to live whale song
Exclusions
- Gratuities (recommended and greatly appreciated)
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Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not recommended for travellers with back problems
- Not recommended for pregnant travellers
- Please state name of cruise ship or name of accommodation on island at time of booking
- Guests flying in from Providenciales for same day excursion must contact tour operator first to coordinate flight times with tour departure and return times
- All customers please advise at time of booking of clothes and shoe sizes for snorkel gear and if prescription mask is required.
- Following your booking, you will receive an email confirming details on departure time and location
- IMPORTANT: In rare cases it may be necessary to change the departure time of your tour or cancel it. You will be notified of any important changes via an email from the third-party provider you used for booking. Please make sure to check your inbox 24 hours prior to tour departure time to receive potential updates.
- Minimum age is 4 years - Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Participants must be able to exit water via boat ladder
- Weight limit 250 pounds due to boarding ladder specifications
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Possibility of rough seas and spray
- If prone or unsure, taking seasickness medication prior to tour departure is recommended
- Travellers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.
14Reviews
7Q&A
Reviews
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Popular mentions
We were on a Holland America ship stopping in Grand Turk and we decided to go whale watching. They run from January to mid April. On the ship, staff repeatedly said you won't see whales.........There are several tours for Whales and our Travel Agent booked this one. We got…
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Date of experience: April 2019
Response from humpbackdiveshack, Owner at Humpback Whale Watching, Eco-Tour, Grand Turk
Responded 21 Apr 2019
Thank you for your very positive review, it was a pleasure having you on board. It's great to see that you are not permitting your disability to hold you back and pushing the boundaries, we are very happy you got rewarded for your efforts with so many whales in the beautiful waters of Grand Turk. It was with some dismay we read about the cruise ship staff repeatedly telling you that you would not see whales, we are not sure why they would adopt such a negative stance with regard to the spectacular whale watching opportunities that exist here, perhaps they don't understand the experience. Anyway, we are sure glad you didn't listen and followed your own dreams. As you comment, the whales visit Grand Turk Island every year from the beginning of January and stay around Grand Turk to mid April or so and we have an extremely high success rate with regard to finding and interacting with them. So, for everyone else, if you are visiting Grand Turk in the Whale season and someone tells you that you won't see a whale, don't listen to them at all and send us a message, we'll bring you to the whales. We are a small, independent company that has no affiliation with the cruise lines, so you cannot book our tour on the cruise ship, just flick us an email to info@humpbackdiveshack.com and we'll pick you up right beside the ship for your Humpback Whale Watching adventure. One word of caution, whale watching is a wildlife experience and as such there are no guarantees as to the outcome of any given day. If you are visiting on a ship you will only have one day available and you are leaving it up to luck, sometimes with wildlife one day just might not be enough. If you only have one day available the weather could be too bad to go and you miss out completely. If it is your absolute dream to see or swim with a Humpback Whale the more prudent option is to fly down to Grand Turk, stay a few days and do multiple tours. This will greatly increase your chances of fulfilling your own expectations. We can help you to plan the adventure. We are happy you appreciated the dry storage area on the boat and the complimentary spray jackets we provide to our guests on those days that the sea is a bit bumpy. You comfort is important to us. We are also happy to appreciated our knowledge of the area, educational briefing about this amazing animal and the complimentary drinks and snack that we provide on the tour. The acoustic element of whale behavior is often overlooked, we love to drop the hydrophone and listen to whale song when we can, it is very haunting to listen to and often a highlight of the trip. Swim out from the crowd with info@humpbackdiveshack.com.
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My husband went with the group to search for whale sightings. They only saw a small breach a three times. They were unable to snorkel with them due to the large waves and how they were diving deep to sing. My husband still overall enjoyed it, but it was expensive to not see…
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Response from humpbackdiveshack, Owner at Humpback Whale Watching, Eco-Tour, Grand Turk
Responded 13 Apr 2019
Thanks you for your generally positive feedback regarding the experience of someone else who enjoyed our tour. Reviews like this are really valuable because they allow us the opportunity to respond and really highlight the realities of interacting with wild animals, and the harsh reality is that there are no guarantees as to the outcome of any given day. The whales are totally wild, free in the expanse of the ocean and some days they wish to play some days they do not. If you would like to go whale watching, and especially if you wish to swim with a whale, we recommend you book multiple days in case the animals do not meet with your personal expectations on the first trip out. This is not Sea World! Seeing whales, never mind swimming with them, can never be guaranteed. As you arrived on a cruise ship you had only one day to devote to the experience, that's your call. We personally travel to interact with wild animals in different places, when we do so we book an absolute minimum of three days because we understand that nature is not a circus, where animals are trained to do tricks for the guests. Even then, we sometimes do not get to see the creatures we desire to meet. Our last trip was with Whale Sharks in Mexico, we went for 10 days and booked three trips, the first trip was meh, the second trip was epic and the third trip was just ok, according to our expectations. It didn't matter, because we had one epic day. Two days were cancelled for weather, thankfully we had planned for this by staying extra days. You see, it's not about the wildlife, it's about you and how you approach the experience. It took the BBC several months to get a few seconds of footage of the rare Amur leopard. It could have taken them five minutes if they had just been lucky. We did not snorkel with the whales that day because the whales were breaching, when the whales are breaching it is too dangerous to swim with them. We don't imagine we would not have gotten four stars if your husband hadn't come home, please understand we have a responsibility for the safety of our clients and if our experience dictates that swimming with the whales is not appropriate then we will not attempt it, to do so would be negligent. It had little to do with the waves to be honest. This is another good point though, when we go to meet the whales we are in the open ocean, there are waves, there are swells, there is wind and it can be rough and wet. It is not a lake, we are taking a boat out into the North Atlantic ocean, so please prepare yourself for that reality, take your sea sick meds and dress appropriately. To be quite honest, there are days we go whale watching and don't see a whale at all, although these days are rare they are always a possibility and if you wish to interact with wildlife this is something you should accept from the very get go. If you can't handle this please do not bother booking the tour, enjoy a cold drink on the beach instead. To see even a single Humbpack Whale breach in the wild is a truly spectacular thing and your husband witnessed this three times. We are elated that he enjoyed it but would have to disagree that he didn't see much. He has probably seen more than many people ever will ever see in their lifetime as far as wild humpback whales go. If you really want to experience the Humpback Whales of Grand Turk we must reiterate that you should devote a couple of days to the experience, failing to do so limits your own chances of getting the most from the experience. If you book only one day or if you book off the cruise ship on a whim you are simply rolling a dice that has the realistic probability of 50% odds to satisfy what you personally and objectively consider to be successful day. One day is not a prudent way to experience any wild animal and if you want to do it that way then you better be ready to suck it up when it doesn't work out how you wanted. This experience is something you should plan for, come to Grand Turk, stay here and join us on the water for a few days with the whales, let us "blow" your mind, please don't penalize us for failing to satisfy your personal expectations on a single three hour tour. Finally, expense is also objective, if it is too expensive for you please don't waste your money on something that might not even happen because, no matter what happens with the whales on any given day, our costs to provide this service and the "opportunity" to meet a whale remain the same and you have to pay for this opportunity, that's just business. No queue, no wait, very small groups, swim out from the crowd with info@humpbackdiveshack.com. Thank you again for allowing us the opportunity to educate our prospective clients as to the realities of watching wild Humpback Whales from Grand Turk Island in the Turks and Caicos.
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My wife and I booked our cruise specifically to visit Grand Turk and upon booking immediately began our search for a whale watching tour. After extensive research Humpback Dive Shack came up in our search and we contacted them to ask some questions we had prior to the…
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My girlfriend and I came to the island for scuba diving and were recommended to book a trip for the whales that first day Bc the weather may turn the next day. We found a mother and baby humpback within 10 minutes of being on the water, and they let us snorkel with them three…
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Response from humpbackdiveshack, Owner at Humpback Whale Watching, Eco-Tour, Grand Turk
Responded 24 Apr 2019
Thank you for you very positive review of your Humpback Whale Interacting experience with us in Grand Turk. It was indeed quite an amazing day for all of us, it's not very often that we find the whales that quickly but it sure is nice when we do and especially nice when they are totally relaxed like you observed. It is always such a special privilege when a mother trusts us enough to effectively baby sit for her. This days stands out for us too, that was such an amazing, friendly, curious and cheeky little calf. Truly unforgettable moments with spectacular creatures. Thank you for dinner, it as nice to spend the time with you guys discussing the day and our oceans. Flick us an email if you ever make it back down to the Turks and Caicos. Swim out from the crowd with info@humpbackdiveshack.com.
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This was our third visit to Grand Turk via cruise ship and I was so excited to come across a review of whale watching so I checked it out. Sabine and Brian have been doing these for two years at this location so it was never offered before. We booked this as soon as I found it…
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Date of experience: March 2019
Key Details
- Columbus Landfall National Park
- Duration: 3h
- Mobile Ticket Accepted
- Free Cancellation up to 24 hours in advance
- Instant Confirmation
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