Our trips are focused on doing everything within our ability to give our customers the best chance of seeing whales, in comfort and without feeling crowded.
To this end the following are standard whale watching inclusions with our trips:
- You will be aboard Crusader 1, a large (55 foot) open deck vessel, with a large bow area, mid deck with seating pods, table and railing seating, and a rear deck that is kept as open as possible to ensure everyone can move about easily. There are 2 deck toilets, multiple hand basins and automatic soap and sanitiser dispensers, as well as a basic fully licensed bar from which you can purchase a limited range of alcoholic drinks. (we cannot carry the full range out at sea unfortunately).
- SELF SERVE Water and soft drinks. To ensure you are able to remain properly hydrated, there is a large Water dispenser on the rear of the large deck table, with disposable cups. The water is fresh and heavily iced to ensure it is nice and cold the entire trip. In addition in one of the seating pods – which is an eski – there and chilled cans of soft drink which can be consumed by any passenger so desiring. All we ask in return is that you ensure you dispose of the cans in the bins marked as recycle on the deck.
- Snack Packs. The crew will hand out snack-packs which have a piece of fruit (Most commonly an Apple but we may if need be substitute this with a mandarine, Orange or pear) and a few pre packed light snacks. This is by no means a meal and purely mean as a light refreshment as we know it’s very common to get a bit hungry out on the water. The snack packs are supplied in a brown paper bag which we again ask you to dispose of in the bins marked as recycle.
- Binoculars. Although we do not recommend the use of binoculars to see the whales (you tend to miss more than you see really) for those that wish to use a pair we have enough oabord to assist you . All you need to do is askk the staff for a pair to use. Please return them to the same staff member when you are finished with them so that we can sanitise them and put them away again.
- A minimum of 2 crew. This will consist of a skipper and a deckhand. At time there may be a 2nd deckhand and or one or 2 whale watching research volunteers (from Humpback and Highrises). All this to ensure both your safety and to assist you with any questions you may have.
- The best possible weather. A strange inclusion you might think, but we are very focused on only heading out in conditions that are indeed safe and suitable to see Whales. Sure, forecasts do get things wrong, and we are the mercy of the BOM in that regard, but we do absolutely everything we can to avoid heading out if the weather is not suitable!