We were at the Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey. It has the feel of a tourist trap, with nearly EVERYONE holding out a bowl ‘o chowder to sample. There were at least four boat companies selling tickets to go whale watching. Being that neither Eric nor I had 1) been on a real vacation in years 2) been to this place before and 3) ever been whalewatching, we went with the FIRST guy to sell us a ticket. We boarded the CheckMate and after a 45 minute delay, I was having buyers remorse. But it was too late and we shoved off. However, the skipper was nice enough, and actually turned out to be very interested in making sure we got our whales. It was I who spotted the blow spouts of the whales first. About a quarter mile ahead was one of the other boats that went out after us, and they were RIGHT NEXT TO THEM. We chugged closer. The whales were feeding and went around this area in a sort of spiral, I think. We chased after them for a while – they being whales y’know. It’s not like Disneyland where they predictably show up where you want them. But after about an hour, this is as close as they came to check us out.