Whale Watching Season by Destination

Hawaii’s humpback whales are there from November through April, most from January to March. Cabo’s official season runs 15 December to 30 April, San Diego’s gray whales pass late December to mid-March, Monterey has gray whales December to May and humpbacks July to October, Costa Rica has two seasons, and Iceland’s best months are April to September.

How to use it

Pick where you are going: Maui, Oahu, Kauai or the Big Island, San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara or Monterey, Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Baja’s gray whale lagoons, Magdalena Bay or Loreto, Costa Rica’s Marino Ballena National Park, or Iceland. The answer is each whale’s months there and the peak, when the official page names one; the calendar shows them month by month. Pick the month you travel, or the day your trip starts, for that month’s answer and the other places with whales then. In Mexico the day is checked against the exact dates the government sets for each bay. Alaska’s whales are in Alaska Cruise by Month, port by port.

Where the months come from

Each month is an official page’s own words, quoted and linked under the answer: NOAA’s Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, the Channel Islands sanctuary and NOAA’s sanctuary calendar for Monterey Bay, the National Park Service for San Diego and Los Angeles, Mexico’s whale watching standard (NOM-131-SEMARNAT-2010) for where each whale gathers and SEMARNAT’s notice for each bay’s dates, Costa Rica’s park service (SINAC) for Marino Ballena, and Visit Iceland. A peak is shown only where the page names one. Mexico publishes each season’s dates in the autumn; until the 2026–27 notice is out the tool shows the 2025–26 dates.

Worked examples

• Maui in February. Maui in February: humpback whales, at their peak: the sanctuary’s story puts the peak between the months of January and March.
• Cabo on 10 December. Cabo San Lucas & San José del Cabo on 10 December: the humpback whale season opens 5 days later, on 15 December: book from the 15th.
• Monterey in August. Monterey in August: humpback and blue whales, not the gray whales, which pass in winter and spring.
• Costa Rica in September. Uvita (Marino Ballena National Park) in September: humpback whales: the whales from the south, July to November.
• Puerto Vallarta on 25 March. Puerto Vallarta & Punta Mita on 25 March: the humpback whale season closed 2 days before, on 23 March.
• Iceland in January. Iceland in January: outside the whale season Visit Iceland gives, though tours still run, less often.

Common mistakes

• Going to Hawaii for whales in summer. The humpbacks spend it feeding up north, off Alaska.
• Booking a Mexican whale tour before the season opens. Cabo’s starts on 15 December, Magdalena Bay’s and Loreto’s on 1 January.
• Expecting blue whales off Monterey in winter. They come July to October; winter is the gray whales’.
• Planning to swim with the whales in Mexico. The standard bans it while watching: Realizar actividades de pesca, buceo, natación, esquí acuático y volar en paracaídas.
• Getting close in Hawaii. In Hawaiʻi and Alaska, it is illegal to approach a humpback whale within 100 yards, by land or sea. A drone keeps 1,000 feet.
• Thinking Costa Rica has one season. Marino Ballena has humpbacks from the north December to April and from the south July to November.

Plan the trip

On Maui, read what to do in Maui in 3 days. In Baja, the unusual things to do in Cabo San Lucas and Cabo Pulmo’s top things to do. On the California coast, whether to stay in Santa Cruz or Monterey. Further south, the popular things to do in Costa Rica, and north, Iceland in summer vs. winter. Then check the weather with Best Time to Visit and the Hurricane Risk calculator, or find more wildlife with Where to See Manatees and Sea Turtle Watch.