Whale watching is one of the big attractions in Sydney as you only have to travel three miles out of harbour by boat to meet the whales. "Humpback Whales travel thousands of kilometres from early May to Late November, between their winter breeding ground to their summer feeding ground along the East Coast of Australia. In May Humpback Whales begin passing by Sydney on their Northern Migration coming from antarctic waters in the south. From July to September we have occasional sightings of Southern Right Whales. These whales are not seen as often as Humpbacks which we see on almost every cruise. Mid to late August to the beginning of December the whales are now all swimming south and we start seeing mothers with their newborn calves." (see more details whalewatchingsydney.com.au). We went a few times on the whale watching boat "Ocean Dreaming II" from Whale Watching Sydney that leaves from Circular Quay Wharf 6. The vessel has three levels of outside viewing decks.

There is a short (30 min) drive out of Sydney Harbour that provides stunning photo opportunities.

View back to Sydney Harbor

South Head

We were able to watch Humpback Whales near the boat in crystal clear water. Humpback Whale near water surface. HEI_4237 HEI_4287 HEI_4189 HEI_4155 HEI_4173

Sometimes, you are lucky and see a whale breaching.

Breaching Humpback Whale

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Sometimes, you can observe dolphins.

Dolphins Dolphins Dolphins

After 3 hours, the boat returns to Sydney Harbour.

Return to Circular Quay

We observed whales from our boat in June 2022:

More pictures here.