Whale and Dolphin Sightings from Oceanside Harbor

Our crew logs what they see after each trip from Oceanside Harbor in North County San Diego, and they’ve done it since July 2015. Here’s this year’s count, the latest trips, and what more than 3,000 days on the water show about each month.

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Call 760-277-3737

We’re 30 minutes north of SeaWorld San Diego, off the 5 freeway. Our whale and dolphin cruises are two hours, narrated by a captain who is a certified naturalist, on one of our two catamarans.

We can’t promise a sighting on any trip, so this page shows what the crew has actually logged. For the full day-by-day record, open the sightings log.

2026 Whale and Dolphin Sightings So Far

What our crew has logged on trips from Oceanside Harbor since January 1, 2026: 265 days with trips, last updated November 10.

355 Humpback Whales 3 mom and calf
281 Fin Whales
148 Minke Whales
81 Gray Whales 2 mom and calf
60 Pilot Whales
32 Orcas
6 Blue Whales
2 Bryde’s Whales
2 Sperm Whales

Dolphins

257,370 Common Dolphins
3,220 Bottlenose Dolphins
1,185 Pacific White-Sided Dolphins
30 Risso’s Dolphins

We also saw

36 Mola Mola
12 Mako Sharks
6 Rays
4 Blue Sharks
2 Hammerhead Sharks
2 Swordfish
2 Boobies
1 Great White Shark
1 Sea Turtle
1 Marlin

Counts add up across trips, so an animal seen on two trips is counted twice. Dolphin numbers are the crew’s estimates.

Crowd on boat watching dolphins in the ocean under a cloudy sky. — Dolphins all around the boat, June 2026

Latest Whale Sightings

The most recent days from the crew’s log. It updates every hour.

Nov 10 17 humpback whales and 600 common dolphins
Nov 9 18 humpback whales and 1,000 common dolphins
Nov 8 22 humpback whales and 800 common dolphins
Nov 7 9 humpback whales and 400 common dolphins
Nov 6 3 humpback whales and 400 common dolphins
Nov 5 9 humpback whales and 60 pilot whales
Nov 4 16 humpback whales and 300 common dolphins
Nov 3 5 humpback whales
Nov 2 6 humpback whales
Nov 1 2 humpback whales

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Full sightings log

Best Months to See Whales off Oceanside

How often the crew logged each species, month by month, since July 2015.

Most days
Often
Sometimes
Rarely
Not logged

How often the crew logged each species in each month, July 2015 to November 2026 (3,268 days with trips).
Species	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Best months
Gray Whales	Most days	Most days	Most days	Often	Sometimes	Rarely	Not logged	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Sometimes	January to March
Blue Whales	Not logged	Not logged	Rarely	Rarely	Sometimes	Sometimes	Sometimes	Sometimes	Rarely	Rarely	Not logged	Not logged	June and July
Humpback Whales	Sometimes	Rarely	Sometimes	Sometimes	Sometimes	Sometimes	Sometimes	Sometimes	Sometimes	Sometimes	Often	Sometimes	November
Fin Whales	Sometimes	Sometimes	Sometimes	Often	Often	Sometimes	Sometimes	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	May
Minke Whales	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Sometimes	Sometimes	Sometimes	Sometimes	Sometimes	Sometimes	Rarely	Rarely	May, July and August
Orcas	Not logged	Not logged	Not logged	Not logged	Not logged	Not logged	Rarely	Not logged	Rarely	Rarely	Not logged	Rarely	Rarely logged
Common Dolphins	Most days	Most days	Most days	Most days	Most days	Most days	Most days	Most days	Most days	Most days	Most days	Most days	All year
Bottlenose Dolphins	Often	Often	Often	Often	Often	Often	Often	Often	Often	Sometimes	Often	Sometimes	March and May to September
Pacific White-Sided Dolphins	Often	Often	Often	Sometimes	Rarely	Not logged	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Sometimes	Sometimes	Often	December to February
Risso’s Dolphins	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely logged
Mola Mola	Rarely	Sometimes	Sometimes	Sometimes	Often	Often	Often	Sometimes	Sometimes	Rarely	Rarely	Rarely	May to July

Darker means the crew logged that species on more of the days they went out. Most days is half or more, often is one in five or more, sometimes is one in twenty or more.

Gray whales
December to April, most often in January and February, when the crew logged them on about 70% of days.

Blue whales
May to September, most often in June.

Humpback whales
All year, most often in November.

Fin whales
March to June, most often in May. Minke whales show up most from May to August.

Dolphins
Common dolphins are logged on most days all year. Pacific white-sided dolphins come in winter.

Orcas
Rare. The crew has logged them on only a handful of days since 2015, including 15 orcas on October 24, 2026.

To plan around the seasons, see whale watching season, month by month, with guides to December, January, February and March.

Whale Sightings by Year

Every whale the crew has logged, year by year.

Whales logged each year on our trips from Oceanside Harbor, added up across trips, starting July 1, 2015.
Year	Days with trips	Gray Whales	Blue Whales	Humpback Whales	Fin Whales	Minke Whales	Orcas
2026 so far	265	81	6	355	281	148	32
2025	308	70	4	197	94	65	0
2024	305	76	312	167	314	50	0
2023	286	86	55	70	226	30	21
2022	287	134	31	35	22	15	0
2021	281	126	4	48	40	33	0
2020	213	172	5	9	4	20	0
2019	306	175	22	33	22	19	5
2018	311	343	82	20	9	12	0
2017	303	299	9	39	3	20	16
2016	269	250	12	32	25	14	0
2015	134	23	71	38	0	16	15
All years	3,268	1,835	613	1,043	1,040	442	89

Getting Here

256 Harbor Drive South
Oceanside, CA 92054

Check in at our kiosk by the Lighthouse for your boarding pass. Please don’t go directly to the boat.

Call us 760-277-3737

Get directions

Sightings Questions

Where can I see whales near San Diego?

From Oceanside Harbor in North County San Diego, 30 minutes north of SeaWorld San Diego. Our two-hour whale and dolphin cruises leave from our kiosk by the Lighthouse, and if you’re coming from the south, read whale watching near San Diego.

When is the best time to see whales in San Diego?

It’s always whale watching season here. In our log, gray whales show up most from December to April, blue whales from May to September, fin whales in spring, and humpback whales all year with the most in November. The table above has every month.

Are there whales off Oceanside right now?

The latest sightings above come straight from the crew’s log and update every hour. We can’t guarantee a sighting on any trip, but the log shows what’s been around lately.

Do you see orcas?

Rarely. Our crew has logged orcas on only a handful of days since July 2015, including a pod of 15 on October 24, 2026. Read more about orcas off Oceanside.

How do you count the sightings?

After each trip the crew logs the species and how many they saw. The totals add up across trips, so an animal seen on two trips counts twice, and dolphin numbers are the crew’s estimates.

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