Whales and Sea Lions in Newport Harbor (Part 3 of 3 re: Newport Bay/Balboa Peninsula)

by Steve Reiss (Dalmdad Landscape Photography - www.dalmdad.com and https://www.facebook.com/Dalmdad.)

January, 2012: Whale watching is a popular California past-time; from Crescent City, in the far north, to San Diego, in the far south.  From organized whale hunting cruises on all kinds of boats heading out of various California harbors to families of people sitting on benches and roadsides, at places such as the Whale Watcher Cafe in Gorda, CA on the Big Sur coast, with binoculars or without.  Husbands and wives, as we have experienced first hand, typically have friendly fights, over some nachos, over whether or not one saw a whale blowing or diving.

It is our experience that seeing whales on whale cruises is a crap shoot.  Companies usually offer 3-4 tours a day; starting early in the morning.  

The chance of seeing a whale is the same, whether you go in the morning or the afternoon.  However, that does not mean the experiences are the same.

The early morning cruise will have less people.  This is good because it makes it easy to run from side-to-side of the boat depending on where the whales are (especially if you are using a HUGE lens).  Furthermore, the water may be calmer on morning tours.  The downsides to morning cruises are: colder temperatures and deep and damp fog.  In our experience with morning cruises, the fog tends to break just as the boat is steaming back into harbor.  

Going Down...In the Fog (approx. 9:39AM) - Monterey Bay

Back In Harbor With Clear Sky (approx 12:48PM) - Monterey Bay

While the crowds of the later cruise may turn you off, white caps, visible during later in the day, may also make it harder to see the whales.  However, it is frequently the case that all the different whale cruise boats are in constant contact with each other and identifying the most likely places to see a whale.


Whale watching is on the expensive side for a family activity ($30+ a person on the weekend) and it is printed on your ticket that there is no guarantee you will see a whale.  However, it is our experience that most of the reputable captains will give you a free trip at a later date if you don't see anything.  You will likely see dolphins no matter what.
 

Gray Whale Fluke (Newport)

 

Gray Whale Fluke (Newport)

Gray Whale Spouting (Newport)

View of Irvine from off Newport

Gray Whale Fluke Between Boats (Monterey)

Gray Whale Pectoral Fin (Monterey)

Dolphin (Monterey)

*****

You are also likely to see loads of sea lions.  You can tell these are sea lions and not seals because they can sit up and have ear flaps.  The flippers of a seal are not built for climbing, walking, or standing.  Seals must drag themselves out of the water and up the beach.

What You May See When Crossing Newport Bay By Ferry (Part 2 of 3 re: Newport Bay/Balboa Peninsula)

by Steve Reiss (Dalmdad Landscape Photography - www.dalmdad.com and https://www.facebook.com/Dalmdad.)


The Balboa Island Car Ferry is a short/800ft, about 5 minute trip between Balboa Island and Balboa Peninsula.  Though the trip is pretty short and supposedly saves you about 8 miles of driving, I just enjoy the few minutes.  Mainly its the breeze, sun, and water that makes the about 5 minutes and 2 bucks (driver/car) worth it.  Makes me kind of miss the long car ferry rides across Pamlico Sound and the Cape Fear River, back in North Carolina.

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Typical sites viewable from one of the three ferries in the fleet during the short ferry ride include:

Boats and More Boats

A Water Taxi

Kayakers

 

Stand-up Paddle-boarders

Interesting People

 

Rescue Boats

Whale Watching Cruise Heading Out

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West Jetty View Park - Tiny Park With a Huge View (Part 1 of 3 re: Newport Bay/Balboa Peninsula)

by Steve Reiss (Dalmdad Landscape Photography - www.dalmdad.com and https://www.facebook.com/Dalmdad.)

If you drive down Balboa Avenue, passed the Newport Pier, passed the Balboa Pier, and passed the Balboa Island Ferry launch, to its end of the Balboa Peninsula in Orange County you end up at a dead end in a residential area a few streets wide; the "q-tip" like east end of the Balboa Peninsula.  

East End of Balboa Avenue

At this is the Entrance Channel to Newport Bay and a tiny park; the West Jetty View Park.  Don't mind that the park does not show up on some maps (even fancy maps like the official USGS Topos).  On some maps, the park is represented by a dot.  The dot is a pretty reasonable representation since the park is tiny.  

Overall View Of Balboa/Newport Beach Area

Detailed View of Location of West Jetty View Park

Despite what the park's website may say, the park has no dedicated parking lot so if you are driving around trying to find a spot to impress someone, be aware you may not be able to stop for more than a moment "in a red zone".  The pier lots mentioned on the website are a long, long walk away.  There is no parking lot at all in the park cul-de-sac, and there are maybe three curb-side parking spots on the street.  Unfortunately, the spots are shared with the local residents, so a chance of finding an empty parking spot is very low.  You may have to drive a couple of blocks before finding a spot and then walk back to the park.

Chic 2296 E. Balboa Avenue - "The Last House on the Left"

The park is a pavement walkway curling past a few benches and curling through a patch of grass looking down on the harbor inlet. 

 

On the park pavement was this survey disk.  I have never seen one of these in the middle of a sidewalk, where it can easily be tripped over.

Does that Really Say "1897"?

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Have A Seat...

Why Thank You

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Where the park pavement ends, Balboa Beach begins, as does the breakwater (jetty, I guess).

Broken-rock jetties define the 800-1000 ft wide and 10-30 ft deep Entrance Channel.   

Jetty and Entrance to Newport Bay

Full length of Jetty

Beach Side of Jetty

 The beach was pretty empty, but someone decided to drive over the sand.

The Eye In The Sky

Tsunami Alarm

Small Isolated Beach on the Opposite (Corona Del Mar)
Side of the Channel

Rose from a Nearby Residential Garden