Pacific Offshore Expeditions
Channel Islands​
The Killer Whale Quest
Thank you for your interest in coming aboard with us! It's necessary to be up-front about the nature of this spectacular opportunity before you proceed with making a reservation.
Please read below to understand what we are offering. Experiencing wild Orcas less than an hour from Los Angeles is amazing, but it's not for everyone.
Most Quests are long
On average, we are traveling 200 miles per day, and the trip is 10 or 11 hours long. Typically we do not locate Killer Whales until the early afternoon. Please bring patience and preparedness!
We have to stay focused
There's only a few hundred Killer Whales belonging to the California Transient Population, and they range between Alaska and San Diego. We can't get too distracted by watching other species of whales and dolphins, because Orcas are challenging to locate. This trip is ONLY to try and find Orcas, and a lot of times we just barely pull it off. If you want to do more traditional whale watching with Humpbacks and Dolphins, we have trips for that too.
It's not for kids, and it's not for some adults
Folks, we are riding 30 mph on a Navy Seal Zodiac for 8 to 12 hours. This is your opportunity to see what it's like to be a Special Forces Sailor for the day. You're not required to do 100 push ups... but you shouldn't come if you're going to get sea sick, you shouldn't come if you're frail, and you shouldn't come if you don't have some mental fortitude.
Be ready to embrace adventure and "trust the process"
Maybe you'll be lucky enough to see Orcas on your first try. Maybe it will take 3 or 4 tries. Maybe your trip will be cancelled due to weather. Maybe a Killer Whale will punt a dolphin 15 feet in the air leaving a mist of blood through the sky that you capture in slo mo. The most important thing to remember: this is not your average whale watching trip. You are not buying a ticket to see Orcas. That is SeaWorld. You are buying a ticket on a QUEST, which is defined as "a long or arduous search for something."
