First Chance Whale Watch Roadschool Guide

First Chance Whale Watch

Kennebunk, ME

Website

Reciprocal: None

Full Price Admission Cost: $48 adults, $28 kids

WWWW Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Last summer, my family and I got the amazing opportunity to head out on a whale watching tour. The thing about these tours is, you never really know what you’re going to get. Fortunately, First Chance Whale Watch does offer guests a second tour if their first one proves unsuccessful. Therefore, we were confident we would see whales one way or another.

We arrived 15 minutes before the tour was scheduled to begin, but were the last ones to arrive and were being rushed along as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. This was odd to me, but perhaps we missed a memo. In any case, we headed for the boat as soon as our family was out of the truck, meaning there was no waiting involved for us.

Once we set out on the water, the weather became colder almost instantly. Luckily, we knew to expect this and packed jackets and hats. We switched into our warmer clothes and sat back to enjoy the ride..

The ride out to where the whales tend to congregate was long and fairly uneventful. We did get some cool views of the beaches and of several boats, but after those were out of sight, we were left looking out over empty water.

Of course, this dull bit of time was the perfect opportunity to explore the boat, so we did. The vessel is pretty small, so there wasn’t much to check out. However, there was a very small restroom at the back of the boat, which we had to use once or twice, as well as a little galley in the center. The galley served up several kinds of snack items, as well as some meals and even single-serve coffees. The prices were a bit expensive, but that’s to be expected.

Finally, after an hour or more of riding, we saw a whale—a fin whale to be exact—and it was enormous. We snapped some photos, then the captain followed after the creature. Soon enough we were seeing fin whales left and right, with some only feet away from our boat. This was an incredible and exhilarating experience that was well worth the long ride out on the water.

We continued to chase whales for quite some time until eventually, the captain announced that we had to head back, as he was running behind schedule. Sure enough, we arrived back at the dock a bit later than expected. However, that really didn’t matter to us after the awesome experience we had.

While we didn’t see a wide variety of whales on our trip, we saw a huge number of fin whales, and many were up close and personal. That said, some tours might see other types of whales, and some might even see other kinds of creatures as well. In any case, we were perfectly happy seeing what we saw, and would definitely go back again.

Quick Tips

• There is free parking available, but it’s far away. I recommend paying for the closer lot.
• It’s cold out on the water. Even if visiting in the summer, be sure to bring plenty of layers.
• Arrive early; it is expected.
• Bring food and drinks onboard. The tour is fairly long, and a warm beverage is nice to have.
• Have your camera ready. You never know when you might see a whale!

Books to Read

• Magic Tree House: Dolphins at Daybreak by Mary Pope Osborne
• National Geographic Readers: Great Migrations Whales by Laura Marsh
• Whales by Kay De Silva
• Moby Dick (Great Classics for Children) by Herman Melville
• The Magic School Bus Chapter Book: The Wild Whale Watch by Eva Moore
• The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole

Videos to Watch

• Whale Migration Marathon
• Wild Kratts: “Whale of a Squid”
• Octonauts Season 3, Episode 3: “Humpback Whales/Platypus” (also available on Netflix)
• Free Willy (also available on Amazon Prime Streaming)
• Blue Whales 101
• Two Beautiful Humpback Whales Dance
• Why Do Whales Sing?

Activities to Do

• Do this whale blubber project.
• Make a super cute origami whale.

Things to Discuss

• Would you like to be a whale?
• Which kind of whale is your favorite and why?
• If whales could talk, what do you think they’d say?

Other Area Attractions

Below are some of the other great attractions in this area. We try to keep things affordable, sticking to free and cheap attractions and/or museums and zoos on reciprocal lists. If an attraction is affiliated with a reciprocal program or offers free admission, I have noted that beside the attraction listing. To learn more about saving money using reciprocal programs, see this post.

• Gorgeous Beaches — Free
• Blowing Cave Park
• Brick Store Museum — NARM

Closest Places to Stay on a Budget

• Thousand Trails, RPI, Passport America: Moody Beach RV Campground — 9.2 mi
• Passport America: Wagon Wheel, A Sun RV Resort — 16.6 mi
• Passport America: Ne’re Beach Campground — 18.1 mi
• Passport America: Silver Springs Campground and Cottages — 15.8 mi
• RPI: Pinehirst RV Resort — 16.8 mi

Related Attractions in Other Areas

• The Whale Museum (Harbor, WA)— Groupons sometimes available
• Blue Ocean Whale Watching on the Monterey Bay (Monterey, CA)

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