For a long time I hoped to see orcas in the wild. We once booked a sea kayaking trip in the San Juan Islands off Washington State, billed as one of the best places in the USA to spot them, and the whales simply did not turn up. Nobody’s fault, but it stayed with me.
So when we were planning our road trip from Perth down to the south west of Western Australia and I read about an orca hot spot off a small coastal town called Bremer Bay, I booked us on a tour before I had properly thought it through. Would we be lucky this time?
We were. Here is everything we learned about seeing the Bremer Bay orcas, including the bits nobody tells you before you get on the boat.
Orcas gather over the Bremer Canyon, around 24 nautical miles off Bremer Bay, and can be seen on full day boat expeditions from December through to April. Expect to pay around $399 per adult for roughly eight hours at sea, and expect it to be rougher than you think.
You will see them called killer whales too, and the two words mean the same animal. Orca is what the operators, the marine biologists on board and most of the people who go looking for them actually say, so that is what we have used here.
Bremer Bay is a coastal hamlet in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, sitting at the mouth of the Bremer River on the edge of the Fitzgerald River National Park.
It is a fair way from anywhere, which is worth knowing before you book:
From Albany: Around 2 hours east.
From Esperance: Around 4 hours west.
From Perth: Around 5 to 6 hours south east, so realistically an overnight stop rather than a day trip.
The Fitzgerald River National Park on its doorstep is a UNESCO recognised international biosphere, with wildflowers and walking trails. Beyond that and some very good beaches, there is not a great deal going on in Bremer Bay itself. People come for the orcas.
Naturaliste Charters now run daily departures from December through to April, weather and minimum numbers permitting. When we visited, the season was quoted as January to mid April, so the window has widened at the front end since our trip.
We went in the first week of April, which is towards the end of the reliable window, and I would still call it a good decision. At that point in the season there had been only four days all year when no orcas were seen at all.
The operators now quote a 96% sighting rate, with a guarantee that you either see orcas or come back another day for free. Terms apply, but it tells you how consistent the Bremer Canyon has become. The expedition on the day before ours saw nothing, and those passengers were invited back for a second try, so the guarantee is real rather than decorative.
If you are in the region in winter rather than summer, the whales change but do not disappear. Southern right whales arrive at Point Ann in the Fitzgerald River National Park from around July to calve, and stay into November. It is not unusual to see tens of whales at once during calving season.
Realistically, no. They gather over the Bremer Canyon, roughly 24 nautical miles offshore, where the continental shelf drops away and the deep water brings the food. That is an hour and a half of open ocean between you and them, so there is no headland or lookout in Bremer Bay that will do the job.
You can see whales from land elsewhere on this coast, just not these ones. Point Ann in the Fitzgerald River National Park has a whale lookout, and southern right whales come in close to calve there between roughly July and November. If seeing something from dry land matters more to you than seeing orcas specifically, that is the trip to plan.
If it is the orcas you want, you have to get on the boat.
There are only two companies running orca expeditions out of Bremer Bay, which tells you how new this is. Scientists have only known that something unusual happens over the Bremer Canyon for about a decade, and they still do not know where the orcas go when they leave.
We booked with Naturaliste Charters, a family owned and locally run operation, through GetYourGuide. The other operator is Whale Watch Western Australia, whose Bremer Canyon Orca Experience is also listed on GetYourGuide and runs a similar eight hour format with researchers on board.
We chose Naturaliste Charters for their eco credentials, and they lived up to them. They hold an Advanced Ecotourism Accreditation from Ecotourism Australia and put marine biologists on every expedition, conducting live research into orca behaviour and patterns rather than just narrating. The biologists came out on deck all day to talk to us, and they emailed a full write up of the day’s sightings afterwards, which was lovely to receive once we were home.
$399 per adult, $389 for seniors, $329 for children aged 10 to 17. Prices on GetYourGuide start lower depending on date and availability, so it is worth comparing before you commit.
Every Bremer Bay expedition is a full day, because the boat has a long way to go before the whales are even a possibility.
We were asked to be at Bremer Bay Boat Harbour for 7.45am, ready to leave at 8.30am. We were on the water for around eight hours in total and back at the harbour by about 4pm.
The boat: The Alison Maree is a 23 metre catamaran with three viewing decks, an air conditioned cabin and wheelchair accessible facilities. There is plenty of room to move between inside and outside, which matters more than you would think over eight hours.
The food: The crew brought round fresh fruit and good quality sandwiches and wraps at lunchtime and kept encouraging us to take more. There was a constant supply of water, soft drinks, tea, coffee and biscuits all day. Nobody goes hungry.
The science: An informative presentation about orcas ran on screens in the main cabin throughout the trip. The marine biologists were on hand to answer questions all day and were happy to be asked the daft ones as well as the sensible ones.
The photos: Professional photography is included, with high resolution images sent afterwards along with the daily blog. Useful, because your own phone photos of a dorsal fin 40 metres away will be disappointing.
This is the part I would want to know, so I am putting it in its own section.
The Bremer Canyon sits 24 nautical miles offshore, at the point where the continental shelf drops away. It takes around an hour and a half to get out there, and the crossing is exposed.
We had a fair bit of swell on the way out. The crew described the conditions that day as “relatively calm”, which was sobering. At least seven people on our boat were sick on that relatively calm crossing.
Stugeron: We all took it before boarding and nobody in our group was sick. Take it well before you get on the boat, not once you feel unwell.
Ginger biscuits: I brought some as a backup and they were a comfort even when not strictly needed.
The science: An informative presentation about orcas ran on screens in the main cabin throughout the trip. The marine biologists were on hand to answer questions all day and were happy to be asked the daft ones as well as the sensible ones.
Pulse point bands: Also packed just in case. Cheap insurance.
Fresh air over the cabin: Anyone feeling rough was advised to sit outside for the whole crossing rather than retreat indoors, and that seemed to help the people who took the advice.
The Naturaliste Charters crew were very good with those who felt unwell, which made a difference to the mood on board. The operators recommend sea sickness medication and suggest checking with your GP or pharmacist first, which is fair enough.
Something odd happens when you reach the canyon. The water suddenly flattens off, almost as though you have sailed into the eye of the storm. The boat is then allowed to drift while everyone scans the surface.
On the way out we were joined by a pod of common dolphins riding the bow and wake, which was magical and completely free of charge. For bird spotters, we picked up juvenile gannets and an albatross, and the crew explained that seabird activity often means an orca pod is close. We also passed a long nosed fur seal sunbathing on his back, apparently waving a flipper at us.
Then the fins started appearing.
The first was Nibbles, identified instantly by the crew from his very tall dorsal fin. Every orca here is known individually and named. They are identified by their eye patch, which differs left to right, their saddle patch, and the scarring on the dorsal fin, which comes from the teeth of other orcas assisting with a live birth. Calves are born dorsal fin first, and the family helps pull them out.
We also spotted Razor and Blade, a mother and daughter who stayed glued together all afternoon. Orcas live in a matriarchal society, so mum and grandma are in charge.
The biologists explained that the whales we were watching were in stealth mode, foraging for prey such as beaked whales, fish or squid. Different family pods will come together to hunt, which improves everyone’s chances, and the canyon is one of very few places in the world where that behaviour can be observed with any reliability. Seabird activity overhead is often the first sign that something is happening below.
We did not see a hunt ourselves, and most trips do not. If you go hoping for the dramatic footage that circulates online, adjust your expectations now. What you are far more likely to get is what we got – pods moving, diving, surfacing and occasionally playing around the boat, with the biologists talking you through what each behaviour means. That was more than enough.
Later they switched into what can only be described as playful mode, swimming belly up around and underneath the hull so we could see the white shine of their undersides through the water. You can tell when an orca is about to take a deep dive of 15 minutes or so, because it slaps its tail on the surface hard enough to leave a footprint behind, a flat circle of water sitting oddly still. Then you wait, and hope it resurfaces somewhere near the boat.
In total we counted between six and eight different orcas across the afternoon, each one named out loud by the skipper and the biologists as it appeared. It is remarkable how obsessive you become about spotting the next blow.
Even on the way home there was something to see. We passed Glasse Island and found Australian sea lions dozing on a rock just outside the harbour.
We spent our time on the water, so most of this is from research rather than experience, but it is worth knowing what else sits on the doorstep if you build in an extra day.
On the edge of town, with walking trails and some of the best wildflower displays in Western Australia in spring. Point Ann inside the park is the southern right whale calving spot mentioned above.
Quiet, white and largely empty. Short Beach, where we stayed, has direct access and no light pollution at all.
Torndirrup National Park, The Gap and the Natural Bridge, the National Anzac Centre and the historic whaling station. GetYourGuide sells entry tickets to the whaling station and the Anzac Centre if you want to skip the ticket queue.
Where you can meet kangaroos on the whitest sand in Australia. That one we can vouch for.
We booked an Airbnb on Short Beach, five minutes from the township. It was more boutique shack than house, with beach access and no light pollution, so the sky at night was ridiculous. It was perfect right up until my husband stood on a scorpion on the bedroom floor in the middle of the night. Ouch.
Two of our children stayed at the Bremer Bay Resort, which is more motel than hotel. The restaurant had roo kebabs on the specials board, which we did not order.
There are some good looking bed and breakfast options around Bremer Bay and campsites if you have a motorhome. Book early, because the town is small and the orca season fills it.
We went straight for dinner at the Bremer Bay Brewery, which was doing brisk business both inside and out on the patio. The best meal we had though was breakfast at The Telegraph on Bremer, an old telegraph station turned restaurant serving proper breakfast and brunch. Sitting out on the veranda with a coffee in the morning sun was a highlight in its own right.
In closing
Yes. On the evidence of our day, and of a 96% sighting rate across a season that now runs five months, it is one of the most reliable places in the world to see orcas in the wild.
It is not a cheap day out and it is not a comfortable one if the swell is up. But having such a close and sustained encounter with these animals is a memory I will keep for good, and it more than made up for the no-shows in the San Juan Islands. The long drive to get there was worth every hour.
If you are building a road trip from Perth down through the south west and along the coast towards Esperance, put Bremer Bay in it and give yourself two nights rather than one.
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