Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching

Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching Family-owned & operated since 1993. Premium Whale Watching in WA's South West. Passionate local experts delivering unforgettable marine wildlife experiences.
(286)

Over 700+ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Star TripAdvisor reviews & 2019 Hall of Fame Tripadvisor Winner! Naturaliste Charters are the Pioneers of Whale Watching in the South West of Western Australia and are also the Proud founders of Bremer Canyon Killer Whale Expeditions, developed in 2014 we were the first tourism operator in Bremer Bay to provide Killer Whale Expeditions. Whale Watching Eco & Sunset Tours depart

daily
Augusta (May - August), Dunsborough & Busselton (September - December). Bremer Canyon Killer Whale Expeditions depart daily
Bremer Bay (January - April).

Morning Tour 06.09.2026You can’t beat ending the week with a day like this!! 🐳☀️🐋💥🐬Our first sighting were some very dar...
06/09/2026

Morning Tour 06.09.2026

You can’t beat ending the week with a day like this!! 🐳☀️🐋💥🐬

Our first sighting were some very dark, paddle-like pectoral fins poking above the surface. A Southern Right Whale!!!!! 🐳

And it wasn’t alone! A pod of our residential Bottlenose dolphins were keeping it company, just as they were another Southern Right whale in the area a couple of days ago! The whale was very relaxed, rolling around in circles on the surface, the whole pod of dolphins surrounding it.

With use of the callosities on the whales head, we can confirm that it is not the same individual we saw on the 3rd of September. So great to be seeing more of these whales in Geographe Bay 🤍🐳

Tall explosions of white water towards Eagle Bay caught our attentions, with two whales breaching and pectoral slapping, as another whale further to the right of them tail slapped continuously. As we approached, we were greeted by the pair tail slapping and pectoral slapping in unison! One brought its fluke high into the air as it dived deeper down, so we crossed our fingers that it would be preparing for a nice big breach 🤞🐋

Not only did we get a nice big breach, we got 5!!! The whale repeatedly launched its body into the air before then returning to its routine of pectoral slapping.

As we sat stationary just off of Meelup Beach, whales passing through would come to the pair to socialise for a moment, before continuing along their journey.

As we come into September, we’re starting to keep an eye out for our Blue whales as they begin to frequent Georgraphe Bay on their southern migration 💙🐋

Morning Tour 05.09.2026I think everyone was feeling a little uncertain was we boarded this morning. The nor-westerly win...
05/09/2026

Morning Tour 05.09.2026

I think everyone was feeling a little uncertain was we boarded this morning. The nor-westerly wind left the bay without the protection of the cape, and a rather large squall passed through just in time to completely soak everyone before getting onto the boat 🌧️🤣

But knowing the whales, we knew we would be in for a treat!!! Sitting all through the bay just in front of Dunsborough were 10-20 Humpback whales. Suddenly, we were surrounded!! On either side of the vessel, there were 4-6 Humpbacks socialising amongst each other. On our port side, tiny dorsalfins weaved between the humpies, our residential Bottlenose dolphins were joining in on the fun!! They rode the waves and zigzagged through the large pod before disappearing 🐋🐋🐬🐬

Energy radiated through the bay with breaches, tail slaps, peduncle throws and pectoral slaps seen every where you would look 💥

Two whales back towards the coast were tail slapping in unison for quite some time, so we ventured over to witness the show. One of the whales looked as if it’s had a previous run in with some Killer whales, the lengthy rake marks running down the peduncle with sections of its fluke seeming to be missing.

The pair were so incredibly social! Every time we attempted to move away, they would rush towards the boat and begin their tail slapping and pectoral slapping. The larger of the two then began breaching right beside the boat!!

You can even see in one of the images that it’s eye was open was it breached, getting a good look at everyone on board above the surface 👁️🐋

Afternoon Tour 04.09.2026The Humpback highway was in full swing this afternoon, with a longggggg stretch of blows all al...
04/09/2026

Afternoon Tour 04.09.2026

The Humpback highway was in full swing this afternoon, with a longggggg stretch of blows all along the 30 metre depth contour of Geographe Bay 🐋🛣️

We came across quite a few smaller Humpback whales as we left the moorings and cruised out into the bay. The group were very relaxed and surfaced regularly before going for a longer dive.

We continued into the deeper waters, moving towards big mist clouds followed by large flukes being displayed in the air as the whales vanished beneath the surface. We bounced from group to group as the whales, even though plenty, showcased their incredible breath hold abilities 🫢

Much to our delight, we had about six Humpback whales surface to our 3 o’clock!! 🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋

The group logged on the surface for a short while, taking a couple breaths as they slowly changed their heading towards the boat. Three of the six then appeared just metres off of the bow!! Surfacing in unison as their loud exhales squealed over the wind. The rest of the group surfaced further over to our 9 o’clock, passing directly under the boat and continuing their journey toward the cape.

We got some beautiful looks at their large and unique tail flukes as they dived down below the surface, the picture perfect moment 📸

As we cruised along the coast line, more Humpback whales could be seen everywhere with some surfacing close by 🐋🤍

Morning Tour 04.09.2026As soon as we departed this morning we had Humpback whales tail slapping straight out into the ba...
04/09/2026

Morning Tour 04.09.2026

As soon as we departed this morning we had Humpback whales tail slapping straight out into the bay! As we neared, we got a few peduncle throws from the whales, launching its bottom half and fluke high into the air💥🐋

The action didn’t stop there, a few of our residential Bottlenose dolphins zoomed over to the boat, one individual bow riding until we slowed approaching the Humpback 🐬🏄

Another 500 metres behind, we had another Humpback whale join in on the tail slapping. The energy where we were died down a bit as the whales disappeared for longer breath holes so we cruised towards the Humpie that was still tail slapping about 10 minutes later!

Humpback whales in all directions just kept bursting from the surface as they lobbed their tail through the air!! This behaviour is one of the main dominance and protection manoeuvres these Humpback whales will use. Whether it’s males asserting their dominance over each other when chasing a female in the area, or mothers sending warnings to whales or predators to protect their calves, we tend to see the behaviour quite a bit when there are numerous groups in the area as they all send messages between one another.

We got a few surprise breaches around the bay too to perfectly tie to tour together!

How long can a Humpback whale hold it's breath?They can hold their breath for up to 45 minutes! 🤯🌊Despite their enormous...
04/09/2026

How long can a Humpback whale hold it's breath?

They can hold their breath for up to 45 minutes! 🤯🌊

Despite their enormous size, humpback whales can spend a long time underwater before returning to the surface for another breath. Lucky for us whale watchers, they tend to spend just minutes beneath the surface while they are travelling through the shallow bays of the Southwest.

When they do return to the surface, they breathe through their two blowholes before diving back beneath the waves.🐋 💨

How long can you hold your breath for?

Morning Tour 03.09.2026It’s hard to believe this all happened within one short tour 🐋🐋🐋🐳🐳🐳🐬🐬🐬We got a trifecta this morn...
03/09/2026

Morning Tour 03.09.2026

It’s hard to believe this all happened within one short tour 🐋🐋🐋🐳🐳🐳🐬🐬🐬

We got a trifecta this morning with a Southern Right whale playing alongside Bottlenose Dolphins, and two lots of mugging from two pairs of Humpback whales!!!!

Before we even had everyone on the boat this morning, customers were already spotting a blows from the beach. As we cruised on our, Captain Craig believed he had spotted a Southern Right whale, but we found instead a pair of small yearling Humpback whales. The two were rolling around on the surface, their super small pectoral fins waving around in the air. We travelled alongside them as they socialised, before the eventually changed direction and came straight to the boat!! We got a couple incredibly close looks as they surfaced just metres from the boat.

Eventually, they got back on route and continued towards Cape Naturaliste. We travelled across the bay towards busselton as large explosions of white water were bursting along the horizon line. Another pair of Humpback whales popped up on our port side, much bigger than the smaller whales we began the morning with. As we eagerly waited for them to resurface, they surprised us by appearing directly off of the bow, proceeding to mug us for close to 45 minutes!!

Coming to the end of the tour, we had to move from the whales and travel back to the moorings. Just when you think it’s over, we got a once in a lifetime experience watching an interaction between a lone Southern Right whale adult and one of our residential pods of Bottlenose Dolphins 🐬🐳

We found the Southern Right very relaxed and spending time logging on the surface. As the pod of Bottlenose dolphins approached, the whales energy picked up as the two species socialised. The dolphins zoomed all around the whale as it began pectoral slapping for around 10 minutes! The whale twisted and rolled on the surface, swirling its large body around to follow the dolphins as the pod constantly twirled around the Southern Right’s head.

A breathtaking day for everyone onboard 🤍

Afternoon Tour 02.09.2026Lucky for us, the rain cleared, the sun came out and the bay smoothed off for a ripper of an af...
02/09/2026

Afternoon Tour 02.09.2026

Lucky for us, the rain cleared, the sun came out and the bay smoothed off for a ripper of an afternoon! 🌀☀️🐋

Once we spotted our first blows from the Humpback whales, it just didn’t stop!! In all directions there were more and more whales appearing and it wasn’t long before they broke into long strings of tail and pectoral slapping 💥💥

At one point, there were 3 sets of whales in different directions all pectoral slapping. One smaller whale tail slapped for quite some time, as a much larger female sat on the surface next to it. She even joined the tail slapping for a short while, exposing her underside to allow us to confirm indeed it was a female!

Eventually, a few of the groups joined together and we had 6 whales just off of the bow!!! The group were chopping and changing directions as they socialised, possibly some dominance mating behaviours being displayed as they cut through the surface with force.

We were even treated to a few surprise breaches around the bay too 🥳

Morning Tour 02.09.2026 A very relaxed energy throughout the bay this morning, the Humpback whales displaying long down ...
02/09/2026

Morning Tour 02.09.2026

A very relaxed energy throughout the bay this morning, the Humpback whales displaying long down times of around 10 minutes in between their breaths on the surface.

We came across a few whales to begin with, their tail slapping sending white water into the air as we left the moorings. Once we neared, the energy lulled and we got a couple resurfaces from them before making our way into the 30 metre depth contour 🐋

The south-westerly winds brought an abundance of bird life into the bay, seeing lots of Flesh-footed shearwaters, Hutton’s shearwaters Soft-plumage petrels and a juvenile Shy albatross 🦅

We eventually came across a couple groups travelling quite fast through the area. And even got a surprise full body breach from one whale!! We pushed through more long down times, finally getting a good few surfacings right along side the boat.

Approaching the moorings, just when we thought it was over, we got a string of tail slaps and peduncle throws from one of four Humpback whales situated in the shallower waters!! 🐋🐋💥💥

02/09/2026

Sometimes the best moments don’t need a soundtrack. Just the sound of the water, the excitement on board, and that unforgettable feeling when a whale surfaces right in front of you. ✨🐋

Afternoon Tour 01.09.2026Absolute chaos all throughout the bay this afternoon!! The first Humpback whales we came across...
01/09/2026

Afternoon Tour 01.09.2026

Absolute chaos all throughout the bay this afternoon!!

The first Humpback whales we came across were putting on a long show of tail slaps and breaches on the distance, and lucky for us they continued for some time as we approached 🐋💥

In the surrounding area, we seemed to have between 8-10 Humpback whales socialising, the individuals constantly changing directions and travelling between group to group. We really didn’t know where to look!

Constant tail lobs, pectoral slaps and spontaneous breaches seemed to be happening in just about every direction! At one point, one whale burst from the water out of the blue, its entire body on display just a short distance from the bow!!! 🫪

One of the larger whales had some incredible battle scars all over its entire body, with deep scars along its spine, rake marks covering the edges of its fluke and missing its dorsal fin. This is very likely a Humpback whale that has experienced an attempted predation by Killer whales, and now its body lives to tell the tail! 🫍🫍🫍

Address

25 Dunn Bay Road
Dunsborough, WA
6281

Telephone

+61897505500

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category