A one in a life time experience to be up close and personal with Orcas and also the Humpback whales! There aren't that many places where you can get that experience but pretty sure it is way up high on the check list of many marine lovers.
Back in Nov 2019, we did just that one trip of a lifetime!
How?
Norway is the most popular place to have such an experience. Every year in the winter months, you get the Orcas and Humpback whales feeding on the herrings in the Norwegian fjords. These are the best months to have a close encounter with them, plus the added benefit of the Northern Lights.
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| Northern Lights on board Malmo |
2 ways to go about doing this - join a liveaboard (LOB) where you spend 5-7 days cruising the fjords or do day trips hoping you get lucky with them. Pros and cons for both methods - really depends on what kind of experience you're looking for!
LOB vs Day trip
Higher chance of getting a really good encounter with both Orcas and Humpback whales as you have more days to spare. Even better chance of finding bait balls! Which we did on one exceptional day! You have more freedom to explore more remote areas and having them all for yourself
It is a much more expensive trip as a LOB costs upwards of EUR3,400 per person for a 7day trip. You don't get anything shorter than a 7 day trip. A day trip probably costs about EUR100-150.
Less flexibility with a LOB as you are stuck with the same schedule everyday for the duration of the trip. So for those who have never done a LOB before, this may not be the best type to start as days are short and nights are long. If you're short on time, day trip would be a better option.
Who
Do your internet research. There are a few companies offering such trips - either locals from Norway or international boats. We have seen a few UK companies offering such trips, some private trips as well. We booked ours with a Dutch company Waterproof Expeditions, through Dom at Dive Advice. Of course you can book directly with Waterproof, we just happened to book ours with the Galapagos trip and Dom is such a great guy and really helpful. If you're looking to book some LOB, I would highly recommend Dom at Dive Advice.
Waterproof Expeditions have one of the better priced LOB for snorkeling with the Winter Whales.
What to pack
You'll be provided with all the gear and equipment but highly recommend you bring your own snorkel and mask. You get the dry suit with option to rent additional thermal underwear for the cold. The tip is do rent the thermal underwear unless you have your own or you're good with cold water. The water was about 4-6 Celsius and you will be out in the Zodiacs for few hours. Gloves and fins are provided.
For all you free divers out there, you cannot free dive with the dry suit. You cannot dive at all period. The dry suit is super buoyant and there aren't enough weights on the boat to keep you down. Bring your own freediving suit and fins if you want to free dive. Ian brought his own and he moved like a seal in the water while the rest of us flapped. And according to him, he was not cold at all!
Do note that the boat did not carry much weight (they aren't really equipped for it), so either bring extra weights or make sure you communicate to the company about weight requirements!
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| Geared up for action |
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| Waiting for Orcas |
On board the boat, it is pretty warm inside so you don't need much. A light pair of shoes or flip flops for walking about inside would be helpful. You'll need to pack clothes for walking out on deck but if you have rented the thermal from Waterproof, then you can wear those on deck waiting for watching the whales! It is super warm to withstand the harsh wind and cold temperatures. But of course, in case you get to dock on land, it is best to be prepared to walk in the cold.
Daily schedule
A typical day starts with breakfast at 8:00am and our guides would start look out at first light, around 9:00-ish. We usually don't get into the Zodiacs before 10:00am, sometimes even close to 11:00am. Then you'll spend the whole day on the zodiacs and when a good opportunity comes, you get in the water and try to have a good experience with the Orcas. At around 13:30 we head back to the boat as light turns to darkness.
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| IF you don't want to get into the water, you can do whale watching |
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| Amazing fjords |
First close encounter with Orca
Then it's a light lunch and free time until dinner at 19:00. Most days, there'll be lectures/presentations around 17:00 on Orcas, northern lights etc.
The boat usually docks somewhere for the night but there is no guarantee that you'll get on land on any of the nights as you can't book a spot on the docks. We only managed to get on land on 1 night and that was a much needed break away from the boat to have a walk and stock up on snacks!
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| Getting to touch and lick some Arctic ice |
Food
Talking about snacks - make sure you stock up on some munchies as you do have a lot of free time on the boat and on our boat there weren't really snacks provided. Lunch was a quick one - usually soup, or pasta, whilst dinner is a 2 course meal (starter + main or main + dessert). These were all delicious and especially dinner was professionally presented, but for most of us dinner portions were sometimes not enough. On the last night, we got a chef dinner with 3 courses! This was so very different from our Galapagos LOB where all meals were buffet style and snacks were abundance throughout the day!
Cabin fever?
You do get a lot of time stuck on the boat. Unlike other LOB in tropical locations where you dive 3-4 times a day and hardly have time to relax, you are out for 2-3 hours max a day and the rest of the long nights on the boat. It gets dark by 14:00 at that time of the year and the day gets shorter as the winter season deepens. So pretty much a lot of inactive time - bring your books, download your movies/shows to kill time. Our cabin is pretty compact (no space to do any sort of activity) and the boat doesn't have much to offer except the deck - you wouldn't want to spend much time out there in the dark. We also had a bunk bed cabin - no option for double beds with our boat Malmo.
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| Our mini cabin |
There are other boat options out there too - with Waterproof they also have Freya which has a sauna and better cabins. I saw that they have another boat M/S Polar which seems to also run for Winter whales and that boat looked like it has more space to do other stuff indoors. Of course different boats have different rates and run on different dates. Have a look, or shop around different providers. We had a last minute offer on a private catamaran which looked pretty luxurious.
Of course, you get the option to do a Polar plunge on one of the nights! Some of us do - obviously Ian took up the challenge TWICE! And I didn't...
Worth it?
It started slow - day 1 was not too much action and we were with too many other boats but most people had some good close experience. Of course with nature, it is always a hit and miss, you can never predict what will happen. From many other people's experience, it pays to stay in the water away from other people and wait patiently for the Orcas to come closer to you. And of course, if you're in a free diving suit, you have a better chance to get closer and faster to them as you're less restricted by the dry suit.
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| Mum & baby orcas |
We hit jackpot on the 2nd to last day - with 4 bait balls in a day! That day made it all worthwhile! The exhausting swim in dry suit to get to the bait ball and be surrounded by too many to count Orcas and Humpbacks - all so close to you. We were damn lucky and so grateful for it.
My Close encounter with Humpback
So Hell yeah! It is such an awesome experience! Even if you hadn't had a bait ball experience, to be able to swim so close to them by itself is already very impressive and not something that can happen on a normal dive. But I would caution on not having too high an expectation. A few people on our boat were on their 2nd trip as they didn't get to swim with any Orcas at all during the 1st. Whilst a Japanese diver was on his 2nd because he had too much fun the 1st time!
Also special thanks to our great guides - Birgitta and Szymon
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