We were fortunate that favourable conditions – calm waters and blue skies – gave us the best opportunities to see transient orcas in abundance,humpback whales,pacific dolphins and harbour seals
It… read more is not surprising that Mackay Whale Watching has one of the best reputations on Vancouver island as the reviews speak for themselves but Bill,company owner and skipper come naturalist is passionate still after 30 years and with a sense of humour to match.He was ably assisted by the equally passionate and knowledgable Marieka who provided us with delicious lentil soup midway and at the end tea and home made chocolate brownies and lemon drizzle cake
This tour lasted 6 hours well beyond stated 3-4hr tour and all for CAN $130 not like $500 8 hr grizzly bear tour with Adventure Quest Campbell River with almost zero guiding and a miserly chicken wrap and on top no grizzlies
We did Eagle Wing Tours Victoria and Prince of Whales Tours Telegraph Cove and this was by far the best tour even though Mackay had best viewing conditions
Make this your number one whale watching tour for Vancouver Islandas it is best feeding ground at head of Johston straits for these mammals

  Wonderful trip. We did see some orcas, and the crew had so many great stories to share about their life near Port McNeill. They are locals and it was so… read more interesting. The captain and host knew a lot about the various species. They went to great lengths to get us to the orcas. There is so much beauty here and they let us just soak it in while they headed back to McNeill. So worth the trip! …

  Seeing orca was one of our main objectives on a four-week trip through Canada. After a lot of research, we settled on the Johnstone Strait area as our best option… read more and Port McNeill n particular. That in turn led us to Bill Mackay and Mackay Whale Watching. What a day it turned out to be. We caught up with multiple orca on a slightly misty morning, with the absolute highlight being the hydrophone when Bill turned off the engines and there were no other boats around. Utterly unforgettable to hear the orca vocalising to each other. When we stopped for lunch, the boat was surrounded by orca. Later in the day, we caught with a pod of orca swimming against a strong tidal race. It was amazing to watch them all swimming and surfacing in balletic rhythm. As well as the orca, we also got to see a Minke Whale, Humpback Whales, Dalls Porpoises, Pacific White-Sided Dolphins, Steller Sea Lions and Bald Eagles. A simply outstanding day in every way.