The Dana Point Festival of Whales features two weekends of whale watching during the annual migration of the California Gray Whale. The festival includes a parade, street fair, art and craft show, classic car show, sand sculpting, live music, and, or course, whale watching excursions. Events are centered around Dana Point Harbor.
The festival takes place in early March and draws over 100,000 whale watching enthusiasts to the California coast.
A variety of boats take visitors out on whale watching excursions. The festival website has information on excursion options. These outings can be booked in advance.
There are many activities scheduled for visitors to enjoy during the festival. A fun festival event is the Cardboard Classic and Dinghy Dash in which participants race in boats constructed of cardboard. As you might guess, some of the cardboard crafts sink before reaching the finish line.