Molly Bawn Whale & Puffin Tours
Molly Bawn Whale & Puffin Tours
Molly Bawn Whale & Puffin Tours
4.5
Full view
About
Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Features animals
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingSimilar Experiences
Molly Bawn Whale & Puffin Tours
Booking unavailable on Tripadvisor
Want other options you can book now?
Show optionsContribute
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
4.5
50 reviews
Excellent
37
Very good
6
Average
4
Poor
2
Terrible
1
Lauren
2 contributions
Jul. 2019
We’ve been on the Molly Bawn boat tour 4 times. Our family loves the small boat and knowledgeable guide. In addition to seeing multiple breaching whales, we were even fortunate enough to see the white puffin! We always recommend this tour to all of our guests!
Written June 20, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Robert B
Toronto, Canada5 contributions
Aug. 2019
Incredibly close to all forms of wildlife in a fun filled tour of the coast and surrounding islands. Very comfortable and safe. We really enjoyed it.
Written September 4, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tina P
1 contribution
Jul. 2019 • Family
Loved this tour. We were lucky enough to see a lot of whales, the most I've ever seen, stopped counting at 30 whales visible at one time. The tour was smaller, and much more personal. I will definitely do this tour again next year.
Written September 2, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Daniel Johnston
27 contributions
Aug. 2019
We have taken the O’Brien tour out of Bay Bulls previously, so thought we’d try a smaller boat. This tour heads to the bottom of the Witless Bay eco-reserve so covers a different area than the Bay Bulls boats.
Whale-watching is always a crap shoot. Whales on the first tour does not equal whales later in the day. That said, we did see a couple of Minke whales at a medium distance, but Minkes just surface and dive; the humpbacks are the performers. Our guide was very knowledgeable, but without a sound system her words were often lost to the wind. If you went to the stern to look out, you heard none of the information.
Being a smaller boat meant getting in closer to the island for a good look around. Had more whales shown up it gave the potential of being closer to the action, but this did not happen for us. This tour was also cheaper than the Bay Bulls boats, so that may appeal to you. Also good if you are not big on crowds. But if you want to be where the party is, stick to the bigger tours. Overall, a nice day on the water, and for me that’s always a good time.
Whale-watching is always a crap shoot. Whales on the first tour does not equal whales later in the day. That said, we did see a couple of Minke whales at a medium distance, but Minkes just surface and dive; the humpbacks are the performers. Our guide was very knowledgeable, but without a sound system her words were often lost to the wind. If you went to the stern to look out, you heard none of the information.
Being a smaller boat meant getting in closer to the island for a good look around. Had more whales shown up it gave the potential of being closer to the action, but this did not happen for us. This tour was also cheaper than the Bay Bulls boats, so that may appeal to you. Also good if you are not big on crowds. But if you want to be where the party is, stick to the bigger tours. Overall, a nice day on the water, and for me that’s always a good time.
Written August 9, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
sarahxing
Salt Lake City, UT180 contributions
Aug. 2019
They should change their name. It should be “Puffin Tours”, with a tiny font as footnote below, “sometimes we see whales, for a few minutes”.
Let’s be honest, the vast majority of us pay good money to take the boat tour in order to see BIG animals, in particular, whales. Dolphins and seals may be consolation prizes as well, but I do not need to be within 1km of an island to see puffins in the sea (in fact you could do that on land, at Elliston, where puffins may be waggering and pulling grass within 5 meters of you.)
In fact, the staff at the Molly Bawn tour knows this too. For the daily update of their website, they put on whale pictures (instead of puffins).
On 8/2, we did see a minke whale, at a huge distance, for a few minutes. But the boat did not linger, within 5 minutes it drove away to the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve to “view the puffins”. Why? Because the tour is only 75 minutes long, they can NOT linger anywhere! (There are FOUR tours a day.)
Let’s be honest, the vast majority of us pay good money to take the boat tour in order to see BIG animals, in particular, whales. Dolphins and seals may be consolation prizes as well, but I do not need to be within 1km of an island to see puffins in the sea (in fact you could do that on land, at Elliston, where puffins may be waggering and pulling grass within 5 meters of you.)
In fact, the staff at the Molly Bawn tour knows this too. For the daily update of their website, they put on whale pictures (instead of puffins).
On 8/2, we did see a minke whale, at a huge distance, for a few minutes. But the boat did not linger, within 5 minutes it drove away to the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve to “view the puffins”. Why? Because the tour is only 75 minutes long, they can NOT linger anywhere! (There are FOUR tours a day.)
Written August 8, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
World traveler dad
172 contributions
Jul. 2019 • Couples
We booked this tour on our cruise stop at St. John’s and it did not disappoint! It is a small boat but we got to see several humpback whales and dolphins. Also got to see the puffin birds ! Nice day! Make sure to dress warm!
Written August 3, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Christy
12 contributions
Jul. 2019 • Couples
We saw a mother humpback whale with her calf. Beautiful! The islands with the Puffins &Gilles was so interesting plus our guide Jeannie was so knowledgeable & knew so much. Arden the whale sniffing dog was amazing🇨🇦 This trip was nice & small & highly recommended 🐳
Written August 3, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Minorista_Guava
Ottawa, Canada56 contributions
Jul. 2019 • Couples
We had such a good time! The boat was perfect!
Scenery mindblowing!
We saw dolphins, humpback whales and minke whales! Oh and a thousand million cute Puffins!
The guide on board was very informative. We forget her name but remember she is from Germany. Her dog, Arwen, was getting really good at sniffing whales! :)
Scenery mindblowing!
We saw dolphins, humpback whales and minke whales! Oh and a thousand million cute Puffins!
The guide on board was very informative. We forget her name but remember she is from Germany. Her dog, Arwen, was getting really good at sniffing whales! :)
Written July 28, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stephanie R
Ottawa, Canada7 contributions
Jul. 2019 • Solo
Fantastic tour. I loved the smaller boat, intimate experience with a small group. The guide was very knowledgeable and the small group made it easy to ask questions. Saw 5 Minke whales, bald eagles, puffin and lots of other sea birds. Boat got very close to the Great Island to see all of the seabirds. Arwen the whale sniffer was an adorable and well behaved mascot and supplied the entertainment between whale spottings!
Written July 15, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JLMVictoria
Victoria, Canada20 contributions
Jul. 2019 • Couples
My wife, sister-in-law and I did this tour a few days ago. By definition whale searches are not guaranteed, however we were pleasantly surprised to see so many whales so quickly on the tour. Various species were seen, but the highlight was a pair of humpbacks that, although the skipper respected their space, they approached us to take a look. Numerous sea birds everywhere and a close run by the Puffin borrows Island was almost anticlimactic after the whales. A Finn Whale off in the distance was a fine finale. Great, informative biologist on board, fine skipper, small boat and docks strategically placed all add to the experience.
Written July 8, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi are you operating currently and are there puffins about we are visiting st Johns from the 7th to the 10th
Regards
Liz M
Ontario, Canada9 contributions
My husband has a cane. Would we still be able to get on the boat?
Kingstoncpl
Kingston, Canada6 contributions
I am looking for the cost of your tours the web site is not working