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Trvlbug31
Tour was amazing! Saw lots of whales on both our tours (morning tour was more fruitful than the evening). The captain was great, although I must admit that he didn't provide as much commentary in English as he did French. Who cares! For those who don't care about the verbal explanations, the whales were great and the explanations could be read in a guidebook.Suggest dressing warmly, including multiple upper layers and perhaps a hoodie or mittens (no joke, it gets cold on the water even if hot on the bay). We booked a 2 hr tour one day and a 3 hr tour the next. On the 3 hr tour, there was probably 10-15 minutes of extra whale watching time, since they also take you around the fjords on the 3 hr tour and not the 2 hr tour. If you don't care about seeing the Fjords, a 2 hr tour is probably sufficient.Great, great, great! Would recommend to friend who speak either FRN or ENG.
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victoriac524
We went on a three hour zodiac excursion with Otis last week. I booked with them because they appeared to be a small company and claimed to be bilingual, which was very important as my boyfriend does not speak French. I asked 4 different Otis employees (1 at the office, 2 helping to load the boats and 1 on our boat) if the guide would speak English and all said yes, of course! Well they didn't... My boyfriend was the only non-French speaker on the boat, so I guess they didn't think it was worth it to repeat everything for him. This was very disappointing. They didn't even repeat the safety message in English! We definitely would have gone with another company had we known. I have already told 2 Anglo groups not to book with Otis based on this. In addition, you should know that Otis has 4 zodiacs that fit 12 people and one large one that fits over 40 people. They told us that we could not select which boat we wanted to be on, it was up to the captain. We ended up on the large zodiac, which was disappointing. Otis should be more clear with its customers about its boats. We were in the first group to board any of Otis' boats. They made us put on survival suits and get on the boat. We then waited as 60 other customers were loaded onto various boats and watched as the small zodiacs left the dock, leaving us to sweat it out for over 20 minutes in survival suits in the sun. The captain wanted all the small children to be on the big boat, so we had to wait for all others to be loaded. The loading was very disorganized. They make you stand in line on the street. It is beyond me why they don't try to organize people on the street, e.g. Families with small children to go on the big boat, English speakers to go on the same boat, etc. There are some other disadvantages to the big boat - people up front can't really hear the guide and there are so many people that it can be hard to see.Overall, I would not recommend Otis. I do recommend going on a whale watching tour though. We saw a lot of whales which compensated for the crappy tour.
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nancys929
Our whale watching trip with Otis was wonderful! They are a small, independent, company and offer the trip of a lifetime.Our small group of seven, in a zodiac, with our charming, knowledgeablecaptain was a memorable day on the St. Lawrence. The bigger boats offer more creature comforts, but our small craft gave us a birds eye viewof these magnificent creatures. 13 people signed up for our afternoon -they graciously divided us into 2 groups. A humpback, minkes, belugas, and a fin whale kept us mesmerized, with our captain answering our questions (in French and English) with patience and a love for the whales.Merci beaucoup, Otis!
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216jessicac
We booked with Otis after reading some excellent reviews on TripAdvisor and we were not disappointed. They did a great job of organizing everyone who had booked so that all the Anglophones were on the same boat and the guide did the tour in English. Our guide was lovely, very knowledgeable and friendly. We were fortunate enough to have some great observations of a humpback whale, a lot of belugas and a few minkes.They are located right at the main pier in Tadoussac, so very easy to get to. Would most definitely book with Otis again. It was an amazing experience and we absolutely loved our whale watching tour. Worth every penny.
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Tellurian
While the larger whale-watching boats have their advantages - choose one of them if you need more creature comforts or want more of a birds'-eye perspective-- I love the close to the waves and whales feel of the zodiac boats. Otis is one of the few small independent whale-watch companies remaining in Tadoussac, so my husband and I like to patronize them. On a recent 3-hour morning trip with a friend going on her first whale-watch, we had Pierre as a captain. I remembered him from another time. Although he has lead trips for some thirty years, you can tell from the twinkle in his eye that he remains passionate about his job and cares deeply both that you get to experience whales up-close and personal AND that the whales be respected. Pierre is great at knowing when to wait out a terminal dive for a whale to resurface and when to move on to the next site. Although he is self-deprecating about his English-speaking skills - "I will TRY to provide an alternative narration in English," - he is actually very good at giving instructions and information in both French and English. By the way, to everyone here that gives low ratings because of someone only speaking in French, that IS the local language. If someone speaking Sanskrit comes to the United States, would you expect them to complain that only English was spoken? Any English speaking should be considered a bonus and a courtesy to you, not mandatory. Back to the excursion - Pierre made a well-planned tour, designed to maximize our chances of seeing various whale species as well as taking in the sheer grandeur of the location. Although early June is not peak season, we were treated to belugas, humpbacks, fin whales and a minke, as well as seals, a harbor porpoise, cormorants, kittiwakes and murres. The 3 hours passed so quickly! Do follow the advance advice to wear warm layers of clothing; even though it may be warm ashore, it is usually quite chilly on the water. You will get a pair of rain pants and a warm, floating parka and you will be glad to be wearing them when a stray wave sprays the boat. My "special" advice is to take a pair of gloves; they don't take up much space, but can provide a lot of comfort if needed. Our boatload of passengers all disembarked very happy with satisfied souls. I certainly plan to return as many times as I can manage. Merci et a la prochaine, Pierre et Otis Excursions.
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jmaple
We did some research on the internet before planning our trip and decided to try our luck in a zodiac, hoping that the speed and maneuverability of a smaller boat would give us a better chance of tracking down any whales we might see in the distance. I’ve gone whale watching twice before, both times late season in Newfoundland, and had never been lucky enough to see whales. This trip started the same way, the guide pointing to a cloud of spray where a whale had apparently just submerged. A half hour later we were still looking for our first whale and the water was starting to get choppy, making it more difficult to detect anything breaking the surface. However, the choppiness seemed to wake them up and within minutes we saw what would be the first of many whales, some almost close enough to the zodiac to touch. Our captain did a great job spotting the whales and of getting us to them in a hurry. I lost count of how many belugas, minkes, fins, and blues we saw, along with the occasional seal. The zodiac was a great choice, and as conditions got progressively rougher the ride became a huge part of making the day memorable. We’d climb a swale 10 – 15 feet then free fall back into the water. Amazingly everyone on board was enjoying it, not one person was nervous or felt ill.I’d definitely recommend a zodiac excursion with Otis, they get you as close as possible, as quickly as possible, and seem to have a way of anticipating where the whales will breach.The only downside to the trip was the ticket I received on the way home. This is a travel site, so I will simply state the facts in order to draw a full picture of the experience. While I was one of many doing something legal in the rest of Canada, I was the only one pulled over. Coincidentally, I was the only one without Quebec plates. The ticket was entirely in French, but I had the option of requesting an English copy, which I immediately did. I got the ticket in July 2013 but didn’t receive the English version until February 2014, along with a notice that I’d already been convicted and the fine increased substantially for non-payment. Based on current polls, the PQ may win next month’s provincial election.
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PennyP83
Otis excursions was Great! We arrived shortly before the boat was to depart and weregiven our gear. The people of Otis were very helpful. We live in the Pacific Northwest and love to watch whales, so whale watching was at the top of our list of things to do in Quebec.The larger boats seemed to be satisfied with watching the same minke whale.The difference with Otis was they went the extra distance to find whales We saw a humpback whale with a 45 foot tail breech near our boat. Additionally we saw2 minke whales and the highlight of our day was seeing a Blue Whale and hearing the breathing. WOW. If you want to be comfortable go on the big boats. If you want a trip ofa lifetime go with Otis and dress warm.Penny and Tim
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juicyblue
Could not have asked for a better experience. We specifically went with Otis because they used the smallest zodiacs, and that's the experience we were looking for. We were 6 Australians on the boat, and I was the only one with any smattering of French at all, but it was not a problem for us. Firstly, when we arrived, there was a gentlemen who organised our survival jackets and gave us the safety briefing in English. Our captain spoke a small amount of English (still more than my French!) and we managed to figure it out :) To be honest, you're looking at whales... Getting within 15ft of them. As long as between your finch and your captain's English you can figure out what whale you're looking at, then I'm not sure what more you need at that point,We saw blue whales, minkes and many humpback whales (2 of which breached!) and seals. Or captain made a huge effort to get us out to see them, but I can see that alot of it would be luck of the draw. The weather came up pretty quickly, so we had a very bumpy 40 minute ride back in, but it was worth it to see 2 massive blue whales that were a bit further out than the others.Totally awesome experience, but if you aren't up for being cold, bumpy but totally exhilarated, then definitely look at the big boats instead :)
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Druzella
We went October 8 2013, on a road trip hoping the whales hung around for us to arrive. The weather cleared the water was as smooth as glass in Tadoussac, so we booked & paid right there on the dock, with no problem. We found them very welcoming & engaging with clear instruction. First time on zodiac excursion, but the captain we had seemed well in control. Was not disappointed, he did what was expected, and we saw whales & sea lions. I would recommend this way of whale watching because it seems less commercial then the larger boat. But, the water did change & became rough, so if that's a concern then go big also the big boats allow you to walk around and use the restrooms. On the zodiac your pretty well sitting the whole time. All in all it was definitely one for the album.
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Trillium_Family
We booked our whale watching tour online through Croisières 2001. On the morning of our outing, we went to the location indicated on our receipt, only to be directed down to the dock. No big deal, except that when we got to the dock, it was really confusing trying to determine which ship boarding area we should be in. It turns out that Croisières 2001 outsources their zodiac excursions to Otis, so after a bit of running around, we found the right loading zone.We also had an issue with our payment - the website said kids under 7 were free, but when we got there, that wasn't the case - it only applied to their larger ships, not the zodiacs. So, a last minute credit card payment, and we were getting into our gear.I'm going to rate Croisières 2001 separately, as I'm not happy with the way you're left in the dark about them outsourcing to Otis. But for this review, I'll focus on our experience with Otis.We were put on a 12-person zodiac, which is what we paid for, so no problems there. (I wouldn't have accepted anything else!)The captain spoke only French, but I can translate for my wife, so we were ok there. English is not common in Tadoussac, so don't count on finding too many bilingual staff around, even if advertised.The boat was loaded quickly, and we were off. About 5 minutes out, and we were already seeing whales! We stuck around for a short period, enough to enjoy the whales and get some photos, and we were off towards the lighthouse. Not far from there, we joined a few other boats that were with a group of seals. It was great to see so many, and from so close! Our captain was professional enough to get us close for the experience and photos, but far enough to respect the animals.From there, we sped off to the location where most of the day's whales had been spotted. I've read a few posts about people complaining that there are too many boats around the whales, but despite counting about 30 boats (everything from zodiacs, to small cruise ships, to private yachts), you never feel crowded, and I don't think the whales feel that way either... the St-Lawrence is just so huge at this point...We were treated to every type of whale possible: blue whale, humpback, fin and mink whales, as well as St-Lawrence dolphins. Lucky us! You can't count on seeing everything, it's just luck of the draw. Just as we got lucky and saw all types, we didn't get any super-close encounters, which some of the other boats did. It just depends on where you are and when, and where the whales decide to come up next...On our way back to port, it began to rain, which was a little unpleasant, but our captain still took the time to stop for any whales that were along the way. Coming back into Tadoussac Bay, we got to see a few belugas too, completing the list of possible whale sightings!An experience our whole family will remember forever!A few last words:- we took the 3-hr tour, and found it was perfect (you can also do 2-hrs)- if you want up-close-and-personal, take the 12-person zodiac. If you want comfort, take the ships.- expect to see nothing, and you'll be amazed when you see something! (remember, there's no guarantee you'll see anything. It all depends on the whales!)- don't expect much English, it's not common in the area at all...- dress warm! even if it's hot and sunny on land, it's cool on the water
