A common “whale watching” question we get asked often from our guests at the Lamb and Lion Inn is “Whats the best time of the day to see whales?” The stock answer is “whales don’t wear watches”, and they basically don’t keep much of a daily schedule. Well apparently, they don’t own calendars either.
This year the whales have been spotted much earlier than usual–the first part of March–no doubt in part because of the mild temperatures we’ve been seeing in New England this year. Recently, researchers at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies reported seeing 15 right whales frolicking just off of Race Point. Unfortunately we didn’t take the pretty ride up there, but a few of our guests did, and they could see the whales from the beach. Just as the economy seems to be lightening up a tad, the inn phone has started to ring again and the flowers are out early, it looks like the whales are going to be coming back home again this year…and in record amounts.
Here’s another fact about whales…the whale watching on Cape Cod is considered one of, if not the best hop spots in the world. We’re reminded of this day after day in the summer time from folks vacationing from places like Nova Scotia, Greenland and Hawaii–places where you’d think you’d here “ours is better!” Nope, they’re all mind blown from what they see off of our Cape Cod shores. One main reason is this. In the colder months the whales migrate to warm Caribbean waters (they may not have watches or calendars, but they ain’t stupid) to, well, get frisky with each other (the Caribbean will do that). They spend their late fall and winter there, many of them produce offspring, and like really cool parents, take their new babies (called calves) on a Cape cod vacation. That’s the beauty of our whale watching. Once they get here they aren’t just “passing by” in a migratory pattern. They’re home, which specifically is a natural marine sanctuary called Stellwagon Bank. There the whales spend their summer playing with their new babies, eating tons and generally digging life.
(The area in red is where most of the whales hang. Just off the tip of Provincetown).
OK, so now that we’ve established why Cape Cod has the best whale watching on planet Earth, why then, is the Lamb and Lion the best place to stay when you want to watch whales? GOOD QUESTION!!! There are a two answers to this (we’re not going to beat around the bush here…)
1) WE HOOK YOU UP! Your Innkeeper, Tom, works on the local whale watch boat–which happens to board in Barnstable Harbor, just 2 miles away. “So, does having an innkeeper who works on a whale boat benefit me?” MAN, you are asking all the right questions!! Of course it does. The whale boat does not take reservations which means, a) You may have a long wait to get on, or b) It might be sold out–which happens on occasion. At the Lamb and Lion Inn not only can we make you a “Super Double Secret” reservation not given to the public, but if the boat is sold out, most likely we can get you on anyway*. If that isn’t enough, we can pre-sell you discounted tickets CHEAPER than anyone else on Cape Cod right here at the inn (employees do have their benefits!).
*If you’re surfing the net for other inns, ask those innkeepers if they can offer the same for you–we dare ya.
2) LOCATION X 3: The second reason the Lamb and Lion Inn is your “Best Whale Watching Station in the Nation” is the location. Our local whale watch boat is called the Hyannis Whale Watcher but it’s not located in Hyannis, but actually Barnstable Harbor, 2 short miles down the road! (the village of Hyannis is more nationally recognized, hence the name–It’s all the the marketing, isn’t it?).
“But isn’t Barnstable Village much further from Stellwagon Bank then the whale watch boats in P-Town?” You are sharp–but the folks at the Hyannis Whale Watcher are sharper. They have a brand-new, massive, high speed ferry boat that shoots our guests up to Stellwagon Bank in about the same time the more traditional (yawn) ferries in P-Town get there (they all end up in the same area–but our ride is prettier!).
So there you have it. And we have other inside pointers too, like the best place to be on the boat for visibility, and we’ll even advise you on the best weather to go in. Concerned it’ll be too windy? Let us make the call. Need sunscreen? We’ve got it (but we’re not applying it, sorry). We are also happy to dole out our favorite binoculars, because even though the whales come right up to the boat (they really do!) the view heading out to the whales is spectacular! So make like a right whale and get yourself to Cape Cod!!!
The Hyannis Whale Watcher (above) sets sail just 2 miles down the road!
