Gray whales pass twice, southbound from December and northbound from mid-February, and California has more agency-named shore lookouts than any other state.
In season in California right now: Humpback whale, Blue whaleEvery window below is the wording of the agency that publishes it, reproduced exactly, with a link. Where two agencies describe the same animal differently, both are shown.
December 1 to February 15
“from December through mid-February”
National Park Service, Point Reyes National Seashore
What you are looking for: A low bushy blow about 10 to 15 feet high, often heart shaped from head on, then a knuckled ridge instead of a dorsal fin as the back rolls under. Gray whales travel close in, which is the entire reason they can be watched from land at all.
February 15 to May 31
“migrating north from mid-February through May”
National Park Service, Point Reyes National Seashore
What you are looking for: A low bushy blow about 10 to 15 feet high, often heart shaped from head on, then a knuckled ridge instead of a dorsal fin as the back rolls under. Gray whales travel close in, which is the entire reason they can be watched from land at all.
December 20 to March 15
“Whale Watching Season at Cabrillo is from late December to mid March.”
National Park Service, Cabrillo National Monument
What you are looking for: A low bushy blow about 10 to 15 feet high, often heart shaped from head on, then a knuckled ridge instead of a dorsal fin as the back rolls under. Gray whales travel close in, which is the entire reason they can be watched from land at all.
March 1 to November 30
“start arriving in March ... can be seen throughout the summer into November”
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
What you are looking for: A tall columnar blow, a small dorsal fin on a hump, and the black and white underside of the tail as it dives. The only large whale that routinely breaches clear of the water.
June 1 to December 31
“They are seen fairly frequently off Southern California from June through December.”
National Park Service, Channel Islands National Park
NPS adds that "Encounters have been most numerous during July through October." NOAA places blue whales in the offshore waters of the Monterey Bay sanctuary, so this is a boat species rather than a headland species.
What you are looking for: A blow up to 30 feet, the tallest of any whale, and a mottled blue grey back so long that the tiny dorsal fin appears only as the animal finishes its dive. Mostly an offshore animal: NOAA's Monterey Bay sanctuary places blue whales in "the offshore waters of the sanctuary", so this is a boat species, not a headland species.
The peak date moves with latitude, and California is long enough to show it. Redwood National and State Parks puts its peaks in December and May; Cabrillo, 700 miles south, says "Mid-January is the peak time for migration". Same whales, six weeks apart.
Checking the most recent public whale record in California…
NPS Cabrillo National Monument writes that "in the 1950s, the park became the first location in the United States to offer recreational whale watching from land." NOAA's Monterey Bay sanctuary writes that "Whales and dolphins can be seen year round, even from the shore!"
National Park Service, Cabrillo National Monument, and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
National Park Service
“the best whale watching tends to be from higher coastal areas far out on the peninsula”
Point Reyes pushes ten miles out into the Pacific, so the migration corridor comes to the headland rather than the other way round.
National Park Service, Cabrillo National Monument
“The heights around the park's Kelp Forest Overlook and Old Point Loma Lighthouse offer the best viewing.”
The place where land-based whale watching in the United States started, in the 1950s.
National Park Service, Redwood National and State Parks
“Coastal overlooks, such as the Klamath River Overlook, provide the best vantage points”
Far north on the coast, where the same whales pass earlier southbound and later northbound than they do at San Diego.
California State Parks, Sonoma Coast State Park
“The high cliffs offer excellent vantage points for observing migrating gray whales.”
A short walk from a car park to a bluff top that sits right on the corridor.
California State Parks
“During winter and spring, the nearby headland provides a good lookout for whale watching.”
Mendocino coast headland with a boardwalk, so the lookout is reachable without a hike.
California State Parks
“High above the sea, the bluffs offer excellent vantage points to watch the annual gray whale migration.”
The San Diego county bluff line, in the same water Cabrillo watches.
National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area
A named NPS overlook on the Marin coast, with no activity fee.
Approach distances differ by species and by region, and the differences are large enough that a number remembered from another coast can put you in breach of federal law. Below, the rule for each species that has a published season here, quoted from the agency that issues it.
“Remain at least 100 yards away, about the length of a football field, unless other rules apply.”
NOAA Fisheries, Marine Life Viewing Guidelines: Guidelines and Distances
“In Hawaii and Alaska, it is illegal to approach a humpback whale within 100 yards, by land or sea. It is also illegal to approach humpback whales in Hawaii within 1,000 feet (333 yards) by air.”
NOAA Fisheries, Humpback Whale: Resources
Note the phrase "by land or sea". NOAA states this rule two different ways on two of its own pages: the species resources page says "by land or sea", while its general viewing guidelines page frames the same 100 yards as a requirement on vessels. Outside Hawaii and Alaska the 100 yards is guidance rather than a humpback-specific law.
“NOAA asks people watching blue whales to "maintain a minimum distance of at least 100 yards and limit your observation time to 30 minutes or less".”
Never approach a whale to get a better view, and never put a drone over one. If an animal comes to you, the instruction from NOAA is to move away from it, slowly, not to hold position for a photograph.
The chart below counts research-grade public observations by month. It is not a season. It is a record of when somebody was standing in the right place with a camera and knew what they were looking at, and that depends at least as much on tourism and daylight as on whales. Winter is systematically under-counted everywhere on this coast for exactly that reason.
It earns its place because when it disagrees with the agency window, the disagreement usually has a cause worth understanding.
Reading the public observation record for Gray whale in California…
Thousands of gray whales pass mid-December to mid-January going south and from late March going north, and about 200 stay all summer.
Agencies name shore sites hereGray whales pass the outer coast in spring, and the inland waters hold killer whales under the strictest state approach law in the country.
Shore viewing is possible but agencies are cautiousThe summer feeding ground for the humpbacks that spend their winter in Hawaii, and the National Park Service says they feed within a mile of shore.
Shore viewing is possible but agencies are cautiousHumpbacks are here November through April with the peak from January through March, and the sanctuary itself says you can see them from shore.
Agencies name shore sites hereHumpbacks arrive in April and are in large numbers through the summer, and right whales fill Cape Cod Bay in late winter under a federal January to May shipping rule.
Shore viewing is possible but agencies are cautiousHumpbacks, finbacks and minkes feed in the Gulf of Maine through spring, summer and autumn, and the National Park Service says do not expect to see them from shore.
Agencies say do not expect to see whales from shoreHumpbacks are close to shore in summer and autumn in the New York Bight, and right whales are detected in spring and winter.
Agencies say do not expect to see whales from shoreThe only known calving ground on earth for the North Atlantic right whale, occupied from mid-November to mid-April.
Shore viewing is possible but agencies are cautiousThe southern half of the right whale calving ground, mid-November to mid-April, and the one state whose wildlife agency says the whales are often visible from the beach.
Shore viewing is possible but agencies are cautiousA winter state, unusually: humpbacks concentrate off the Virginia coast in January and February while New England is empty.
Agencies say do not expect to see whales from shoreNot seeing your state? The hub names every coastal state without a page here and explains why, including the whole Gulf coast and most of the mid-Atlantic.
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Seasons and approach distances on this page are quoted from the agency named beside each one, with a link. Nothing is modelled or averaged. Monthly observation counts are read live in your browser from the iNaturalist API and record when people reported whales, not when whales were present.
Hero image: “CINMS and MBNMS gray whale and calf” — NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries — Public Domain