Dana Wharf Blog

“Pelagic” is one of those words that feels more complicated than it is. It just means “open ocean.” A pelagic bird is a bird that lives its life primarily on or over the open sea — coming to land only to breed, and spending the rest of its existence over water that can be hundreds…

Halibut are one of the most satisfying fish you can target in Southern California. They fight hard, they’re genuinely challenging to catch, and they taste incredible. They’re also one of the most misunderstood fish by beginners, which leads to a lot of days staring at a still rod tip and going home empty-handed. I’ve watched…

Every time we have a pod of dolphins riding the bow wake of our boat — which happens on most of our whale watching tours out of Dana Point — I watch people’s faces change. There’s something about being close to a dolphin that makes you immediately suspect you’re dealing with something more than just…

Introduction I’ve seen every type of person climb aboard one of our boats at Dana Wharf — first-timers in flip-flops, locals who’ve been out here a hundred times, families with kids who are bouncing off the walls with excitement. And every single trip, without fail, someone ends up regretting what they wore. It’s not their…

When the Dana Wharf sportboats head offshore in the summer and fall, every set of eyes on the boat—from the captain in the wheelhouse to the anglers on the bow—is scanning the deep blue horizon for one specific thing. A floating piece of detached kelp. In the vast, featureless expanse of the open…

You can have the most expensive rod and reel on the boat, but if your live bait is spinning in circles or dies the second it hits the water, the fish are going to swim right past it. When you fish with Dana Wharf Sportfishing, our bait tanks are loaded with fresh, lively…

If you fish Southern California year-round, you know that the Pacific Ocean has moods. During the winter months, the water is cold, the days are short, and the strategy is all about going deep. Winter fishing at Dana Wharf Sportfishing is dominated by heavy lead, dropping bait to the bottom, and pulling up…

When you drop your line down to the rocky reefs off the coast of Southern California, you never quite know what’s going to bite. While many anglers have their hearts set on a giant Lingcod or a colorful California Sheephead, there is one fish that often steals the show: the Ocean Whitefish. Don’t…

You are standing on the deck of a Dana Wharf vessel looking out at the Pacific. Suddenly, you see a puff of white water on the horizon. Before you can even focus your binoculars, the captain announces over the loudspeaker, “We have a Gray Whale at 2 o’clock!” How do they do that?…

It is almost impossible to comprehend the sheer size of a Blue Whale. At over 100 feet long and weighing up to 300,000 pounds, they are the largest animals to have ever lived on Earth. But the most mind-boggling fact about these massive ocean leviathans isn’t just their size—it’s how they fuel it. Every summer,…

Every day at Dana Wharf Whale Watching is an adventure. Seeing a 40-foot migrating Gray Whale or watching a mega-pod of 1,000 Common Dolphins stampede through the water is an experience you never forget. But every so often, the Pacific Ocean decides to really show off. While we have our reliable, year-round residents…

Remember when whale watching meant staring at the horizon for hours, just hoping for a random splash? It used to be a beautiful game of hide-and-seek in a massive ocean. While the ocean is still wild and unpredictable, your trip out of Dana Point—the Dolphin & Whale Watching Capital of the World®—has evolved. Thanks to…