About Island Adventures

There are many companies to choose from while searching for the right whale watching tour. Since 1992, we, Shane and Jennifer Aggergaard (company founders), have been committed to offering our passengers much more—striving to exceed our guests’ expectations each and every day. Island Adventures offers the best boat, the best location, guaranteed whale sightings, and lots of extras—but it is our highly qualified staff that really separates us from the rest. Our friendly and knowledgeable team is eager to provide outstanding service from start to finish. Onboard, we’ll entertain and educate you throughout the tour in hopes that you take away magical memories and a renewed respect for nature. Many, many lives have been touched by witnessing whales in the wild. We feel privileged to be able to provide this unique and wonderful opportunity.

Island Adventures Whale Watching is based out of Anacortes, Washington, only 90 minutes north of Seattle and 90 minutes south of Vancouver, BC. Anacortes is located on the mainland and is known as the “Home Port” to the San Juan Islands, providing the perfect departure point for our Orca Whale Watching & Wildlife Cruises.

There’s no need to hassle with summertime ferry schedules, delays, inconvenient parking, or added expense; you can drive directly to us. Departing from Anacortes the water is generally calm and we’re in prime whale spotting waters just ten minutes from the breakwater!

Island Adventures is an owner-operated whale watching company founded by Shane and Jennifer Aggergaard in 1996. Shane has spent over 1000 days with the whales that ply the waters of northwest Washington. He is an accomplished ocean captain who has operated vessels for hire from 14 feet to 280 tons, from New York to Florida and Alaska to Baja Mexico, but calls Anacortes and the San Juan Islands home. He has recently held two terms as president and two terms as vice president of the Whale Watch Operator’s Association Northwest and is dedicated to educating the public about the southern resident Orcas.

Captain Shane Aggergaard, third from left

Shane has performed seminars on Orca whales and San Juan wildlife for the last 15 years for schools, clubs, and venues like the Seattle Boat Show. Shane and Jennifer were also nominated for the Small Business Owner of the Year award in Skagit County for 2003 and for a second time in May of 2005. Shane has held a four year term as a board member for the Anacortes Chamber of Commerce and takes great pride in his home town of Anacortes.

Jennifer has her degree in marine biology and directs Island Adventure’s Orca travel pattern research and education programs. She is also Vice President/Bookkeeper of Island Adventures Inc. and the mother of Andrew and Amy Aggergaard. Together, with your whale watching crew, it is their goal to create an exciting and educational whale watching program that everyone can afford.

Our role in the commercial whale watching industry

Island Adventures has worked with the commercial whale watching industry, the research and scientific communities, and the general public to help develop a set of “best practices” and Whale Watching Guidelines. These guidelines are more specific to our local wildlife than federal law. They are especially important when the whales we are viewing are often as curious about us as we are about them.

Island Adventures is an eco-tourism company—not a ferry service, mail run, or water taxi. We are serious about finding wildlife for our guests. Whether people are traveling from other parts of the world or from across town, everyone wants to see whales. We GUARANTEE whale sightings on every whale watching cruise. Our excellent sighting record is due to our superior location, vessel speed, the experience of our crew, an extensive spotting network, and our commitment to go the extra mile—or twenty—if necessary. We are committed to running the best whale and wildlife watching tour in the world. For recent whale and wildlife sightings visit our whale report page.