Condor Express

I have been on several whale watching tours up and down the central coast photograhing whales. I found the Condor Express staff, from the administrative people to the crew to be friendly, efficient and professional. The boat was amazing. It was fast, smooth, sparkling clean and I have never been on a better whale watching platform. Having said that we saw only one Blue Whale on my trip, but the Captain worked very hard and went out of his way (literally staying out an extra hour) to find whales. I got wonderful photographs and was completely satisifed but the Captain announced that the experience wasn't up to their standards and gave us all passes to come back at no charge! Remeber that whether we saw whales on not their costs were the same so this was a huge gesture in my opinion. It was clearly communicated on the web, and posted in the office that they don't do refunds. \r \r As to the final comment about long wait times to get to the whale watching sites . . . you've got to be kidding. We are talking about wild animals that don't follow a schedule and don't alter their feeding patterns so as to be convenient to the Santa Barbara Harbor!! Get Real. more

Hey there City Search travel community.\r \r I'd just like to get the word out that myself and my girlfriend had an absolutely terrible experience on their trip.\r -----------\r The employees were rude, the over priced food was horrible, the restrooms were dirty, and on top of that when we asked for a refund since we didn't see a single whale on our 3 hour excursion, we were immediately denied and escorted off the ship.\r -----------\r I spoke to 3 ""captains"" and then called the owner, not only were they all extremely rude and unforgiving, but their comments basically revolved around ""Be happy we're giving you a waiver to come again - besides, you saw dolphins. We don't even need to issue you a waiver.\r \r Thanks for reading, mainly I suppose I'm just frustrated that no where on their dock was posted that they do not offer refunds. The employees there are probably on commission and are rude because any refund would affect their money.\r \r Perhaps that's something you might want to consider high-lighting on the information part of this page. I love reading CitySearch, but this might be something that belongs in bold: ""No refunds - just waivers, out of town travelers beware."" Heh, that may be a bit extreme but I'm sure you understand.\r \r Hope this helps folks, just be-careful if you're coming from out of town. Santa Barbara is a one day clear and the waiver they give you to spend another 3 hours on their boat to *maybe* see a whale isn't worth much when you spend $94 per person.\r \r Owner is impossible to talk to as well. I attempted to call him and he hung up on me after I asked for a refund. ""Captain Fred"" is the owner.\r \r Regards,\r Kevin\r \r Contact me for further :) Pros: If you're in the area and have the patients to possibly go again, you will probably enjoy it. Cons: Long wait times to get to the whale watching sights: you'll spend a lot of time sitting inside doing nothing. Don't bother trying to get a refund, you will be denied. Very Stingy. more