Whale watching tips

"Whale watching is about what you see, but it's also about the safety and the standard of the boats, and how well you're looked after. Our clients are briefed on the sea conditions, they fill in a medical form and we don't let them on the hard-hulled, rigid inflatable boats if they've got a history of back problems. Check that your operator can advise you what the sea conditions are going to be like, and what it's like on the boat: where to sit; how to look after your back; if it impacts on a wave, take the impact with your knees... We also have a catamaran which is a little bit easier, there are places to hold on, you may fall over but you're not going to have one of those jolts - and that's the thing to watch on the inflatables."

"If there's a choice of boats and operators, that's always good. I always recommend small boats with no more than 20 passengers because it's not great to be manoeuvring large boats around whales. On top of that, you don't get the same, personalised information. With large groups, they're likely to be talking over a speaker, reading off a piece of paper - whereas with small groups, some people want large amounts of scientific information and other people don't want any; they're just there to swim with whales. They don't care how many gallons of milk the baby drinks a day or any of that stuff. We only have eight guests, so we can tailor that on a one-to-one basis on our boat, it's much more personal."