Eden Whale Watching 2025

In mid-October, I had the fortunate opportunity to travel to Eden on the NSW South Coast for five days dedicated to whale watching and honing my skills in capturing stunning photos of these incredible marine creatures. My instructor was the skilled Ben Erikson, a seasoned whale photographer with extensive knowledge not only in photography but also about the whales themselves.

I arrived in Eden late on a Tuesday afternoon and located the house Ben had rented for the week. When I got there, I met Ben and the two other women who would be sharing the house and participating in the course with me. The house offered breathtaking views of Two Fold Bay, where you could see whales breaching. That evening, we sat down with Ben to learn about the settings we would need for our first whale watching cruise the next day.

We woke up early the next day, grabbed some snacks and our cameras, and headed to the wharf to board our vessel, Bubbles. The weather was beautifully sunny with just a light breeze. The ocean was quite calm, making for a comfortable journey through the bay. It wasn't long before we spotted our first whale, and our skipper steered the boat towards the pod. On such a smooth day, we didn't expect much activity from the whales, as they tend to be less active when the ocean is calm. However, this wasn't the case that day. The pod we encountered was extremely lively, with plenty of breaches, tail slaps, and pectoral slapping.

As this was my first attempt at photographing such incredible creatures, I wasn't expecting to much from my photos of this first tour. However, I was very excited to have captured my first full breach! It is incredible to watch these animals that can weigh up to 40 tonne, launch themselves fully out of the water. Research indicates that humpback whales breach for various reasons, such as communication over long distances, removing parasites, displaying strength and dominance during courtship, and for play or exercise. The forceful impact of breaching can knock off barnacles and other organisms from their skin, convey signals to other whales, attract potential mates, or simply serve as a playful activity.

After two hours, we returned to the port of Eden for a quick lunch before embarking on our second tour of the day. Although I didn't manage to capture any more full body breaches, it was still an incredible experience to observe these magnificent ocean creatures.

That evening, while Ben prepared dinner for us, we reviewed the photos we had taken during the day. I had captured approximately 260 images, so it took a while to transfer them to the laptop for editing. After the transfer, Ben shared some editing tips and tricks with us, so that at a late date we could print and hopefully frame some of our best works.

On the second day, we were up early again for another 2-hour cruise on Bubbles departing from Two Fold Bay. The weather was slightly rougher but still sunny and pleasant. In the afternoon, we drove approximately 25 minutes north to Merimbula. There, we embarked on Sensational, a smaller vessel than Bubbles, for another 2-hour cruise. The winds had increased, making the ocean more choppy compared to the morning cruise from Eden. As we navigated through the channel, we passed by a colony of seals relaxing on a pontoon and some jetties. We crossed the bar and proceeded into Merimbula Bay in search of some pods of whales.

It didn't take us long to find our first active pod, and although we didn't manage to capture any full body breaches this time, we did see plenty of tails and some stunning backs.

That afternoon, we continued our exploration with a visit to Greencape Lighthouse for some shore-based whale watching and landscape photography. We observed numerous pods of whales migrating south along the cliffs. Some were likely the same whales we had seen during our afternoon cruise from Merimbula. While watching, Ben and I noticed a couple of pods suddenly turning and heading north instead of south. Ben jokingly suggested that perhaps some orcas were approaching, as this might explain the humpback whales' change in direction. Seeing orcas in the wild has long been a dream of mine, which I had shared with Ben earlier in the week. We knew a pod had been spotted near Merimbula the day before. I turned away briefly to adjust my camera, momentarily losing sight of the coastline, when Ben shouted, "Killers!" My immediate response was, "Yeah right," but to my surprise, there was indeed a pod of about five orcas heading up the coast. I grabbed my camera, but in my excitement, I forgot all of Ben's photography lessons and began snapping photos. In hindsight, I should have paused to simply admire these incredible whales as they passed by. Fortunately, Ben, being a skilled photographer, managed to capture some worthwhile shots. On this special day, which was also my birthday, I felt fortunate to witness these whales revealing themselves to us. (Photos courtesy of Ben Erikson Photography)

During our final two days, we embarked on two additional tours from Eden and one from Bermagui. We witnessed numerous breaching whales, along with tails, pectoral slapping, and spyhops. I was fortunate enough to capture not just one, but two double breaches on camera.

This was undoubtedly one of my most unforgettable experiences, and it's a week I'll treasure for years. I not only learned a great deal about photographing marine life, which is highly unpredictable, but I also gained extensive knowledge about the amazing creatures that visit our east coast of Australia twice a year during their migration to the warmer waters of the northern hemisphere or their return to the cooler waters of Antarctica for summer. Ben was an excellent teacher, and his cooking was quite good too! If you're passionate about photography and have the time, I strongly suggest attending one of Ben's courses or tours.

I have many more photos I could add to this post, but I believe I've shared my favourites. I'll include more in the gallery on this website.