Cruising with the Seals on Cape Cod

Have you ever wanted to get up close to seals in the ocean? Want to watch seals swim around your boat? Or maybe you’d like your family to experience wildlife in its own natural environment. If so, you shouldn’t miss the opportunity to take a Cape Cod seal cruise.

Benny and I decided that not only did we want to go to the Cape and go on a boat, but we also wanted to go see seals. The seals, or puppies of the sea, as Benny now calls them, make Monomoy Island their home. Thankfully for curious locals (and tourists, of course), there are tour companies that will steer you by the shores of this 8-mile-long island. You’ll have a great time taking a Cape Cod seal cruise!

Setting Sail

We chose to set sail with Monomoy Island Excursions, and their location is really easy to find. They’re right on Route 28 in Harwich Port, and there’s a big parking lot. (Use address 731 MA-28, Harwich Port, MA in your GPS app.) Once there, you’ll see their office/gift shop. Remember to check in here 30 minutes before your tour. From there, you simply walk straight past the restrooms and an outside restaurant to the marina.

Usually when you put “Cape Cod” and “island” in the same sentence, you’ll think about a big ferry. In this case, the exact opposite is true. For our Cape Cod seal cruise, we embarked on a small, 43-foot boat that seats about 35 people. As we were boarding, Benny grabbed the seats at the front of the ship, which I told him was called the bow. “I’m not going to bow!” he said. Insert sigh here… In any case, there was plenty of room for everyone. I suggested that we stay under the boat’s canopy so that I could shield myself from the sun; Benny just stared at me before reminding me that it was cloudy. He really wanted to sit in front.

Once our captain navigated us out of Saquatucket Harbor, he picked up speed. It was exhilarating! We were out in the open water, wind blowing in front, and passing beaches on our left, er, I mean port side. It was almost like having our own private boat. The gusts made poor Benny afraid that he was going to bounce off and fly away, so he went and took refuge in the backpack. Family leaders: Don’t worry, it may have been scary for a small, 2-pound teddy bear, but your children are going to love the ride.

Monomoy Island

And then, voila, we could see Monomoy Island, which is a 7,600-acre national wildlife refuge. Thousands of birds flew around and landed on nearby sandbars. It was like being in a nature documentary.

And then, all of sudden, a fellow passenger cried out, “I see one!”

“One what?” Benny asked. And then he saw it: A seal stuck its head out of the water, looked curiously at our boat, and then dove back in. I tried to zoom in and take a photo, but it was too fast. For the rest of the trip, I kept my camera on rapid-fire mode.

Seals started appearing out of nowhere. Someone would point out a seal, and then it would disappear. They were too quick for good photos (at least for me, but I admit I’m not a professional) but slow enough to get a good look at them sans camera. One family of seals stayed together long enough for me to get them on video.

Benny remarked that their faces resemble dogs, and that they kind of acted like them too. They looked like they wanted to play, and Benny wanted to go in the water and play with them. With the idea that swim tag was going to become a new, fun game, he tried to jump overboard. That wasn’t going to happen; I didn’t want to lose Benny on a Cape Cod seal cruise. I pulled him back by his small white t-shirt.

Disgruntled, he went back in the bag. One seal that wanted to play looked at him and twirled. The seal was quick, but I was able to get part of the twirling motion.

Here are some more pictures of our seal friends:

The rest of the tour

After visiting the seals, the captain continued the tour and steered us by a few local harbors. We went to Stage Harbor and saw the Stage Harbor Lighthouse, and then took a trip through Wychmere Harbor, which was full of boats. Our captain piloted our vessel with great dexterity.

He told us of how outgoing ships need to time their arrivals and departures according to the tides. The sand bars in the area are growing, and boaters who aren’t careful may have to deal with their vessel running aground.

We had a great time on our Cape Cod seal cruise, and we recommend that everyone add it to their “Cape Cod things to do” list!

We did not receive any compensation for the writing of this post.

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Looking for more things to do on the Cape? Check out these posts:

• The Knob, Falmouth
• Hidden Lawrence Island, Bourne
• Nobska Lighthouse, Falmouth
• The Sandwich Boardwalk, Sandwich
• Sagamore Hill, Sandwich
• Seal Watching
• 5 Free Things to do in Falmouth
• The Cape Cod National Seashore

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Monomoy Island Excursions can be found at 731 MA-28, Harwich Port, MA.