I have just come back from the whale trip and it was fantastic, im buzzing from the experience i really am, we set off at 7.20 this morn and straight off from Hervey bay on Shayla cruises, we picked this boat from the endless list of tours because its numbers are small (25) and its a full day tour which we wanted and man we picked the right day/tour for sure, we motored off this morning for about 2 hours until we started seeing water spouts, we had an idea of what to expect but it was even better, once we arrived at the 1st sighting, a 10+ metre whale who was well interested in us, i was all over the boat from front to back like a child at christmas, this stunning humpback was amazing, its size, colours and everything really, i took about 20 pics within the 1st 5 mins, i didn't expect the whale to be some close and playful but it was just eager as we where to see him/her, i loved every min of the experience, the whale glided underneath us and its size which was as big as the boat was breathtaking, the white underside stood out in the blue water perfectly, after 20 mins with the whale some guy offered me a snorkel to view the whale from the back of the boat, i thought he was having a laught but serious enough he was offering me this chance to see the whale from the back and i was eager to get me some views underwater, i was not allowed to go into the water fully because of laws and fair enough, but i was allowed to stick my head underneath and that i did !!!, this amazing creature glided past so peacefully and calm looking at me thinking "who's that funky fella" i can imagine, i was smiling all day after that experience, the white stood out like bright white snow and the size was amazing, it was as if he/she stopped in the water to look at me then belly-rolled onwards to show the spectators her underside, the whale stayed with us for longer and played around us, rolling on the side, flapping its fins which where hugh, and diving from the water to show its face and to have a sneaky look at us, i got loads of pics so have a look guys, these creatures are cool as, they travel from antartica to oz having their calfs then chilling in the warm/shallow waters of Hervey bay before starting the long journey back to Antartica, this is the 1 place where they chill and is known as the whale capital of the world, after leaving this big dude behind we headed for another pob about 30 mins away, 3 i think, anyway looking for the spouts again we had 3 other boats now all wanting some whale time, we where the only boat before which made it even better, so this time a pod of whales and again they where checking us out up close, the calfs where jumping around slapping there tails making the water 1 bit white-wash then showing us their white fins as if to say "how was that guys", with each head raised from the water the boats all rang out with aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh and wwwwwwoooooowwwwwww's, after a short time again some little fishing boat popped along for the whales, i think it was about 4 metres long and the whales around 10-12 so you can imagine the view, the whales again where swimming underneath the little boat and right up the side where 2 little guys looked amazment as these humpbacks checked them out, so we moved on after some tucca then headed back towards Hervey bay around 4pm, we where all chilled out listening to the hosts play chilled-out songs while we supped our brews, we also seen a dolphin and turtle heading into Hervey bay just to finish the day of in style, i was a perfect day and me n ell loved every part of it, the guy who owns the company has been running for 2 years and its a family business so it was good to help a small local tour company also, i have to mention the food because the mother of the owner made our tucca for the day and the muffins where top shelf gear, blueberry bad-boys also and fresh as if they where straight from the oven (happy days), so guys if your looking for a quality day tour and seeing the seeing the humpback whales go with Shayla sailing, its proper sailing also which was fun, check the pics out they say it all, so thats us for the day, we are gonna chill here tonight then heading back to Brisbane for our flight back to Cairns tomorrow night, see ya dudes.