Marine Discovery Tours has been sharing Newport’s wild side for over 30 years, welcoming guests aboard the spacious 65-foot Discovery for relaxed, narrated cruises across bay, river, and open ocean. Veteran captains and friendly n...
Marine Discovery Tours has been sharing Newport’s wild side for over 30 years, welcoming guests aboard the spacious 65-foot Discovery for relaxed, narrated cruises across bay, river, and open ocean. Veteran captains and friendly n...
Captain Jim and his crew have built a strong reputation for making ocean tours genuinely memorable, especially for families with young kids. Highlights include whale sightings (most reliable in summer months), hands-on crabbing where guests of all ages can set traps and handle crabs, and letting kids take a turn steering the boat. The marine science specialists on board consistently earn praise for being knowledgeable and entertaining without feeling like a lecture. Weather along the Oregon coast is unpredictable, and when ocean conditions aren't safe, tours shift into the estuary and river instead. Most guests find the alternative route enjoyable and educational, though a few have felt it fell short of expectations. Going in with that awareness makes a big difference. The crew's genuine warmth and attentiveness come through repeatedly in reviews, and the tours seem to connect well with a wide range of groups, from young families to school groups and casual visitors. If whale watching is your main goal, late summer tends to offer the best odds, but even trips without a sighting usually leave people happy.
We scheduled our tour on a Wednesday morning in May. We were fortunate to have a small group that included a class of high school students from Eugene. The students were surpringly well informed and well behaved. The students put bait in the pots dropped two large crab pots after we left the dock. The ocean was very rough so the captain turned us back into the estuary and we were glad he did. As we traveled up the river, our marine science specialist shared interesting facts and history of the area. Before we returned to the dock we pulled up our pots. No crabs in our crab pots. Fortunately, a nearby crab fisherman brought his catch to the boat so that we could learn the difference between male and female and legal size crabs to keep. We greatly enjoyed this excursion.
Donna and Bill Camp
May 22, 2026
We scheduled our tour on a Wednesday morning in May. We were fortunate to have a small group that included a class of high school students from Eugene. The students were surpringly well informed and well behaved. The students put bait in the pots dropped two large crab pots after we left the dock. The ocean was very rough so the captain turned us back into the estuary and we were glad he did. As we traveled up the river, our marine science specialist shared interesting facts and history of the area. Before we returned to the dock we pulled up our pots. No crabs in our crab pots. Fortunately, a nearby crab fisherman brought his catch to the boat so that we could learn the difference between male and female and legal size crabs to keep. We greatly enjoyed this excursion.
Donna and Bill Camp
May 22, 2026