Fin and humpback whales from the south-coast headlands
Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), humpback whale, minke whale, common and bottlenose dolphins, harbour porpoise; grey seals. Cork, Waterford and Wexford headlands: Old Head of Kinsale, Galley Head, Ram Head (Ardmore), Helvick Head, Hook Head, Ireland.
Best time: 1 Nov – 31 Jan (November to January). Where: Ram Head / Ardmore Head, Co. Waterford, Helvick Head, Dungarvan, Old Head of Kinsale, Co. Cork (Ireland). Time of day: Daylight only, and the sea state decides: watch in the rare calm windows after a blow, ideally around high tide, from mid-morning when the light is behind you on south-facing headlands.
- You can go on your own
- Free
- Telescope recommended
- Sound 1/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
Peak: 1 Nov – 31 Jan. November to January — fin whales come inshore from late October, humpbacks follow in November; some stay to February–March; humpbacks also off Kerry from May
Active from 15 Oct to 1 Mar (October to March) in a typical year.
Time of day
Daylight only, and the sea state decides: watch in the rare calm windows after a blow, ideally around high tide, from mid-morning when the light is behind you on south-facing headlands.
- Daylight watch (calm sea, high tide best): 2 h after sunrise → 1 h before sunset
What will you hear?
From the cliffs: surf, gulls, choughs and the wind; on the calmest days a distant blow can be heard. The whales are a visual event; underwater sound needs a boat and a hydrophone.
Binoculars?
Telescope recommended. Blows and backs 1–5 km out; a scope on a tripod is standard, binoculars to pick up blows first. No sound from land — this is a visual spectacle.
Where to go
- Ram Head / Ardmore Head, Co. Waterford — The classic IWDG land watch point; cliff walk from Ardmore village. Map
- Helvick Head, Dungarvan — Road to the pier and headland; fin whales feeding close in some winters. Map
- Old Head of Kinsale, Co. Cork — Public road to the signal tower car park (the lighthouse peninsula is a private golf course). Map
- Hook Head, Co. Wexford — Eastern end of the stretch; lighthouse car park, low cliffs. Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
Check the IWDG sightings browser for the current hotspot, then drive to the nearest headland: Ardmore (cliff walk from the village), Helvick (road to the pier), Old Head of Kinsale (car park by the signal tower), Hook Head (lighthouse car park). All free, public paths, daylight.
Cost: Free.
Field-recording notes
A dry entry for the recordist: the value is the cliff-top winter ambience and dolphins at the surf line, not whale sound. Wind on the headlands is severe in the whale season — expect to record in the lee of walls. Report every sighting to the IWDG (report.iwdg.ie): their sightings page is also the way to know where the whales are this week, since the feeding aggregations shift along the coast. From land no permits, just public cliff paths — stay back from eroded edges.
Sources
- IWDG – Humpback and fin whales off the Irish south-east (Jan 2016; headlands, timing)
- IWDG – Close-range land-based whale watching, Waterford (Dec 2014)
- IWDG – report a sighting / sightings browser
Similar spectacles
Orcas and humpbacks on the winter herring, SkjervøyWith a hydrophone: orca calls, whistles and echolocation from several pods carousel-feeding, humpback social sounds and feeding calls, the hiss of a herring ball being tail-slapped; above water, blows, tail-slaps and the roar of a humpback lunge; fishing vessels' sonar and engines.
Conkouati-Douli: humpback whales and leatherback nestingBlows and breaches from the beach, humpback song on a hydrophone from a drifting pirogue, and at night the digging and heavy breathing of a leatherback on a wild beach with no lights for 50 km; chimpanzees pant-hooting from the lagoon islands at dawn.
Humpback whales breeding in Sal Rei bay, Boa VistaThe only place on the flyway to put a hydrophone on singing North Atlantic humpbacks: long structured songs that carry kilometres through the bay, plus the slap and crack of breaches and pectoral slaps on calm mornings. Above water it is wind, surf and the outboard.
Humpback whales off Cape Three PointsBlows and breaches from the headland; with a hydrophone from a canoe, song from singing males in the breeding season — the reason to come. Above water this is mostly a sighting.
Humpback whales off Ouidah and Grand-PopoBlows, breaches and tail slaps from the boat; with a hydrophone over the side and the engine off, humpback song in the breeding season.
Humpback whales off KribiBlows, breaches and tail slaps; with a hydrophone over the side and the engine cut, male song in the breeding season. Sousa dolphins hunt in the surf line off the estuaries.
More: all spectacles in Ireland · humpback whales · whales, dolphins and seals · Ireland in January · Ireland in November · Ireland in December