Zodiac or big boat?
Every good whale trip within reach of Quebec City puts you on one of two AML boats, an open Zodiac or a big cruise boat with decks and indoor rooms. They cost about the same and leave from the same wharves, yet they make for very different outings. This guide compares them point by point and says who should book which.
Two boats, one operator
Croisières AML runs both cruises, from Baie-Sainte-Catherine on the Charlevoix side and from Tadoussac across the Saguenay. The Zodiac tour, from ~$130, lasts 2 or 2.5 hours depending on the option. The 3-hour boat tour, from ~$130, costs about the same. On AML's bus day from Quebec City, from ~$183, you make the same choice when you book, and the Zodiac option there lasts two and a half hours. Whichever you pick, a bilingual naturalist guide comments as you go.
Price will not decide this one, then. What decides it is how well you cope with cold and spray, and who is coming with you.
The Zodiac at water level
AML's Zodiacs seat 24 or 60. The size is assigned for logistical reasons, so you cannot count on the smaller one. You sit close to the water, which makes every blow louder and every back look bigger, and the crew lends you a waterproof jacket and pants to wear over your own layers, with a life jacket. If time and weather allow, the Zodiac also runs into the Saguenay Fjord, which the big boats only pass at the mouth.
The trade-offs are real. It is wet and very cold even in July, and the boat has no restroom and sells no food. Some Zodiacs have inward-facing seats around a central cockpit, and reviewers in the back rows said it blocked their view. Nobody under 6 may board. The same goes for pregnancy and back problems, since the boat bounces on the swell. When the wind gets up, the crew sometimes shifts Zodiac passengers to the big boat, and a few reviewers felt the transit ate into their time with the whales.
The listing asks for closed shoes and long pants. Plan to reach the wharf half an hour early, because AML starts boarding then and does not hold a Zodiac for latecomers.
The big boat with a roof
The big boat gives you three hours with outer decks and glazed indoor rooms, so you can step inside when the wind bites and come back out when someone shouts. It has a bistro and restrooms on board. It also rides the swell more steadily than a Zodiac, and strollers are allowed on the boat.
Its weak point is people. Each sailing begins at one wharf and stops at the other to collect more passengers, which eats into the cruise, and those who board second have sometimes found every indoor seat taken. At the rail they jostle for a view when a whale surfaces, and reviewers found the whales usually farther off than from the Zodiacs. GetYourGuide reviewers give it 3.8 for value, the lowest score among the main trips.
Side by side
| Point | Zodiac | Big boat |
|---|---|---|
| From | ~$130 | ~$130 |
| Time on the water | 2 h or 2.5 h | 3 h |
| Capacity | 24 or 60 seats, size not guaranteed | Decks plus glazed indoor rooms, often crowded |
| Shelter | None; jacket and pants lent | Indoor rooms |
| Food and restrooms | None | Bistro and restrooms |
| Youngest age | 6 | Any age, strollers allowed |
| The fjord | Runs in if time and weather allow | Passes the mouth |
| Ride | Bouncy and wet | Steadier |
Three hours with a warm room nearby
AML's big boat has decks for watching and glazed rooms with a bistro and restrooms for warming up, from ~$130. Free cancellation runs until 24 hours before.
Who should pick which
- Book the Zodiac if everyone is 6 or older, you do not mind spray and wind, and you want the low view and the run into the fjord;
- Book the big boat with small children or anyone who gets cold fast, and whenever someone in the group will need a restroom within three hours;
- Book the big boat if you worry about seasickness. It moves less, and seasickness on the St. Lawrence covers what else helps;
- Book an early or sunset Zodiac if you are staying nearby and want the low light on the water;
- Book either on a foggy day only if you accept poor odds, because both sail in fog.
Photographers split down the middle. The Zodiac's low angle sets a whale against the horizon, but the boat bounces and spray finds every lens. The big boat's decks give a steadier footing and a higher angle, once you have won a place at the rail.
Whatever you choose, dress for colder than the forecast. What to wear on the river covers the layers, and whale watching with kids goes through the age rules in more detail.
Paying for a better spot
If the crowded rail is what puts you off the big boat, AML's VIP Lounge or Upper Deck option, from ~$159, sells the same 3-hour cruise with priority boarding. The Lounge is a private room behind glass, with food and drinks laid on. Its catch sits in the option name. Upper Deck is deck access and priority boarding only, with few seats and no shelter, and several reviewers who bought it thinking it was the lounge were refused entry. Read the option you click before you pay, and see the cost guide for how it compares with the other prices.
On the day trip from Quebec City
The bus trip asks you to pick the boat at booking, and most of the reasoning above applies. Zodiac passengers have the tightest lunch, since the one-hour break comes before a cruise with no food on board, so pack something you can eat fast. After three hours on a warm coach the cold of an open boat hits harder, too, so keep your warm layers with you rather than at the bottom of a bag. The best months for whales helps with the date, and which whales you will see explains the distance rules both boats follow.