Jerseyshorewhalewatchingtour Reviews 

Captain Bill McKim of the Jersey Girl is the most unprofessional, uncommunicative business owner I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with.

I had originally signed up for a twelve-hour offshore whale-watching trip, which was cancelled by Captain McKim due to bad weather. Understandable, no issue. I could not make the rescheduled date due to work and reached out to Bill to request a refund.

Over the course of the last two weeks Captain McKim has ignored multiple emails from me and calls from me and has resisted every attempt I’ve made to resolve this amicably. This is par for the course with him, as friends of mine have experienced the same issue when trying to rebook or pursue refunds, and his TripAdvisor reviews are full of people who he also attempted to cheat out of a refund. I have had to report him to the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs and the Better Business Bureau just to force a reply, at which point he falsely claimed I did not give enough notice for my cancellation and that he had already issued the refund. As of posting this, my bank confirms I have not been refunded.

I am a repeat customer who has been on multiple offshore and inshore trips aboard the Jersey Girl, but they have lost my business for good with this nonsense. I sincerely recommend that new and returning customers consider how difficult this captain will make life for you if you need to cancel or reschedule, even if he is the one to cancel the trip in the first place. This business’s customer service is appalling and there are better options for whale-watching in Belmar than Jersey Girl.

I have been trying to resolve an issue with a refund from this company for several months. In May of 2026, I purchased a ticket for a Whale Watching Excursion through the Jersey Shore Whale Watching Tour Company (Jersey Girl). The trip was scheduled for May 22, 2026 and was cancelled by the company. Their policy regarding their cancelled states as follows: "If there is a need for us to cancel the trip due to operational boat issues you will receive a full refund." At the time of the booking, the boat was not ready due to operational issues. I tried over the next 6 weeks to rebook my trip. It was booked again on June 25th, then cancelled again by the owners 2 days later. On on 7/4. 7/5 and 7/6 I attempted to reschedule by e-mail and phone calls. No response. Finally on 7/7, I demanded a refund. Only when I demanded a refund, did I get a response. I received an email stating as follows: "If you would prefer to proceed with a refund, I will forward your request to our management team. Since your original booking was made with a gift certificate, they will need to handle the transaction directly." - I did not purchase with a gift certificate, I paid full price for my ticket. I finally went out with them on 7/8. No whales. And the boat was horrendous. Per their guarantee regarding "no whales" and "a make-up trip" - I was given a voucher for a trip as I was leaving the boat - I asked again if I could join them on 7/11, 7/12 (2x). In my 2nd e-mail I asked for a refund as I had grown tired of no responses from them. I've lost a considerable amount of money to this company over the years, as they refuse to respond to e-mails or calls and to re-schedule as guaranteed by their site. I was done. I then received an e-mail indicating that they were now going to charge me a $20.00 booking fee + applicable taxes. Outraged by this request for additional funds, once again, I asked for a refund. I received a snarky e-mail from Christine regarding the refund. On July 30th, I received this from Bill: "In two sentences, just tell me how much we owe you and I’ll get it done today" - that didn't happen - no refund - instead they posted a response on a review which contained blatant lies. I intend to pursue all remedies available to me in order to receive the refund I am entitled to. My next step will be to report them to the Better Business Bureau.