A whale flashes its flukes as a luxury cruiser passes off Dana Point, Calif. Photo provided by Dana Point Festival of Whales. Cutlasses clash as re-enactors at the Ocean Institute depict the USS Essex's engagement with British whaling ships in the War of 1812. This "Boarders Away" show will be performed on March 10. Photo provided by Naval Historical Education Foundation. A California gray whale breaches off the cliffs of Dana Point. Biologists believe these cliffs are a landmark used by the whales in navigation, and account for the presence of so many whales in these waters during their migration. Photo provided by Dana Point Festival of Whales. This harbor buoy is frequently covered with sea lions, who bark a greeting -- or perhaps a warning -- when ships draw near. Photo by Deborah Wall/Cerca Contributor.

After another graceful and spectacular flash of their shining 12-foot-wide tail-flukes, both the gray whales headed back down under the water and out of sight. We assumed they would stay down another five minutes or so, as had been their pattern for the past 45 minutes. But unexpectedly, about 20 seconds later, one of the whales shot straight up out of the water, spun half way around, then landed back on the surface, creating a gigantic splash worthy of this 40-ton giant.

"That was phenomenal, I don't think we could have a better day," Tom Southern, captain of our whale watching catamaran said after seeing the leap, which is called a "breach."

Southern has spent seven years giving whale-watching tours like ours for Captain Dave's Whale and Dolphin Safari out of Dana Point, Calif., and said they don't get much better than what we experienced. By the end of our trip we had seen sea lions, two types of dolphins and two gray whales exhibiting courtship behavior.

This was our second day of a three-day trip earlier this month to Dana Point, a coastal town halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego. I had brought my daughter Charlotte, 9, here for a chance to see whales and other marine life in its natural environment. Since I spent much of my childhood sailing off the Atlantic Coast, I had seen many whales, but for Charlotte, a Nevadan all her young life, this would be a rare treat.

Less than four-and-a-half hours after leaving Las Vegas, we were checking into the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa, one of the area's most elegant places to stay. The resort is located high on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean and directly below was Dana Point Harbor. From our patio, we had sweeping ocean views and could see Catalina Island, which is more than 20 miles west.

The location can't be beat because it is close to the harbor area. We not only would board our whale-watching boats from here, but also would end up spending most of our time here, just walking around the two marinas -- home to about 2,500 boats -- visiting the Ocean Institute and eating at some of the area's finest restaurants.

To have more time on the water and thus increase our chances of seeing some whales, we had made plans to take two different whale- and-dolphin excursions on very different boats -- a large motor boat and a catamaran with both motor and sails.

In Southern California, the best time to see gray whales is from December through March, during their annual migration. Grays make the longest migrations of any mammal on earth, averaging more than 10,000 miles per round trip. Beginning in October, they head out from the Bering and Chukchi Seas between Alaska and Siberia and make their way south to Baja California, in Mexico, for mating and calving.

It is estimated there are now more than 25,000 gray whales in the North American area of the Pacific Ocean, compared to only about 15,000 in the late 1970s. There is only one other population of gray whales in the world, off the coast of Korea and Japan, but those are on the verge of extinction, with only about 50 left. Gray whales were once common in the Atlantic Ocean too, but because of hunting, they became extinct there in the 17th century.

After settling into our room, we took a five-minute walk down to the harbor and boarded the Dana Pride, a 95-foot, 100-ton motor boat. From the man-made harbor, created by a rock jetty a mile-and-a-half long, we first headed in a northwest direction out to a large red buoy, locally called the sea lion buoy because it is often covered with the big animals, basking in the sun.

After enjoying the sea lions, we headed farther out and it wasn't long until we were in open sea. Soon, our boat was surrounded by dozens of dolphins, jumping and swimming alongside the boat, keeping pace with us by riding the pressure waves near our bow. These are called common dolphins, because they are found in most of the world, and they average about 7 feet long. They are a colorful mix of gray and black from the top of their head to the tail, and sport a white underbelly.

Though there were more of them than we could watch at once, this was a relatively small group, as pods usually average about 200 dolphins. It's not uncommon to see pods as big as 1,000 and occasionally as large as 5,000. Other dolphins you might see are the Pacific white-sided, bottlenose, Risso and melon-head. Besides the gray whales, there are occasional sightings of minke, humpback, fin and killer whales. During the summer, blue whales are often seen.

That evening, after watching a spectacular sunset from our patio, we headed back down to the harbor for dinner at one of Dana Point's best restaurants, Harpoon Henry's. This top-notch seafood-and-steak restaurant overlooks the harbor and we were fortunate enough to sit by the window overlooking the boat slips.

Although the food was great, I offer one caveat about coming here with children: Harpoons in all shapes and sizes line the walls and inquisitive kids will want to know what they were used for. I explained as delicately as possible why people once found it necessary to do such a brutal thing to marine animals. Not an easy job and especially gut-wrenching if the child has just experienced the endearing sight of whales in the wild.

The next morning, much earlier than I expected, Charlotte coaxed me down to the resort's pool. She spent a few hours swimming in the heated pool while I relaxed in a cushioned chaise lounge soaking up the warm California sunshine. The weather couldn't have been better, and it was hard to imagine it was December.

Hunger coaxed us down to the harbor area for a late breakfast at Proud Mary's, a locals' favorite with an exceptional breakfast menu and plates filled with much more than an average person could possibly eat. Soon, we were pleasantly stuffed and ready to head down to the dock and embark on our next whale-watching excursion, this time aboard a catamaran. This would be very different from our experience the day before.

The day was ideal for whale watching, with calm seas and temperatures in the 70s. Just as we were passing the sea lion buoy, Southern spotted a whale about 100 yards to the north. This caused a lot of excitement and we all headed up to the bow for a better look. We caught a glimpse of the whale as it skimmed the surface, but it soon disappeared. Southern said they usually stay completely submerged only three to six minutes, although they can stretch it out to 15.

In the meantime, he asked everyone to look around.

"You never know where it will come back up," he said.

After what seemed like an eternity, we saw a huge puff of steam as the whale exhaled, and resurfaced perhaps 30 yards from the boat. No more than a few seconds later, another whale surfaced directly behind it. Instead of just heading in a southerly direction as most whales do at this time, these two continued in somewhat of a circular pattern around our boat, repeatedly blowing, showing their elegant flukes, acting playful and then submerging for about five minutes.

"They are exhibiting mating behavior," Southern said. "They go into something like a trance and you can see they are very active and interacting with each other."

Southern estimated each was 30 to 40 feet long, about the size of our catamaran.

After watching these gentle creatures for about 45 minutes, we watched the two go down once more before heading out farther in search of dolphins. We had just started to head out, when there was a loud splash about 20 yards from our boat and we all watched dumbstruck as one of the grays breached, flying straight up out of the water.

Cruising every day, Southern sees it only two or three times a year.

"We are very, very lucky, this is unbelievable," he assured us.

Whales breach for a variety of reasons, he said. "They do it for fun, if they have an itch, to impress a mate or just to show off."

The reason whale watching is so ideal in this area is experts believe the 200-foot high cliffs of the headlands called Dana Point, just north of the harbor, constitute a landmark for the gray whales on their migration. Also, they try to stay fairly close to shore.

"They want to stay in water less than 250 feet because they are bottom feeders," Southern said. According to Southern, the water where we saw our whales was about 100 feet deep.

After our amazing afternoon at sea, we walked over to the Ocean Institute, also located on the harbor. This is a state-of-the-art 33,000-square-foot Ocean Education Center and research facility that offers programs for school children during the week and is open to the public on weekends.

We toured four different buildings. Charlotte was fascinated by the octopus who changed color at a moment's notice and had the most upscale home of any creature at the Institute. He actually had two tanks that he could go back and forth to, accessed by two thin tubes about two feet long, much like ones for a hamster or gerbil.

Charlotte also had a chance to hold a starfish and was not only impressed by its color and size -- blue and gold, 12 inches diameter -- but surprised at its rough, sandpapery feel. She was fascinated by Brutus, an 11-pound lobster in his large tank. The most unexpected bit of information Charlotte took away from our visit was learning that the popular children's cartoon, SpongeBob SquarePants, is rather accurate in its depiction of marine life.

One of the Institute's highlights for me was visiting its two tall ships, which are docked outside. The Pilgrim is a 130-foot "snow brig" and the Spirit of Dana Point, a 118-foot topsail schooner. The institute uses both the vessels for research and educating children.

Although a trip from Dana Point to see California gray whales can be spectacular anytime during the migration, one of the most ideal times to visit is the first two weekends of March during the 36th Annual Dana Point Festival of Whales. This isn't only for fun but an educational experience that focuses on environmental issues of whales and other marine life of the area.

The town pulls out all the stops with a street fair, parade, historical walking tours and art show and for kids there will be a children's carnival, fish-feeding program and ocean crafts. On the water, anyone older than 5 can take sailing and kayaking lessons. There will be plenty of opportunities to take a whale-watching and dolphin excursion. There is also a campfire program offered at Doheny State Beach, located next to the harbor, to learn sea tales and learn about whales, sharks and other sea life.

During the festival, the Ocean Institute will offer learning labs about new discoveries in marine mammal research and living history demonstrations aboard the Pilgrim by the Naval Historical Education Foundation. These demonstrations will include re-enactment of cannon battles and sword fights, depicting the USS Essex's engagement with British whaling ships during the war of 1812.

But for me, no pleasure of the harbor can compare to that found on the open deck of a whale-watching craft, as nature's biggest mammalian marvels cruise and cavort nearby. When you've seen something that weighs 40 tons do a cannonball dive, you'll not soon forget it.