Humpbacks are lunge-feeding within sight of the Pacifica bluffs, and the best seat is a patch of sand — no ticket required. A field guide to the spots, the timing, and the boat option.

The move this week costs nothing, needs no reservation, and is happening about a quarter mile off the sand: humpback whales are feeding close to shore along the Pacifica coast, and you can watch the whole thing from land. A first-time viewer posted video to r/bayarea (external source, opens in a new tab) after catching them one morning this week, with the classic verdict — forgettable on the phone, astonishing in person.

What, when, where. The whales are chasing dense schools of small fish — anchovies and herring — that have pushed in tight against the San Mateo County shoreline, a late-summer pattern that tends to hold, in good years, well into fall. The best free vantages are all in Pacifica: the bluffs just north of Esplanade Beach, the Pacifica Pier at the foot of Santa Rosa Avenue, Rockaway Beach, and the Highway 1 pullout south of the Tom Lantos Tunnels near Devil's Slide. Go in the morning, before the wind picks up and chops the water into noise. Bring binoculars — "close" by whale-watching standards still means scanning a dark stretch of sea for a tall, column-shaped spout, then a rolling black back, then a fluke.

Why now. Humpbacks are opportunistic; they go where the food is, and the food is here. Giancarlo Rulli of the Marine Mammal Center told Hilltromper (external source, opens in a new tab) during a comparable run last summer that this is ordinary behavior — the whales pausing along their route to cash in while small bait fish are stacked up against the coast. They are also staying longer than they once did. Jaime Jahncke of Point Blue Conservation Science told KPIX (external source, opens in a new tab) last September that animals that used to pass through roughly July to October now linger from spring into December, with some sticking around nearly year-round — a shift he ties to where the fish have moved and to a real rebound in the West Coast humpback population. The from-shore payoff is lunge feeding: a whale bursting up mouth-agape through a bait ball, head hanging in the air for a beat before it drops back under.

The insider tip. Robin Brun's Pacifica Whalespotting group on Facebook — around 35,000 members, per KPIX (external source, opens in a new tab) — is the real-time board for where the spouts are on a given morning. Check it before you drive over. Strike out on the water and the Chit Chat Café, across from the Esplanade bluffs, has ocean-facing windows, so you can keep watch over a bagel. Spot one and you can log it on the Marine Mammal Center's sightings form (external source, opens in a new tab); fluke photos help researchers ID individual animals and flag whales near the shipping lanes.

If you'd rather go by boat. Operators run humpback trips out of San Francisco — the nonprofit Oceanic Society (external source, opens in a new tab) and San Francisco Whale Tours among them — leaving from the Marina in the morning. Confirm current per-person pricing and departure times on the operator's own site before booking; both vary by trip and season.

If you've got two hours: grab binoculars, get to the Esplanade bluffs by mid-morning, and sit. There's a name for it — whale bathing — and it earns it.