Tag archives: Condor Express
There are few places where summer feels quite as complete as it does from the deck of a boat at sunset. The day’s heat softens, the Santa Ynez Mountains begin to glow pink, dolphins occasionally ride the bow wake, and the Pacific settles into that familiar golden calm that somehow makes everyone slow down. For […]
Condor Express owner Hiroko Benko hosted a romantic evening cruise along the Santa Barbara coastline, delighting opera lovers with a stunning live performance at sea. Guests enjoyed powerful numbers by American Idol contestant and soprano Micaela McCall, baritone Brian Hotchkin, and pianist Renée Hamaty, who performed opera favorites during the two-hour sunset cruise. Hotchkin sang […]
It was high Cs on the high seas when Hiroko Benko threw a Broadway-themed sunset cruise on her popular whale watching vessel the Condor Express. The cruise featured soprano Deborah Bertling and tenor William Simpson with pianist Renee Hamaty bringing the Great White Way to life against the backdrop of the Pacific. Next month Hiroko […]
Santa Barbara is a city with spectacular events, exciting adventures, and a ton of surprises in between! The highlight of the season is Old Spanish Days with its confetti-ladened Fiesta celebrations, although the summer months are packed with fun stuff everywhere! One of my favorites is the Hawaiian Cruise aboard the Condor Express. The whale […]
The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum throbbed to the Caribbean beat as 140 guests celebrated a Love Boat cruise gala with head honcho Greg Gorga in all white officer’s uniform. Condor Express owner Hiroko Benko, who created a Santa Barbara Whale Heritage Area, and Sigrid Toye, a past board president and current board member, were presented […]
A Whale of a Weekend celebrating the first anniversary of the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area (SBCWHA), a nonprofit organization, was launched the evening of Friday, November 22nd, at the luxurious Ritz Carlton Bacara. The jubilee was a joyous event in honor of the magnificent whales that grace our local waters and to celebrate […]
The Great White Way was on the great blue wave when Condor Express owner Hiroko Benko hosted her eighth annual Broadway musical cruise at the weekend for more than 70 guests. The two-hour coastal cruise featured soprano Deborah Bertling, now president of the Community Arts Music Association, and baritone Brian Hotchkin, accompanied by pianist Renée […]
No wonder Condor Express owner Hiroko Benko is smiling. Inside Hook, a lifestyle magazine, has just named her to the Top 7 as one of the best places globally to see dolphins. Writer Hudson Lindenberger says Hiroko’s 75 ft. vessel, which plies the waters around Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands – around 1,430 miles […]
Santa Barbara is front and center in a new National Geographic feature declaring “Whales and butterflies are the real celebrities” in our Eden by the Beach. Writer Norie Quintos says the likes of Harry and Meghan, Oprah, and Gwyneth “aren’t the ones followed and fawned over,” but a rich diversity of wildlife like whales and […]
I recently enjoyed a Sunday evening Broadway Cruise onboard Hiroko Benko’s Condor Express whale-watching vessel here in Santa Barbara. The event featured two young singers – soprano Anikka Abbott and baritone Nicholas Ehlen – who sang classic numbers (accompanied by pianist Renée Hamaty) from a variety of Broadway musicals. The songs featured were such hits […]
The Santa Barbara Channel, better known for its population of Great White sharks, made way for the Great White Way when Hiroko Benko, bubbly owner of the popular whale watching vessel, Condor Express, hosted her 8th annual Broadway Cruise, a two-hour delight featuring music from New York and London’s finest musicals. KEYT-TV chief meteorologist and […]
It was a case of high Cs on the high seas when Hiroko Benko, owner of the popular whale-watching vessel Condor Express, hosted a two-hour opera cruise for 70 music lovers, the first in three years. Featuring new Chrisman Studio tenor artist Kyle Rudolph from San Diego, and soprano Chelsea Chaves from Orange County accompanied […]
It wasn’t all Montecito all the time, but there were plenty of Montecito folks who joined a grab bag of Santa Barbarans, Carpinterians, Goletans, Noletans, Mesa denizens, and adventurous tourists, on owner Hiroko Benko’s seventh annual “Broadway Cruise” that took us from Santa Barbara Landing on West Beach – home port of Condor Express – […]
Condor Express owner Hiroko Benko made sure everyone had a whale of a time when she hosted a sunset cruise for her good friend Dolores Johnson, organizer of the Montecito Motor Classic at the Santa Barbara Polo Club, which attracted more than 200 exotic and luxury cars. “It was a truly wonderful event,” gushed Hiroko, […]
It was a case of High Cs on the high seas when bubbly Condor Express owner Hiroko Benko hosted her fifth annual opera cruise on the popular 75-foot whale watching vessel. Given the pandemic uptick, guest numbers were kept to around 50 instead of the normal 145 for the two-hour maritime recital by soprano Chelsea […]
“I’ve never seen it like this. Business has never been better.” That’s quite the statement from Hiroko Benko, the CEO of the Condor Express, the booming whale-watching outfit that takes daily trips into the Santa Barbara Channel to give locals and tourists a glimpse at nearly every species of whale, as well as dolphins, seals, […]
To the Ventura Harbor Boat Yard with my trusty shutterbug Priscilla, where the beloved Santa Barbara whale watching vessel, Condor Express, owned by Hiroko Benko, has been undergoing a major transformation. The 100-ton, 74-foot catamaran, which was rebuilt in 2011, still had the original engines from its 2002 launch, and had to meet new environmental […]
Condor Express Celebrates its Roots Early on, local legend Fred “Captain Fred” Benko, developed a keen interest in what was in the Santa Barbara Channel: the fish, the birds, the oceanic wildlife. A half century ago, that interest led Fred to buy sports fishing operation located in the harbor across from the Navy Pier beneath […]
If you want to have some fun and laughs, go to West Beach when the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) hold its annual Kardboard Kayak Races. This 17th year 32 teams entered the competition (three divisions of family fun and one division of the paddling pros (adult). Each team could have up to four people […]
Here’s one you don’t want to miss if you can help it: The Broadway Musical Cruise aboard the Condor Express. Owner Hiroko Benko invites one and all to come aboard and enjoy the best of Broadway on a smooth Saturday evening cruise with live and on-deck performers Deborah Bertling and Carol Ann Manzi, accompanied by […]
