Whale Watching in Icy Strait Point

[janet212]

We'll be on the Celebrity Infinity arriving in ISP on June 13th. We'd like to take a whale watching trip. Any recommendations on excursions? I hate to pay the high fee for trips through the cruise line. Anyone taken an excursion on their own? Perhaps you could send me a link to the website of the tour operator. Thanks so much.

[Budget Queen]

I hope to go with Fishes. fishes@hoonah.net Will be there Aug. 24 if anyone is interested?

[quickfingers]

My family booked with F.I.S.H.E.S. on Aug. 11th. Marjorie and Floyd were great :). My wife doesn't like going on small boats :(, 36' catamaran. After talking with Floyd, she had no reservations about going out with him. We will have more time on the boat than the excursion through the cruiseline and there will be less people on the boat :). We will be able to go places and stop more often than the excursion through the cruiseline :). 80% of F.I.S.H.E.S. customers are repeat customers.

 

Budget Queen is correct. I just wish we were going with her on the boat. I would like to meet her :D. She has been VERY helpful.

[quickfingers]

My dates were wrong. We will be in ISP on Aug. 9th.

[I'm sailing away ...]

My family booked with F.I.S.H.E.S. on Aug. 11th. Marjorie and Floyd were great :). My wife doesn't like going on small boats :(, 36' catamaran. After talking with Floyd, she had no reservations about going out with him. We will have more time on the boat than the excursion through the cruiseline and there will be less people on the boat :). We will be able to go places and stop more often than the excursion through the cruiseline :). 80% of F.I.S.H.E.S. customers are repeat customers.

 

Budget Queen is correct. I just wish we were going with her on the boat. I would like to meet her :D. She has been VERY helpful.

 

Quickfingers: Could you provide details such as length of excursion and cost? Thanks!

Barbara

[quickfingers]

We are paying $110 pp plus tax. I think it comes to $116 total pp. This excursion costs about the same as the one from the cruise ship, but we go out for FOUR hours not TWO and there are only six people on the smaller catamaran. We can go places that the larger boat cannot and get there quicker. I hope this helps.

[vhord]

We did a fishing excursion out of Hoonah June 21 and here is a picture taken from the boat. I am not sure who had the best view of these whales---us or the folks at the cannery!

[vhord]

We did our fishing trip at ISP (5 hrs.) with Glacier Winds Charters for $150 ea. We caught salmon and watched whales so it was sort of a 2fer.:) I believe they charge $125 ea. if you do not wish to fish. We also saw eagles and a bear and her cub on the shoreline. Here is another whale pic. They were bubble feeding and I missed two opportunities when they came out of the water with their mouths wide open scooping in the fish (I forget what that is called).

[quickfingers]

Floyd, at F.I.S.H.E.S., told me that if I wanted to fish with him I could put a line in the water for an extra $15. Although I am going on a six hour fishing trip out of Ketchikan the next day, I would gladly pay an extra $15 to fish a second time from ISP.

[chalky_bertie]

Don't bother in my opinion. Stand on the beach and the pathway that goes around the cannery and you should see them from there. On same cruise as "vhord" but we stayed on the beech and got some amazing photos of them bubble feeding and then coming out of the water.

 

 

[JohnQ]

Your advice is fine if it is one of the days the whales are near the cannery, but they are not there every day and many people whose main goal is to see whales would be disappointed. The whalewatch tour or fishing boats that go out whalewatching know where the whales are being seen on any given day or time and can go right there. We saw at least 50-60 on ours last Sept. for at least two hours. It looks like you saw some good ones on your trip.

[Silver Fox23]

Can you give me a website for fishes@hoonah.net? We will be in Icy Strait on Aug. 23. we'll miss you by one day.

[quickfingers]

I don't think Marjorie and Floyd have a website. They had to send us a pamphlet with all of the information. Their phone number is (907) 945-3327. Try them there. Good luck.

[Char]

I can tell you that Floyd of FISHES is the BEST!! We were in ISP on June 13th and Floyd took us on a tour that you can only dream about!!! :D We went to where there were a lot of humpbacks and they really put on a show for us. Blowing and breaching and we listened to them with Floyd's underwater mike. Lots of sea lions, eagles, etc. The locals keep in touch with each other by radio so everyone knows where the action is. His catamaran is equipped with a head so you are comfortable for the 4 hours you spend on the boat. He searched the beachline as we headed to the point where the whales were, hoping to spot a bear and her cub, but she wasn't visable that day. I would go with Floyd if he is available for your date.

[flashdog_1]

I have read that the Icy Strait Point locale is near the whale feeding/breeding area, so you are bound to see whales from your cruise ship coming in, or on the tender to shore, or on shore, as the photos above prove. This is not to say that a whale watching tour would not be fabulous...just the boat experience, hearing them radio to one another to catch up to a pod etc. would be worth it, especially with fishing added. But if you are short on funds, it might be worth a try just to sit on shore and watch. I read that someone even saw a bear that way. See photos of the area at Icy-Strait-Point.com. Beautiful!

 

Do you know how lucky we are to be some of the first to go there? As long as they keep the one ship a day rule, it may stay that way for a long time. when I first started researching shore excursions for this summer's cruise, i read people's comments on the Alaska board, "where is Icy Strait Point" or "your cruise ship will pass Icy Point" which is a different area

 

Eventually, when the word gets out, perhaps more ships will want to schedule a port of call there, but right now it's pretty exclusive. Just like most ships do not stop in Valdez, Haines etc. Aha! So NEXT cruise you can book one that does stop there. Mine does not stop at Sitka, so i'll make sure that is on my next itinerary.

[CheshireCat]

Just back from the 6/17 Vision of the Seas. We went Whale Watching with Floyd in Icy Straits and had a great day. That day however, the most spectacluar whale behavior was group bubble feeding right off the shore! Our trip watched that spectacle for awhile, then left and went to Point Adolphis, where we some many more whales and sea lions. This biggest advantage of this trip is that there are only 4 passengers. It was a rainy day, but we were all able to ride "inside" while we were traveling. Floyd was very nice, I would recommend this trip!