Whale Waching Tour - Seward or Icy Straits Points (Hoonah)

[laksaqueen]

My family and I (3 of us) are planning for NCL cruise during the first week of June. I am trying to figure out the difference between the whale watching tours in Seward versus Hoonah. The cost of the tours at Seward seem to be much better nearly 1/3 of the price for longer, but I am not sure what I would be losing out for not doing the whale watching at Hoonah.

 

Any advice would be much appreciated. It is our first cruise as well as our first trip to Alaska.

[Budget Queen]

First point, there aren't any "whale watches" out of Seward. It is varied wildlife tours, you may, or may not see whale. My stats aren't good, only about 50% of my trips have had whale sightings, the same with my 4 trips last year.

 

Also your 1/3 price reference- WHERE are you seeing that? It's not accurate.

 

Hoonah will be 99% sightings of humpbacks, with extended viewing time. Kenai Fjord tour, if a whale is seen, it's an overall brief view compared to a dedicated whale watch. The significant differences are, Kenai fjords is a route trip, you see what's along the "route", where as a whale watch tour, can go in many different areas and direction, and is based on time only.

Edited April 30, 2015 by Budget Queen

[uvasag]

I'm still a novice when it comes to Alaska and my cruise is in July so haven't even been there yet. When I was planning my excursions I asked a similar question and somebody here had a good point. If wild life viewing is important then book both. A lot of excursions in Alaska are weather dependent. If you can't do the Kenai tour in Seward you will have a second chance to view it in Hoonah . Also, as BudgetQueen said Kenai tour will cover a lot more than just whales.

[Barwick Cruiser]

Ive booked with Glacier Winds in ISP for our Sept cruise on Solstice. My main objective is to see whales so I'm happy to hear that my chances are really good! I don't care if it's rainy or dry, well actually, dry would be preferable:D but I figure the whales will be around either way so I'll be packing my waterproof jacket and shoes and aim to have a great adventure!!

 

Can't wait to see the reviews of the cruisers that should be departing around now and get some more current info!

[CJPi]

It's too bad your trip is the week after ours, if there was more time I could give feedback on our Icy Strait Point whale tour before you have to book. We went with this company and they have great reviews, and the email back and forth with them has been really prompt. Fingers crossed we picked the right spot to hopefully see some humpbacks :)

[judynorth]

It's too bad your trip is the week after ours, if there was more time I could give feedback on our Icy Strait Point whale tour before you have to book. We went with this company and they have great reviews, and the email back and forth with them has been really prompt. Fingers crossed we picked the right spot to hopefully see some humpbacks :)

 

I checked the company website and it looked good. We have been whale watching on a similar boat and it was great for the task. All those windows open and give an almost unobstructed view. The number of pax is also limited to 22 which is great. (We were on a photo tour and the boat was configured differently and held only 14 people.) Thanks for the link.

[laksaqueen]

First point, there aren't any "whale watches" out of Seward. It is varied wildlife tours, you may, or may not see whale. My stats aren't good, only about 50% of my trips have had whale sightings, the same with my 4 trips last year.

 

Also your 1/3 price reference- WHERE are you seeing that? It's not accurate.

 

Hoonah will be 99% sightings of humpbacks, with extended viewing time. Kenai Fjord tour, if a whale is seen, it's an overall brief view compared to a dedicated whale watch. The significant differences are, Kenai fjords is a route trip, you see what's along the "route", where as a whale watch tour, can go in many different areas and direction, and is based on time only.

Dear Budget Queen

 

Thank you for the clarification between what to expect on Kenai vs Hoonah. I will get the whale watching at Hoonah and maybe the Exit Glacier tour at Seward instead.

 

Thanks

[varoo]

.... We went with this company and they have great reviews, and the email back and forth with them has been really prompt. Fingers crossed we picked the right spot to hopefully see some humpbacks :)

From the photo on their website, it looks like they have steps up to the upper deck, but it is hard to determine the height of the railings around the upper deck from the photo.

 

The lower front and back decks appear quite small for a boat that can take 22 passengers, only about the size of the outside decks on the little six pack boats.

 

When you went, were passengers allowed up on the upper deck when the boat stopped for wildlife viewing?

If so, this should really be a great choice.

 

TIA

 

[CJPi]

From the photo on their website, it looks like they have steps up to the upper deck, but it is hard to determine the height of the railings around the upper deck from the photo.

 

The lower front and back decks appear quite small for a boat that can take 22 passengers, only about the size of the outside decks on the little six pack boats.

 

When you went, were passengers allowed up on the upper deck when the boat stopped for wildlife viewing?

If so, this should really be a great choice.

 

TIA

 

 

I think you misunderstood my post, I guess I should have said "we chose this company." We are still a few weeks out from our trip! I'll definitely give a play by play when we return from our honeymoon though.

 

To answer your question, if you zoom in on the photo you'll see that it's a flat top boat. No second level, I think the stairs are merely for maintenance. It looks like a few passengers can walk out to the front or back though.

 

22 passengers = 11 per side, not too unreasonable given the thousands that descend on each port...

[varoo]

I think you misunderstood my post, I guess I should have said "we chose this company." We are still a few weeks out from our trip! I'll definitely give a play by play when we return from our honeymoon though.

 

To answer your question, if you zoom in on the photo you'll see that it's a flat top boat. No second level, I think the stairs are merely for maintenance. It looks like a few passengers can walk out to the front or back though.

 

22 passengers = 11 per side, not too unreasonable given the thousands that descend on each port...

Guess it was just wishful thinking on my part. Seeing what look like horizontal aluminum railings across the top, I started thinking they might be the kind that flip up to create higher railings, the way they do on some of the tenders that carry passengers on their upper deck.

 

I also enjoy the views from the upper level of the Orca Odysea for whale watching in Juneau, so was hoping it would be something similar.

 

Oh well, it still looks like a very nice boat.

Thanks for the reply.

 

Have a wonderful honeymoon!

 

[Chenega]

There are whale watching trips out of Seward but they end on May 15 when the tour operators convert to their regular summer itineraries.

 

http://www.kenaifjords.com/specials/spring-gray-whale-watch-day-trip/

[Chenega]

An article from today's Anchorage newspaper:

 

http://www.adn.com/article/20150428/watch-while-gray-whales-chow-down-resurrection-bay-spring

[4cats,1dog]

We went with Misty Bay Lodge last May.

There boat had an upper deck. The back deck had a covering in case it rains, so you don't get wet. The cabin was warm and roomy.. Captain Dan was wonderful.

He kept in touch with all the other boat captains to get maximum Whale viewing.

We had hot and cold drinks available and homemade cookies.

Best part- only 2 couples and the captain. They only take up to 6 people.

 

Afterwards we went back to Miaty Bay Lodge for homemade fish chowder.

 

Highly recommend them.

[onefishtwofish]

We went with Misty Bay Lodge last May.

There boat had an upper deck. The back deck had a covering in case it rains, so you don't get wet. The cabin was warm and roomy.. Captain Dan was wonderful.

He kept in touch with all the other boat captains to get maximum Whale viewing.

We had hot and cold drinks available and homemade cookies.

Best part- only 2 couples and the captain. They only take up to 6 people.

 

Afterwards we went back to Miaty Bay Lodge for homemade fish chowder.

 

Highly recommend them.

 

Glad to hear - we are booked with them! :D

[trophy_23]

We went with Misty Bay Lodge last May.

 

There boat had an upper deck. The back deck had a covering in case it rains, so you don't get wet. The cabin was warm and roomy.. Captain Dan was wonderful.

 

He kept in touch with all the other boat captains to get maximum Whale viewing.

 

We had hot and cold drinks available and homemade cookies.

 

Best part- only 2 couples and the captain. They only take up to 6 people.

 

 

 

Afterwards we went back to Miaty Bay Lodge for homemade fish chowder.

 

 

 

Highly recommend them.

 

 

^^^^^This^^^^^ We also went with misty bay and they were fantastic! We lucked into being the only ones booked for the afternoon tour (With Dan and His wife) so that made it even better, but with max 6 people there would have been plenty of space. Great deck space and a very stable boat! Highly recommended!

[zqvol]

I think you misunderstood my post, I guess I should have said "we chose this company." We are still a few weeks out from our trip! I'll definitely give a play by play when we return from our honeymoon though.

 

To answer your question, if you zoom in on the photo you'll see that it's a flat top boat. No second level, I think the stairs are merely for maintenance. It looks like a few passengers can walk out to the front or back though.

 

22 passengers = 11 per side, not too unreasonable given the thousands that descend on each port...

 

11 per side, behind glass is terrible. If you really want to see wildlife you have to be able to get completely outside, and don't expect any decent pictures through glass on a bouncing boat.

[Budget Queen]

11 per side, behind glass is terrible. If you really want to see wildlife you have to be able to get completely outside, and don't expect any decent pictures through glass on a bouncing boat.

 

Add the salt crusted windows. :) They may open? Definately a very valid point with whale watching and photography, you have to have direct access to outside, never through windows. I would verify, if the windows open direct with the vendor.

 

Reason, I really like the Orca Odysea- it's just about a perfect boat for whale watching. full sliding windows, expansive back deck, and 360' from an upper deck. :)

[LMKakaThing2]

Ive booked with Glacier Winds in ISP for our Sept cruise on Solstice. My main objective is to see whales so I'm happy to hear that my chances are really good! I don't care if it's rainy or dry, well actually, dry would be preferable:D but I figure the whales will be around either way so I'll be packing my waterproof jacket and shoes and aim to have a great adventure!!

 

Can't wait to see the reviews of the cruisers that should be departing around now and get some more current info!

I leave in 13 days on the Radiance and have booked Glacier Winds in Hoonah. I'll try and get my review up within a few weeks of returning. I will make sure I include info on Glacier Winds.

[CJPi]

Sheesh you guys, such negativity. There's been nothing but assumptions about this boat and I haven't even been on it. How about I go on the excursion, have a great time and come back with actual feedback that's worth something?

 

Regarding the pictures... God forbid any of you lose a camera or have it malfunction. If you don't come back with perfect SD cards the experience didn't happen, right? ;P