Whale Watch in Juneau which company gets the closets to the whales?

[Hannah318]

Hi. Would like to do a Whale Watch in June, 2018 in Juneau. Was wondering if one company gets closer to the whales or can move around to the Whales the quickest. We have it down to Harv and Marv or the Juneau whale tour combo. We will be travels with teams so we were hoping they would be excited to go. Thank you!

[martincath]

They're all subject to the same rules and laws, don't need to travel far to find whales, share info. The only real qualitative difference between any of the companies (unless you know them well enough to have particular captains you prefer to ride with) is size of boat. Not sure who 'the Juneau whale tour combo' refers to. It's pretty much irrelevant who you book with in terms of whether you'll see whales and how close you'll get - the latter is random, as a boat might have a whale pop up well inside the legal minimum distance but no responsible captain is going to deliberately approach whales too closely (even if they don't care about whale welfare, the fines and potential loss of license does deter them!)

 

Our personal preference is Gastineau Guiding, as their boats hit the sweet spot for us - bigger than H&Ms 6-packs, but dedicated whale-watching vessels designed from the proverbial ground up to be optimal for that purpose with outdoor viewing areas and huge windows that fully-open so everyone inside can still get great photo ops without shooting through glass - but also without being rained on if the weather is ropey.

[Budget Queen]

As mentioned there are strict guidelines in place that all vendors have to follow. Every trip is also going to be completely different and never repeated. There is no "one" trip, route or sightings. You must be accepting of what you get.

 

I'd suggest being cautious with a Mendenhall combo tour, but, you could be referring to another type? fixed time at Mendenhall, some times is a negative.

[Keith1010]

One thing I would look for is sailing on a very small vessel. We did that several years ago and it was just six of us (four in my family) and the Captain and his assistant.

 

Keith

[DarkJedi]

They go near where the whale are and turn off their engines. After that it is up to the whales which boats they like better to get close to.

 

Smaller boats = better experience IMHO.

[peety3]

Our personal preference is Gastineau Guiding, as their boats hit the sweet spot for us - bigger than H&Ms 6-packs, but dedicated whale-watching vessels designed from the proverbial ground up to be optimal for that purpose with outdoor viewing areas and huge windows that fully-open so everyone inside can still get great photo ops without shooting through glass - but also without being rained on if the weather is ropey.

 

One thing I would look for is sailing on a very small vessel. We did that several years ago and it was just six of us (four in my family) and the Captain and his assistant.

I'm sure there's a neat intimacy to being on a small boat, but from what I've seen and experienced, boat stability and "passenger density" matters more to me. Those Gastineau boats are amazing, and I would pick those any time over the six-passenger boats I've seen in Juneau, even at twice the price.

[jtdlmc]

I'm sure there's a neat intimacy to being on a small boat, but from what I've seen and experienced, boat stability and "passenger density" matters more to me. Those Gastineau boats are amazing, and I would pick those any time over the six-passenger boats I've seen in Juneau, even at twice the price.

 

 

 

How many passengers are on the Gastineau boats.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[martincath]

How many passengers are on the Gastineau boats.

14 on the ones we were on; I hear they now have slightly larger boats (20pax?) as well. Gastineau are usually contracted to cruiselines when ships are in - look for any cruiseline excursions where the boat size is <20 and that should be them (compared to the huge Allen Marine boats for the same price - booking privately on whalewatch doesn't really save money unless you book a whole boat for a private tour, it just assures you of a smaller boat).

[Hannah318]

Thank you for all you wonderful advice.

BQ I was referring to the one with the Juneau whale Watch/ Mendenhall Glacier. After reading these posts I think I’m going to go with Harv and Marv or Gastineau. I think Harv and Marv work better with our 6:30 to 4 port time. Thank you!

[bhopal21]

Thank you for all you wonderful advice.

BQ I was referring to the one with the Juneau whale Watch/ Mendenhall Glacier. After reading these posts I think I’m going to go with Harv and Marv or Gastineau. I think Harv and Marv work better with our 6:30 to 4 port time. Thank you!

 

If you go with Harv and Marv see if you can book Liz Stahl. She is an awesome captain.

 

Mike:)

[Italy52]

If you go with Harv and Marv see if you can book Liz Stahl. She is an awesome captain.

 

Mike:)

 

Agree, Liz is wonderful. We have gone out with Liz numerous times and have always enjoyed our trips.

[land lover]

MY experience is not in Alaska...but we have done many whale watch excursions throughout the world.....I've even had the privileged of snorkeling near one in Tahiti and observing him underwater.

 

We have traveled in all sizes of zodiacs and small and large boats/ships(sometimes we never saw a whale)......however when we did, I honestly feel often the larger boats have better viewing and perspective for picture taking....and if you are in a zodiac and a whale pops up in close proximity the guide/driver will move further away as he/she does not want breaching and flipper-slapping to displace the vessel ...with a larger boat they can stay in place....I have had to take more zoom shots when on a zodiac than I have when on a 150+ pax boat. It is also cool looking down on the whale if it is close cuz you can see the full body...unlike in a zodiac when you are pretty much on the same level. Just my experiences......Whoever you book with I am sure you will have a wonderful time.

 

100 yards is the distance to be maintained by all vessels.

Edited March 5, 2018 by land lover

[peety3]

14 on the ones we were on; I hear they now have slightly larger boats (20pax?) as well.

14 pax for the "Photo Safari", 20 pax for the other tours as I understand it. 14-pax boats have a forward viewing area opened while stopped, 20-pax boats have a forward and aft area opened while stopped. (Plus of course the windows.)

[martincath]

MY experience is not in Alaska...but we have done many whale watch excursions throughout the world.....I've even had the privileged of snorkeling near one in Tahiti and observing him underwater.

 

We have traveled in all sizes of zodiacs and small and large boats/ships(sometimes we never saw a whale)......however when we did, I honestly feel often the larger boats have better viewing and perspective for picture taking....and if you are in a zodiac and a whale pops up in close proximity the guide/driver will move further away as he/she does not want breaching and flipper-slapping to displace the vessel ...with a larger boat they can stay in place....I have had to take more zoom shots when on a zodiac than I have when on a 150+ pax boat. It is also cool looking down on the whale if it is close cuz you can see the full body...unlike in a zodiac when you are pretty much on the same level. Just my experiences......Whoever you book with I am sure you will have a wonderful time.

 

100 yards is the distance to be maintained by all vessels.

I certainly don't disagree about the angles from a larger vessel - we got great views of a momma & baby humpback from a big cat off Boston - but rail space is at a premium unless you get lucky and that 150pax boat is only half full, and unlike a small boat it's impossible to see whales on the other side without moving there as the boat itself blocks your sightlines since you have to look down.

 

 

Plus I feel the experiential side just feels much more intense on a small craft - a face full of blowhole exhalation from a few feet away can't be guaranteed by anyone, but whales seem more inclined to pop up near small craft (perhaps better described as they don't seem to worry as much about *avoiding* them, unlike boats which are bigger than them) and I'll never forget being lifted up out of the water in our tiny 4-seater speedboat by a whale in the bay of Fundy. Some of the resident Grays off the Oregon coast seem to even learn individual boats and deliberately scratch themselves against the 'friendly' RHIBs!

 

These days it's actually a 200 yard 'best practise' exclusion zone (and for fast-moving Orcas, our local outfits also avoid at least 400 yards in front of them with no wake/go slow zones out to half a mile). Since Canadian law was always in metres (100, about 109 yards, even back in the day) in practise whichever of WA State/US Federal or BC/Canadian laws are most restrictive were the ones followed throughout the Salish Sea by responsible companies anyway - and some pretty active enforcement with fines levied ensured the less responsible folks still behaved! But if a whale pops up within the range it's better to wait it out than to ramp up from station keeping and move away under power due to the increased noise, unless simply letting your vessel drift will move it further from the whales.

[Glaciers]

Hi. Would like to do a Whale Watch in June, 2018 in Juneau. Was wondering if one company gets closer to the whales or can move around to the Whales the quickest. We have it down to Harv and Marv or the Juneau whale tour combo. We will be travels with teams so we were hoping they would be excited to go. Thank you!

 

It doesn't happen often but we were on Harv n Marv several years ago when it was abnormally rough. There were two of their 6 passenger boats out and both of us could not get close and had to stay quite a distance from the whales that were bubble net feeding and the other larger vessels that were getting quite a show. We actually went back to the dock early due to the rough seas.

[Budget Queen]

Thank you for all you wonderful advice.

BQ I was referring to the one with the Juneau whale Watch/ Mendenhall Glacier. After reading these posts I think I’m going to go with Harv and Marv or Gastineau. I think Harv and Marv work better with our 6:30 to 4 port time. Thank you!

 

this is a superior choice compared to a combo tour. From the whale watch simply have a cab (call as you are coming back in) take you direct to Mendenhall. Then take either a shuttle, (verify one way is currently available?) or call a cab about 1/2 hour prior to wanting pick up.

 

Preferable to go independent then see and do what you want, leave when you are ready. :)

[Crew News]

MY experience is not in Alaska...but we have done many whale watch excursions throughout the world.....I've even had the privileged of snorkeling near one in Tahiti and observing him underwater.

 

We have traveled in all sizes of zodiacs and small and large boats/ships(sometimes we never saw a whale)......however when we did, I honestly feel often the larger boats have better viewing and perspective for picture taking....and if you are in a zodiac and a whale pops up in close proximity the guide/driver will move further away as he/she does not want breaching and flipper-slapping to displace the vessel ...with a larger boat they can stay in place....I have had to take more zoom shots when on a zodiac than I have when on a 150+ pax boat. It is also cool looking down on the whale if it is close cuz you can see the full body...unlike in a zodiac when you are pretty much on the same level. Just my experiences......Whoever you book with I am sure you will have a wonderful time.

 

100 yards is the distance to be maintained by all vessels.

 

I agree that looking down has a better view of the whales. This photograph was taken in Auke Bay, Juneau, from the aft open deck of a 150+ passenger Allen Marine excursion boat when an Orca decided to surface a few feet from the boat. My camera did not have a super telephoto lens attached so I could point straight down to capture an amazing photo:

[land lover]

I agree that looking down has a better view of the whales. This photograph was taken in Auke Bay, Juneau, from the aft open deck of a 150+ passenger Allen Marine excursion boat when an Orca decided to surface a few feet from the boat. My camera did not have a super telephoto lens attached so I could point straight down to capture an amazing photo:

 

One amazing photo for sure

[Hannah318]

I want to thank you all for the wonderful advice. The Harv and Marv works the best with our very early post time. We would have plenty of time after to visit the glacier.

 

I will be sure to report back and post everyone on the trip!

 

The picture is absolutely stunning. I am going to keep my expectations low!

Thank you.

[bhopal21]

I want to thank you all for the wonderful advice. The Harv and Marv works the best with our very early post time. We would have plenty of time after to visit the glacier.

 

I will be sure to report back and post everyone on the trip!

 

The picture is absolutely stunning. I am going to keep my expectations low!

Thank you.

 

Hopefully you can get Liz Stahl for your captain. She is very knowledgeable as well as a fun person. Both times we have been with her there were only 4 of us on the boat.

 

Have a great day in Juneau!

 

Mike

[lcumpire]

They go near where the whale are and turn off their engines. After that it is up to the whales which boats they like better to get close to.

 

Smaller boats = better experience IMHO.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums