Best whale watching in May

[Sandifer]

We’re  booked on Holland America on May 7. Stopping at Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway.  Trying to figure out which is the best port for whale watching excursion. Any advice s appreciated

[karatemom2]

Of those three ports, Juneau is by far the best choice for a whale watching excursion. There are a lot of other great things to do in Ketchikan and Skagway, but for whales Juneau would be the best option.

[5waldos]

Juneau for sure. Not sure I've ever seen excursions for whale watching in either Skagway or Ketchikan. 

[llkoolj40]

Definitely Juneau. We have used Harv and Marv for whale watching 3 times and thought they were great. 

[nini]

Juneau!!! We also went with Harv and Marv.

[Italy52]

Juneau is a great place for whale watching.  There are many options to choose from when it comes to whale watching companies.  Besides the ship's excursion, there are a lot of independent companies.  We like Jayleen's Alaska.  Suggestion would be to explore all options and see what vendor provides what you are looking for in a whale watching experience --- if whale watching is something you want to do.

[blackkitteycat]

Ketchikan does have whale watching tours, but Juneau has a more established industry. 

[MichFish]

On 3/27/2022 at 1:30 PM, nini said:

Juneau!!! We also went with Harv and Marv.

3rd vote for Harv and Marvs.   I used them last time I was in Alaska and I’m already booked for May!

Edited April 8, 2022 by MichFish
Fix typo

[3brummies]

On 4/8/2022 at 2:52 AM, MichFish said:

3rd vote for Harv and Marvs.   I used them last time I was in Alaska and I’m already booked for May!

Hi, we are there in May, can you please give me the web site to book this please. Thank you

[3rdGenCunarder]

Definitely Juneau for whales. There are lots of companies, so do an online search to see what's available. I recommend looking for a company with smaller boats, rather than the two-deckers that the cruiseline is probably offering. I haven't gone with Harv and Marv but have never heard a bad word about them. I usually go with Gastineau.

 

For a bit of a splurge in Skagway, do one of the train excursions. Great scenery!

[MichFish]

10 hours ago, 3brummies said:

Hi, we are there in May, can you please give me the web site to book this please. Thank you

Here you go:  https://www.harvandmarvs-juneau-whale-watching.com

[Coral]

On 4/6/2022 at 8:48 PM, blackkitteycat said:

Ketchikan does have whale watching tours, but Juneau has a more established industry. 

I had no idea. I have never seen tours in Ketchikan.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Coral

[tjcletzgo]

For a whale watch in Juneau I’d book with Jayleen’s Alaska.  She’s the daughter of one of the original Harv and Marv.  Check her out on TripAdvisor😎😎

[blackkitteycat]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

I had no idea. I have never seen tours in Ketchikan.

Yeah, many of the big companies (for example, Allen Marine) run tours all over Southeast, incl. Ketchikan. I do whale research - really the only reason that whale tours are so much more common in Juneau is because as a bigger town, there are a lot more companies. More companies means more whale sightings - when 10 boats are on the water looking for whales, you are a lot more likely to find them than if 1 boat is. The whales themselves are all over. Even the Alaska Whale Foundation, a private whale research organization, is based off of an island located about halfway between Juneau and Ketchikan. You can go whale watching in any town in Southeast Alaska.

[Coral]

41 minutes ago, blackkitteycat said:

Yeah, many of the big companies (for example, Allen Marine) run tours all over Southeast, incl. Ketchikan. I do whale research - really the only reason that whale tours are so much more common in Juneau is because as a bigger town, there are a lot more companies. More companies means more whale sightings - when 10 boats are on the water looking for whales, you are a lot more likely to find them than if 1 boat is. The whales themselves are all over. Even the Alaska Whale Foundation, a private whale research organization, is based off of an island located about halfway between Juneau and Ketchikan. You can go whale watching in any town in Southeast Alaska.

I know I have seen whales really early when approaching Ketchikan - I just didn't know anyone offered tours there.

 

I was in Cabo in December and did whale watching there. I was disappointed that a lot of companies didn't follow any distance guidelines when whales were sighted. I almost felt like they were trapped as boats got too close to them.

[Glaciers]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

I had no idea. I have never seen tours in Ketchikan.

I had no idea either. I had also thought that the reason there were an increased number of humpbacks near Juneau was because of being a very good place for food such as krill. Little did I know it was because Juneau is a bigger town.

 

Would love to see Budget Queen respond to this thread.

[Coral]

16 minutes ago, Glaciers said:

 

 

Would love to see Budget Queen respond to this thread.

She hasn't posted in 18 months. Probably not a good sign.

[xlxo]

Another Juneau vote, however I recommend a Mendenhall combo to maximize your port time and convenience.  Both whale watch operations and Mendenhall visitor center activities happen 12 miles West of the cruise ship docks.

[Glaciers]

8 minutes ago, Coral said:

She hasn't posted in 18 months. Probably not a good sign.

It was more of a flippant response to a very misleading post.

[blackkitteycat]

37 minutes ago, Coral said:

I know I have seen whales really early when approaching Ketchikan - I just didn't know anyone offered tours there.

 

I was in Cabo in December and did whale watching there. I was disappointed that a lot of companies didn't follow any distance guidelines when whales were sighted. I almost felt like they were trapped as boats got too close to them.

Yes, a quick google search shows multiple whale watching companies.

 

I don't know the details of whale watching in Cabo, but if it is any consolation, the whales aren't trapped. They are living in a 3-dimensional space and can easily swim under the boats if bothered 🙂 Of course, regulations are there for a reason and that is not an excuse to encroach on the whales' space. 

[blackkitteycat]

38 minutes ago, Glaciers said:

I had no idea either. I had also thought that the reason there were an increased number of humpbacks near Juneau was because of being a very good place for food such as krill. Little did I know it was because Juneau is a bigger town.

 

Would love to see Budget Queen respond to this thread.

I'm sorry - were you referring to my post being misleading? If so I would be curious to know what about it you consider to be misleading. A quick Google search shows multiple whale watching companies out of Ketchikan and I personally know multiple people who have worked in the whale watching industry there. Here is the link to Allen Marine's (the company I specifically named) Ketchikan tours: https://allenmarinetours.com/ketchikan/

 

Humpbacks can be found in large numbers along the entire North Pacific Coast, from central California to the Gulf of Alaska. This entire region has nutrient-rich water with plentiful krill/food due to large amounts of upwelling. There are a few individual humpbacks who will regularly stay in waters near Juneau, such as Flame or Sasha, but humpbacks in general are found all over Southeast Alaska. Right now most humpbacks up here are near Sitka for the herring egg harvest! 

 

 

[Glaciers]

15 minutes ago, blackkitteycat said:

I'm sorry - were you referring to my post being misleading? If so I would be curious to know what about it you consider to be misleading.

Yes, I suppose I was. Had never heard before that there were simply more whale watch tours in Juneau because it was a bigger town.  Since you do whale research you may know Chris Gabriele who does whale research at Bartlett Cove in Glacier Bay. She publishes humpback whale monitoring results and I have communicated with her numerous times over the past 8 years or so clarifying info in her reports.  You can see some of them here: https://www.nps.gov/glba/blogs/Currents.htm

 

She seems to indicate that humpbacks follow their food source where there is an increase in areas like Pt Adolphus/Glacier Bay & Juneau.  I think she would be interested to learn it’s based on the size of the community and not just because there is an abundance of humpbacks due to the food. You should contact her and share this information.

[blackkitteycat]

8 minutes ago, Glaciers said:

Yes, I suppose I was. Had never heard before that there were simply more whale watch tours in Juneau because it was a bigger town.  Since you do whale research you may know Chris Gabriele who does whale research at Bartlett Cove in Glacier Bay. She publishes humpback whale monitoring results and I have communicated with her numerous times over the past 8 years or so clarifying info in her reports.  You can see some of them here: https://www.nps.gov/glba/blogs/Currents.htm

 

 

She seems to indicate that humpbacks follow their food source where there is an increase in areas like Pt Adolphus/Glacier Bay & Juneau.  I think she would be interested to learn it’s based on the size of the community and not just because there is an abundance of humpbacks due to the food. You should contact her and share this information.

I'm not going to fight with you! I never stated that OP should not go whale watching out of Juneau, only that tours are available out of Ketchikan as well. You never know what might line up with someone's schedule better, or perhaps they were wanting to see Misty Fjords as well and this tour would provide them with that in addition to seeing whales.

 

I do in fact work with many local researchers all over Alaska. I'm just saying that there are increases in krill during the summer that happen all over Southeast and can attract humpbacks. Like I said earlier, the Alaska Whale Foundation, which primarily researches humpbacks, is located about halfway between Juneau and Ketchikan, far in the opposite direction of Glacier Bay area. I don't think they would be based out of that region if there weren't many whales...perhaps you should reach out to them and ask why they are located there if all of the humpbacks are by Juneau? You might be able to teach them a little something!

 

 

[MauraL]

I'm on Celebrity and am looking at Whale Watch/Mendenhall Glacier tours run by Allen Marine or Gastineau Guiding. I see a lot of posts about Harv and Marv, but I haven't been able to pin down if Celebrity has one of their tours. Does anyone have any experience with Allen Marine or Gastineau Guiding?

[Italy52]

On 4/10/2022 at 4:09 PM, Coral said:

I was in Cabo in December and did whale watching there. I was disappointed that a lot of companies didn't follow any distance guidelines when whales were sighted. I almost felt like they were trapped as boats got too close to them.

We saw the same thing on a past visit to Cabo --- so sad to see.