Harv and Marv's

[JLBellaCC]

Hello!  We will be in Juneau on September 9th from 1pm-10pm.  We are looking to book either the Harv's Experience, which is a 2.5 hour whale watching with up to 6 guests departing at 5pm or the Outback Experience, this is a 4 hour tour at 2pm with up to 18 guests.  Which would be best?  

Thank you!

-Laurie

[5waldos]

Hard choice that. Small is usually good as the boat can zip around more easily and you aren't fighting for windows. But longer is also good and sometimes the larger boats seem to attract whales to play with. I have done both and enjoyed them equally. The larger boat will be warmer- the smaller boat has a fairly small cabin, if I remember correctly. 

 

Sorry- not much help.

[JLBellaCC]

5waldos- thank you for your input!

[Glaciers]

September can get a bit rough on those small boats because of bad weather. This is part of a Facebook post from Jayleen’s Alaska from September 29, 2021, “The main reason we stop offering tours in September is because of the weather. It gets BAD. Rough waves, high winds & heavy rain become a common occurrence in the fall”   We went out with Harv n Marv several years ago and it was very rough. They canceled the next tour.

 

We’ve been using Juneau Whale Watch whose boats are larger and more stable but smaller than the Allen Marine vessels you book through the cruise line. The last trip out with them we had 23 on board.

[llkoolj40]

We've used Harv and Marv 4 times over the years and they have been great each time. We did a late September cruise and the water was rougher but that was the best whale watching we had. I would pick the Outback experience as the boat is a little bigger but plenty of room for you to see clearly.