Alaska Whale Watching or Orca Enterprises

[Perseids]

I found the website for another whale watching company Alaska Whale Watching. It sounds appealing because it says that with a group of 6 we will have the boat to ourselves. Does anyone know anything about this company? Are they reputable? How many passengers are there usually on one of the Orca Enterprises boats?

Thanks in advance for any info!

[nanashirl]

We booked with Larrys Whale watching (Orca) for first week of June in Juneau. In the info that they sent it said that they take about 40 but that the boat is certified to take more than that but they don't like to overcrowd people. Everyone one on the boards said that it is a great trip and that they do a good job. Guess we will see.

[Budget Queen]

Orca Enterprises new boat can take about 40 passengers, but they have a wonderful upper viewing area that is a bonus for whale watching. I am a long time customer of Orca Enterprises and just never will have any desire to go with anyone else. :) 4 trips last year with them were just excellent for me.

[eaglcoach]

Budget Queen - I'll be on NCL Sun and we'll only be in Juneau from 7 - 3, but we're taking the Tracey Arm explorer at 1:00. Capt Larry's earliest is 9:30 - 1:00 - so it won't work for us. Do you know what company NCL uses in Juneau for their whale watching excursion? From what I've read I'm guessing the viewing will be similar but we'll miss out on the excellent commentary.

 

BTW, thanks for all the great info!

[Budget Queen]

Budget Queen - I'll be on NCL Sun and we'll only be in Juneau from 7 - 3, but we're taking the Tracey Arm explorer at 1:00. Capt Larry's earliest is 9:30 - 1:00 - so it won't work for us. Do you know what company NCL uses in Juneau for their whale watching excursion? From what I've read I'm guessing the viewing will be similar but we'll miss out on the excellent commentary.

 

BTW, thanks for all the great info!

 

 

 

Did you already confirm Orca Enterprises times?? They sometimes adjust them depending on the port times. NCL uses Allen Marine.

[eaglcoach]

Thanks. I sent an email to confirm the times. As usual, you have been very helpful and informative.

[TwiliteNights]

We're taking this "whale watching" adventure. Yes, they only take approx. six onboard. Makes for better viewing and less crowded. Several of our friends have taken "Harv & Marv"...(that's what they're called:D ) and they're taking them again in Sept. They say it's an excellent company and they are certified and knowledgeable just like Capt. Larry. I personally like less people than 40 on a boat.....and Capt. Larry's email to me said the other boat takes 20. Either way you choose, you'll enjoy....even if it's a wee more exspensive. Oh, and if you looked at their website, you found out that their boats are new and Eileen will answer your emails.

 

Happy Cruising!!

 

http://www.alaskawhalewatching.com (Jay & Eileen Beedle)

[Perseids]

I think you got your websites confused... http://www.alaskawhalewatching.com is Orca Enterprises site. http://www.akwhalewatching.com is Alaska Whale Watching site. I emailed info@akwhalewatching with some questions the other day and a Louis Jorgenson called me on the phone to discuss the tour. We will have 6 in our party and he assured me that we will have the boat to ourselves. They have a 6 and a 12 passenger. Money back guarantee and etc.. like the others. I decided to try them out and booked with them. I booked a smaller independent tour to Swim with the Stingrays in Grand Cayman and was very pleased. There was about 8 on our boat compared to 100 or more on the ship provided tours.

I figured either this Louis is attentive and wants to provide us with a good tour oooooooorrrr they are desperate enough to call me personally. I guess I will just have to wait and find out.

[Perseids]

I appreciate your comments. The fact that someone else has done this tour and had a positive experience encourages me and makes me more comfortabe with going 'outside the norm'. Hopefully upon our return I will be able to post some good pics or video!

[parrs]

If you care about the marine mammals you wouldn"t pay more money to go Whale Watching on a fishing boat.:(:(:( Go on mammal friendly Boats:):)

[Capt. Larry]

Budget Queen - I'll be on NCL Sun and we'll only be in Juneau from 7 - 3, but we're taking the Tracey Arm explorer at 1:00. Capt Larry's earliest is 9:30 - 1:00 - so it won't work for us. Do you know what company NCL uses in Juneau for their whale watching excursion? From what I've read I'm guessing the viewing will be similar but we'll miss out on the excellent commentary.

 

BTW, thanks for all the great info!

 

The NCL Sun comes to Juneau on Tuesdays fromn 7:00 until 2:00. My first tour departs at 9:00 AM and back to the ship at 12:30. Your all aboard will be at 1:30. You will not be doing the Tracy Arm explorer at 1:00. You might want to recheck your itenerary.

Capt. Larry

[Capt. Larry]

If you care about the marine mammals you wouldn"t pay more money to go Whale Watching on a fishing boat.:(:(:( Go on mammal friendly Boats:):)

 

I couldnt have said it better myself. Propeller driven boats can not only injure the animals, but they are extremely noisy under the water. Humpback whales use their hearing to locate their food. Additionally most of the fishing captains know little about the whales and their behavior.

[Capt. Larry]

I think you got your websites confused... http://www.alaskawhalewatching.com is Orca Enterprises site. http://www.akwhalewatching.com is Alaska Whale Watching site. I emailed info@akwhalewatching with some questions the other day and a Louis Jorgenson called me on the phone to discuss the tour. We will have 6 in our party and he assured me that we will have the boat to ourselves. They have a 6 and a 12 passenger. Money back guarantee and etc.. like the others. I decided to try them out and booked with them. I booked a smaller independent tour to Swim with the Stingrays in Grand Cayman and was very pleased. There was about 8 on our boat compared to 100 or more on the ship provided tours.

I figured either this Louis is attentive and wants to provide us with a good tour oooooooorrrr they are desperate enough to call me personally. I guess I will just have to wait and find out.

 

People say it is good to be imitated but beware of the imitator.

 

Louis has only a six passenger boat. He does not have a 12 passenger boat. He has other fishing boats he will work with to take groups over 6. Their boats are not US Coast Guard inspected. Good luck, I hope you have a good and safe tour.

Capt Larry

[CanCanCase]

...ESPECIALLY on the internet!

 

Okay, I'm a new member, and maybe I'll get censored or booted for this, but it needs to be said before things in Juneau get out of hand...

 

Larry's information about other tour operators (posted in this thread) is WRONG. (I feel I'm a bit of an expert here, as I know Larry, Louis, Harv & Marv and many others personally. I also spend every day of the summer watching their boats and talking to them on the VHF.)

 

A few facts: Captain Louis is taking delivery of his new 12 passenger vessel at this very moment. We're expecting it to be in Juneau in 2-3 weeks, well before the cruising season begins.

 

There is a small Co-Operative of charter boat operators who have formed in Juneau, and ALL have agreed to a few basic safety standards - Things like the installation of CarbonMonoxide detectors (I know of 6 people hospitalized last year for CO poisoning. None were on Lewis's, Harv & Marv's, Larry's or My boats) on each vessel and voluntary participation in the US Coast Guard's Safety Inspection program. Lewis's boats (as well as Harv & Marv's and the Can Can) are all USCG Inspected. They do this to exceed the minimum requirements for small vessels. Also, if you're a stickler for the law, you'll note that vessels carrying more than 6 passengers MUST be USCG inspected... Therefore Captain Louis's new boat IS USCG inspected - or it will not operate as a charter!

 

In over 30 years in Alaska, I've never heard of a prop-driven charter boat causing injury to a whale. I've heard of plenty of cruise ships hitting whales, and I've heard of plenty of HUMANS being struck by jet-driven boats.

 

General statements about what any given captain knows or doesn't know should be taken with a monstrous grain of salt. I remember 3 years ago when everyone assumed that I knew less about pool than captain Larry. Boy were they surprised when I went undefeated against Larry's ENTIRE TEAM! (Sorry to get off topic... I'm just saying that a few of us "fishing boat captains" do a LOT more than just fish and there's no way a competing tour provider can know what another captain knows or doesn't.)

 

Actually, it was Captain Larry himself who said it best 3 weeks ago: "I'd prefer if we left the fishing to the fishermen and the whale watching to the whale watchers."

 

I know Larry gives a kick-butt whale watching tour. Just be sure you know which of his 2 or 3 captains will be guiding your tour - he can't do them all himself. Also, ask how many of the 20 people on his new boat can use that nice upstairs viewing area at a time... I'll bet you'll be fighting to be one of 12 that get to go up there!

 

Sorry to be so long-winded. To answer the question directly: there are 2 types of whale watching tour in Juneau. On some, you'll be one of 20, 30, 50 or 100 other people looking at whales. On other tours, you'll be on a private boat with usually not more than 6 passengers total. Both tours have their good points, it just depends upon what you're looking for... personalized or "canned"? Louis runs a great trip, Larry runs a great trip, Harv & Marv run great trips... heck, even I run great trips! Book with any of the tour providers mentioned in this thread, and you won't be disappointed.

 

-Case

 

PS: I've noticed that many folks who post asking questions here do it before their tour, but not so many re-post to let everyone know if they were happy with whatever choice they ended up making....

[Coral]

I can say that I have gone out with Capt Larry's whale watching trip 5x in the last couple of years. Each time, I had Capt Larry as the Capt on the boat. I have not been on his new boat, but there was never a problem going on top of his now medium sized boat (Awesome Orca). I have enjoyed each trip with him and strongly recommend his tour. It never felt crowded, I was able to ask Capt Larry and his naturalist tons of questions and it was great experience for me each time.

 

I found it very interesting that on many of my trips with Capt Larry - the cruise ship naturalist of my cruise ship or another cruise ship that was in Juneau that day was on our whale watching trip with us. In their opinion - Capt Larry provided the best whale watching experience in Juneau.

 

I highly recommend Capt Larry and Orca Enterprises. From my posts, one can tell that I have been around Cruise Critic for many years verses some recent posts of people who have just registered with CC.

[CanCanCase]

Hi Coral!

 

Your 6000+ posts far outweigh my 1 (now 2!) posts here at CC. I'm not saying that Larry isn't worth touring with either. (In fact, I've said he gives a wonderful tour!)

 

I just want to be sure "the competetition" is being represented fairly so people can make the right decision for themselves. It was plainly stated that vessels were not inspected when in reality, they are. It was stated that Capt. Louis only has one six-passenger vessel. He actually operates 3 vessels, one of which is INSPECTED and certified to carry between 12 and 16 passengers.

 

If I believed everything I heard or read, I'd be under the impression that many inaccurate facts have been reported here at CC. Instead of believing "facts" reported in internet forums, I'm simply taking the time to research what has been stated vs. what I know to be true. (And, according to the guidelines, I'm not even trying to promote my own business...)

 

Even if the rest of my post gets censored, keep this very on topic point in mind: There are 2 types of whale watching tours in Juneau. Some regularly tour with 15, 20, 30, 50 or 100 people, while some are run with 6 passenger vessels. Both types of tour have distinct advantages. Don't discount "the little guy" just because the bigger boats have more happy customers... when you run a big boat, the name of the game is volume anyway, so you're bound to have more customers, happy or otherwise.

 

-Case

[Coral]

Hi Coral!

 

Your 6000+ posts far outweigh my 1 (now 2!) posts here at CC. I'm not saying that Larry isn't worth touring with either. (In fact, I've said he gives a wonderful tour!)

 

I am just skeptical of people who newly register and then come out and attack the credibility of a tour operator who IMO gives an outstanding tour and those that I know who really know Alaska and whales who choose to spend their free time whale watching with Capt Larry. They do this because they think he is the best in Juneau.

 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion - but I don't believe someone's first and second posts on CC when they are trying to degrade someone.

[CanCanCase]

My attempt here is NOT to degrade Capt. Larry! Re-Read my other posts. I have stated numerous times that Larry gives a great tour. Everyone here needs to check their own facts and make up their own opinions (isn't a free economy great?!)

 

I have NEVER stated incorrect or inaccurate facts about Orca Enterprises. If I have, it was my mistake, and I will be happy to apologize as soon as someone points out my error.

 

Capt. Larry has made a few statements here, however, that are wrong. It's not a big deal, except that the "facts" he is mis-stating are about a competing business. IMO it's not good to represent oneself as an "expert" when the facts being discussed are something that one knows nothing about.

 

The main point (which I have now had to make in 3 of my 3 posts) is that in Juneau, you can take 2 types of whale watching tour: bigger boat with lots of other people, or smaller boat with a private party of 6 or less. I've been on tours provided by Orca Enterprises, Goldbelt Tours, The Noble Lady, Juneau Sportfishing, Dolphin Jet Tours, Alaskan Marine Adventures, Rum Runner Charters, Harv & Marv's, and even a Jet Ski tour. Read this next part carefully: ALL OF THESE TOURS ARE GOOD TOURS AND I WOULD RECOMMEND THEM TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS! (How is that an attempt to discredit anyone?) Each traveller needs to understand what type of tour they've purchased, and the pros and cons of each one.

 

It is NEVER the place for one tour operator to be giving "factual" information (positive OR negative) about another business - unless maybe it's a positive referral for a service they can't offer. If someone were to ask me the best way to go whale watching in Juneau from a purple boat, I would happily suggest they contact Orca Enterprises. If they wanted a private tour on a smaller boat, I would recommend Harv & Marv's, Capt. Louis, or myself in no particular order. Simple enough?

 

-Case

 

PS: If MY credibility is in question, I would suggest anyone wishing to know more call me directly. Cruise Critic won't allow me to post any more information about myself than I already do. I'll bet there's only one person named Case who drives a boat called the Can Can in Juneau! If that's not specific enough, you could always call Alaska's oldest, and most historic, Man-Made tourist attraction and ask for Case...

[JohnQ]

Can Can

Can the smaller boats get to the whales if further out as fast as the medium sized (Allen Marine is large!) jet boats? My impression is that while they only hold six on what is commonly called a six pack, they are slower in moving from one place to another. I have also been with Capt Larry on two trips on his Awesome Orca and only one of those even had 22 on it. Both trips had at least one or two naturalists from cruise ships on board.

 

In ISP, we took the cruise ship's larger whalewatching tour in order to go with Koo Hook, a guide from this board. But friends of ours from on board, took a six pack for a charter. We saw then once or twice thru out the tour and they were really close to the action also. They enjoyed it. We did not take because we were unsure of how far or how rough it might be out of ISP so we went with larger boat.

 

But good luck with your tours. I don't think Capt Larry meant to put anyone down. He has been honest and a very good source of info on these boards for a long time, and is why many of us who have been on here a while, continue to recommend him. His staff are also most accommodating.

[mcbrides]

Case -

I appreciate your responses. I think they are honest and straight forward. I do not read them as negative toward any particular tour, and I think it has been very helpful to see that there are a variety of different whale watching tours in Juneau.

 

We are opting for a small tour in Juneau with Harv & Marv, not because of anything "negative" about Orca Enterprises or the cruise ship tours, but because Harv & Marv were better able to accomodate our schedule and I have been very impressed with their responsiveness. I'm looking forward to this intimate excursion with long-time Juneau residents.

 

This board is to learn the various options in selecting tours. You have done that very professionally, in my opinion. Thanks for your postings! Good luck this season!

[CanCanCase]

JohnQ-

 

The thing about the Inside Passage is that everything is so close. I often joke with clients that the tour has already started right on the dock because we're seeing Bald Eagles, Bears, Deer and more Salmon than anyone can eat - right there on the dock! Is there even a need to leave the dock to view wildlife? :D

 

Every boat that I can think of to do whale watching is quite fast. Typical cruising speeds are between 25 and 30 mph. Some boats (like Capt. Larry's Orca Odyssey) reach speeds of around 35 or 40 mph. The funny thing is that for most of the summer, the whales hang out and feed less than 15 minutes away - no matter which boat you're on. By the way, my father-in-law and I were out fishing on Sunday and stopped to watch a juvenile Humpback Whale feeding not 2 minutes from the cruise ship docks right downtown Juneau!

 

Sea condition is another thing to consider. A smaller boat will feel more "roly-poly" in rough weather, and a large catamaran will feel more stable. There's a boat called Skania (Capt. Jack ALSO runs a great tour! ;)) that is small AND a catamaran, and is quite stable in all conditions. Here's the fun part... the Inside Passage and the waters around Juneau are all so protected that even in a good wind storm, there's always someplace calm to go. 99 out of 100 days I have trouble convincing my clients that we're even on the ocean and not a big salty lake with whales and salmon in it!

 

My last bit of advice is to watch what tour you're paying for. There's a "new breed" of VIP Style tours in town that are offering quite a bit more for just a little more money. For example, a typical whale watching tour (for the past 3 or 4 years) has involved 2.5 or less hours on the water. I'm beginning to see new tours which offer at least 3 hours out there looking at whales. All tours should include about an hour of ground transportation (20-30 minutes each way) to get to and from the boat. Be sure to look at the "time on the water" for the tour. Some will also offer a guarantee of a refund if you don't see whales, and most of the VIP tours are serving some rather wonderful snacks and refreshments as well.

 

As I have said before, there are big boats and there are little boats. For a personalized and private experience (or to see how lifelong Alaskan families get around and take vacations!) go with a smaller boat. If you're worried about stability, or need wheelchair access on the boat, go with a larger vessel. I can almost guarantee that whatever you choose, it will be the experience of a lifetime.

 

-Case

 

By the way: Welcome to the forum Louis! Now I can stop quoting him (about his boats) and let him speak for himself. :)

[JohnQ]

CanCan,Louis,

Thanks for participating and spending time educating us to maximize our Alaska vacation. When locals get involved, it really adds to the limited experience some of us have had on our Alaska tours. Thanks again.

[nanashirl]

Thanks to everyone for the posts on this.

This is our first cruise to Alaska and the recommendation of others is all we have to go on. After reading all the posts I agree that there is something for everyone.

We have booked with Capt. Larry and after reading what the Captains have to say about the reasons for booking a particular tour we made the right decision. I have a tendency to have motion sickness so the bigger boat will work better for me, but for others the smaller ones may work. I got good reviews for Capt. Larry and I see the others have very satisfied customers also so this is a win win situation.

Can't wait to see the beautiful state of Alaska. I bet it is as beautiful as our state of Texas. ONLY TEASING!!!

[TwiliteNights]

I know it's been a while since I posted about Harv & Marv whale watching. I apologize for not getting the website link correct. It's http://www.alaskawhalewatch.com not whalewatching.....so sorry for the misinformation.:o :o

 

Case & Capt. Louis: Thank you for your honest and indepth foresight. I for one feel you both have been above board, in explaining things without pointing a finger at any one whale company. Also, thanks for the education as it has been a great help which will, I know, make our Alaska trip more eventful.

[MexMeander]

The booking site on Princess has 20 slots for whale-watching, but I wonder if that is actually the number of persons on the tour they run, or if that is just the number of slots they take on a boat that carries passengers for other cruise lines. Any advice?