Whales- Icy Strait or Juneau?

[blueladybug]

We will be on Vision of Seas the week of July 7th. We really want to see whales; both orca and humback. Which would be better- Icy Strait or Juneau?

Thanks:)

[wolfie11]

Both Juneau and Icy Straits are good for humpbacks, with Icy Straits being my personal choice. Orca are more elusive, with no guaranteed sightings, as most are transient vs. resident pods in SE Alaska. Best guaranteed sightings for orca are Seattle/Vancouver area.

[Chenega]

We saw lots of humpback and orca last year on our trip out of Juneau/Auke Bay but the Icy Strait area is known as one of the best areas in Alaska for whale viewing.

 

Either one is good.

[blueladybug]

Wolfie 11- why is Icy Straight your personal favorite?? How is it different than Juneau?

[wa.mama]

Humpback in ISP

[TeeBuccs]

Note - let me admit up front I have not gone whale watching out of Juneau, so I can not compare with Icy Strait, but...

 

While in Icy Strait we went on a whale and mammal watch excursion. The whales were just starting to come in (as they migrate from Hawaii for the abundant food source here in the summer) and we saw litterally 20-30 whales. (Including Orca) Some breached, some did dives, and others just breathed, but they were plenty abundant. In fact I can't imagine how many there would be during "full season."

 

In addition there were plenty of sea otters and harbour seals! Good location for observation in my opinion. Have fun!!!

[blueladybug]

WA. Mama thanks for sharing your photos. Where did you see the bears??

[texastravelers]

Awesome pictures, wa.mama! Is your puffin pic from the Sea Life Center or up close and personal from a day cruise?

[cyscopup]

Our vote would have to be Icy Straits also, for two reasons. First off there are several other things to do in Juneau and not as many in ISP. Secondly, while we were in ISP a couple of weeks ago we saw dozens of whales (including many, many breeches).

If you would like an opinion on something else to do in Juneau, you could take the photo safari. We did that and had a terrific time. Our guides, Cam and Louis showed us a great time. It also included about two hours of whale watching. Here we saw a mother and baby humpback, the mother appearred to be teaching the youngster how to dive.

Whatever you choose to do, relax and enjoy yourself, Alaska is wonderful and the Vision is also.

[TeeBuccs]

I didn't see the link to your photo. Would love to see it!

[wolfie11]

Icy Strait has a mixing of currents that creates an abundance of food for the whales. I have never failed to see whales in the many times I've been in Icy Strait around Point Adolphus. The whales are also very active - breeching, fin-slapping, bubble-net feeding, etc.

[wa.mama]

Note also that the whale was right next to the pier in Hoonah....you don't always have to take a tour.

[blueladybug]

thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Now another question- which Icy Straight tour would you recommend? I've only seen the tour with Royal Carribeen (Vision of the seas). Any independent whale watching tours that might be better?

 

Thanks again:)

[Set2travel]

Hi Blueladybug...We just returned yesterday. We took the Captain Larry tour through Orca in Juneau...We were there on June 6. The tour was at 1:00 and I do not know if the time has anything to do with the tour but did we get lucky. He found a pod of Orca...very rare...and the male (HUGE!) was right beside our boat. We wathched this pod for 30 minutes or more. We also saw humpbacks breaching and tons of eagles and sea lions. Captain Larry is extremely knowledgable and quite a caracter. I could have spent days out on his new boat. I will post some pictures later this week. I am sure you will have fun no matter where you decide to whale watch!:D

[blueladybug]

Thanks set2travel! Now, I'm torn on where to go on a whale watch. We were originally thinking of Captain Larry's tour but many of you suggest Icy Straight. Can someone help convince me?

[JohnQ]

Do as we did-----take both of them!!!! We had a rainy day in Juneau which made it tougher, and two days later, ISP was beautiful sunshine. We saw more whales in ISP, closer to port. But that can be different. We did not see any close to shore where you could see without a tour.

 

The only other tours in ISP for whalewatching is to charter a fishing boat. They take up to 6 people and will stay out about 4 hrs. Some cruisecritics are really enjoying this. We used ship tour and had a great one. No breaching.

[blueladybug]

Thanks for the advice, johnQ!:)

[cruisingtogether]

Consider F.I.S.H.E.S in Hoonah with Captain Floyd. Very highly recommended on this board. We are booked with them in July and we are also doing Capt. Larry in Juneau.

 

http://www.visithoonah.com/fishes/

[cruisingtogether]

BlueLadybug...my response did not register on the listing page so I am reposting so you will see it...

 

Consider F.I.S.H.E.S in Hoonah with Captain Floyd. Very highly recommended on this board. We are booked with them in July and we are also doing Capt. Larry in Juneau.

 

http://www.visithoonah.com/fishes/

[cyscopup]

Bluladybug-- We would suggest doing a tour in Juneau that would combine whale atching with something else and then doing a whale watching only tour in ISP. That way if you don't see whales in Juneau you have another chance in ISP. We did that with the photo safari and it turned out great for us as we got whales on both tours.

[Yukon]

thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Now another question- which Icy Straight tour would you recommend? I've only seen the tour with Royal Carribeen (Vision of the seas). Any independent whale watching tours that might be better?

 

The boat that RCI uses is huge - it must hold 300 people. We had a spectacular tour with Floyd of F.I.S.H.E.S. 2 weeks ago, with 5 people on the boat.

 

Murray