Best Alaskan Whale Watching??

[jrask]

I could have done excursions for a solid month in Juneau. For me, glacier trekking was a must and I was debating what to do for a second. Ultimately, whale watching lost out to guided exploration of the temparate rain forest, which was great.

 

I ended up satiating my whale watching desires with a tour of Kenai Fjords National Park (out of Seward). In addition to getting a last taste of glacier viewing (from a smaller ship closer to the face), we spent the bulk of the time wildlife watching. We saw harbor seals and sea otters, sea lions, and puffins (which were key to my girlfriend's experience) and other sea birds. We spent a substantial amount of our time watching both humpbacks and orcas (which I understand are unlikely out of Juneau). I'd say we saw 5 humpbacks (one of which breached!) and a superpod of orcas (12+ including a calf and a juvenile male who showed off for us and gave us a full breach). My understanding from the guide is that our luck was incredibly good. While I can't compare this to Captain Larry, I'd recommend this as an excellent option if your Juneau schedule is cramped (plus you get to see orca and puffins!)

[SNOWEY]

HI!

 

Just got back this AM from AK. We went whale watching in Icy Straight. Saw tons of them. When we got back to the ship, they saw whales from the boat. In fact, my husband filmed an Orca from the ship! It came closer than any of the tour boats! IN fact, I just looked up a picture of a Dalls porpoise and an Orca and we are sure we have an Orca!!! He was by himself when the whale jumped up. He has him swimming and jumping! I don't think anyone else saw an orca, if they did, it was far away. BTW we also saw some small bears on the way home. Bring binoculars. Have fun.

[MichTraveler]

We have been on Princess in Alaska twice and just booked our third trip for May/2005. I'm thinking about finally booking a whale watching trip. We have seen whales on both cruises from the ship. The Princess whale trip is the same proce as Captain Larry, but it says you get a refund if no whales are sighted. I assume you will always see something. Does Captain Larry have any refund? Much risk in May to not see any?

Thanks,

[miraclemet]

As Captain Larry says, hes never gone out without finding whales. And honestly I believe him. He's out there every day, and the humpbacks are local eaters so they find one or two places they like and stick to it. I dont know if theres a money back deal, but I believe I remember reading about one. And he's never had to pay it. Some sightings may not be spectacular but we had no problem with our expecience. probably saw 10-12 humpbacks and 3 ORCAs

 

Now with Orcas thats another matter, they dont have a pattern so if you see them, count yourself lucky (as we did last week)

[MichTraveler]

Miraclemet,Thanks for the feedback.

[Coral]

And he's never had to pay it. Some sightings may not be spectacular but we had no problem with our expecience. probably saw 10-12 humpbacks and 3 ORCAs

 

Miraclemet -

 

They do have a guarantee: GUARANTEE

Our whale sighting success rate has been 99.9% between May 1 and October 15.* If we do not sight either a Humpback Whale or an Orca you will be entitled to a complimentary seat (space available) on another Orca Enterprises whale watching trip, or a 50% refund for purchase of a full fare ticket.* (Discounted tickets do not qualify for guarantee.)

 

--------------

 

I spoke with Carol Pitts who owns "Orca Enterprises" (she runs the business end) and asked her if they have ever had to pay out on not seeing whales. She said that only once did they give a refund to one whale watching group - she said some of the people on the boat saw whales but not everyone and that the experience was not satisfactory to her expectations so she did refund their money.

 

They are a great group of people to deal with and I feel privilidged that I have gone with Orca Enterprises 4x. Have only seen orcas one time.

[Giantfan13]

We went with Four Season's tours because of a coupon in the toursaver book. They really gave us the complete rundown. Most boats know where the whales are. They usually nest or stay in a particular section. If a pod of whales are found, most of the boats know exactly where to go. There are some unwritten rulkes that most of the whale watching boats follow. When whales are located, only two boatts are allowed tro be in close proximity to them at a time. You are allowed 1/2 hour to stay in that area before you are suppose to leave to let other boats in. Some boats may get you a few feet closer to the ehales because they are smaller, but all give you great views. As I said, we chose Four Season because of the coupon and they had a Salmon bake at Orca Point Lodge also which we enjoyed immensely.

[tetons]

Agree with several mentioned above. This past cruise in 1st week of September, we did all cruise ship tour excursions. All of the whale boats/companies were in the same area. They all have to follow the marine life rules to stay a safe distance away from the whales. Of course the whales make this difficult at times going under the boats. On the one in Juneau, there was a pod of about 5-6 Orca whales including a calf. The naturalist explained that we were very lucky, number one to see Orca's, but with a calf, and at a feeding/chasing time with a seal. We also saw alot of humpbacks, dall porpoises, etc. We also did the Sea Otter Wildlife Quest out of Sitka. I was very surprised at how many humpback whales there were. Boat was not that full on early morning tour. I was a little disappointed in how close we were not able to get to the sea otters though. Evidently, they are a skittish bunch and we had to stay too far back to get really good pictures, but with binoculars, they were playing and showing off. You can see these better and more up close at any zoo or aquarium.

 

I think the whale watching is pure luck. I have now done the ship excursion out of Juneau two times in two different years and the first time was not nearly as exciting as this time. Those wild animals just don't always show up when you are on that particular boat no matter which way you choose to see the whales or other wildlife.

[Yukon]

Cathy and I were on a Tracy Arm cruise 4 days ago, with Adventure Bound out of downtown Juneau. We chose them because of the small boat (56 feet) and the fact that the owner is the captain. We had fabulous humpback viewing - Steve doesn't do much narration but certainly worked to get us whales (even though it wasn't a "whale-watching" trip). At one point the Four Seasons whale-watching boat that was shadowing us kept on going and we circled back and got the best views of the day. One couple on the boat with us (only 14 of us total) had gone out on a pure whale-watching trip the day before and had seen nothing - not a single whale (!) so they were thrilled.

 

Murray

[zzandyy]

Just returned from Alaska on the Island Princess. Did the whale watch with Captain Larry. Unfortunately, we had high winds that day and very rough seas. The waves were breaking over the windshield. We saw a few whales but, in the distance. You sit so low in these boats that it is more difficult to see if the water is rough. The windows are totally covered with water and there is no way you can open then due to the waves. Larry is a nice guy, lots of interesting info. but, no way can he control the weather! Our table mates went with a Princess tour on a larger boat and raved about it....lots of sightings and good food. So, who is to say what is best, had it been a calm day I'm sure we would have had much better viewing.

[JohnQ]

Based on our trip last week, I would have to move Icy Strait Point and Point Aldophus to the top of my list. But a lot depends on when and the luck of each day and the weather. We did Capt Larry on Sunday evening (originally sched for 9:30 am until Summit was 6 1/2 hours late) We had rain, gray skies and wind. It was kinda miserable out their but he found whales. It was so wet that the cameras all got wet and focus was difficult. But we had to go way out from Juneau to find. On Tuesday, we did ISP, sunny and probably a hundred whales. They were so thick we couldn't have counted them. They were on all sides of the boat at once and this went on for 2 plus hours. They were doing everything but breeching. The pictures and video are great. We also saw porposing sea lions, which sure looks wierd and we saw it on two different days, with dozens of them for long stretch. There also seemed to be seals or sea lions all around the whales we saw as the water was just churning with constant movement.

[Hoonah_Tlingit_Boy]

Hello all my wonderful yei (humpback) and keet (killer) whale watchers! I hope that you all had the good fortunates to see these massive, majestic and endangered animals (aside from the keet). I can say that we had an OUTSTANDING inaugeral whale watching year at Icy Strait Point. If you don't know already, Sdakweixh Lut'u has the largest congregations of humpbacks in the North Pacific, and you'll find many of our guests posts reflect that. If you ever get the opportunity to do so, I ask that you try to get to Icy Strait Point and experience the ultimate in Tlingit cultural understanding and fantastic times watching the yei and keet and the spirit that drives them. I'm not aware of any other whalewatches that can deliver such a concentration of these beautiful creatures, and I almost know for certain there is no other whalewatch that will clarify your misconceptions on Southeast Alaska's aboriginal people (the Tlingit) and immerse you in their ways. Either way, I certainly hope you left with all the proper knowledge of where you visited, and I hope that someday I can meet those of you who haven't been to Icy Strait Point yet. We're waiting to SHOW you what this great land and it's people are all about.......until then, relish the times you did have with the yei and keet......GUNALCHEESH! (Thank you)

 

Koo Hook

[IDOLUV2CRUISE2]

We have been on Princess in Alaska twice and just booked our third trip for May/2005. I'm thinking about finally booking a whale watching trip. We have seen whales on both cruises from the ship. The Princess whale trip is the same proce as Captain Larry, but it says you get a refund if no whales are sighted. I assume you will always see something. Does Captain Larry have any refund? Much risk in May to not see any?

Thanks,

 

Yes, Captain Larry has the same refund deal, but thank goodness we didn't need to even think about it.

We saw it all !! Lots and lots of humpbacks, dall porpoises, dolphins, seals, eagles, and a very very large pod of Orcas !! The orcas were within 15 feet of the boat. They swam up to us and then followed right along side of his boat. The humpbacks were so close, we could smell their breath, which is not pleasant. The orcas were from the AG pod and are Alaska Residents. All in all it was a wonderful experience and actually the best I've ever done.. We were on his boat in Juneau on September 12th, 2004...

[CleoPat]

We are thinking of taking the whale watching tour. Could you give me any specifics on that? Read somewhere that you actually work on one of the boats that go out?? How should I book the tour? How much is it? or is it the one that Royal Caribbean uses? Also, how large is the boat? How many people? Is there an inside cabin with heat and viewing windows? As much info as you can give me re ISP would be very helpful. Thanks!!!:)

 

Hello all my wonderful yei (humpback) and keet (killer) whale watchers! I hope that you all had the good fortunates to see these massive, majestic and endangered animals (aside from the keet). I can say that we had an OUTSTANDING inaugeral whale watching year at Icy Strait Point. If you don't know already, Sdakweixh Lut'u has the largest congregations of humpbacks in the North Pacific, and you'll find many of our guests posts reflect that. If you ever get the opportunity to do so, I ask that you try to get to Icy Strait Point and experience the ultimate in Tlingit cultural understanding and fantastic times watching the yei and keet and the spirit that drives them. I'm not aware of any other whalewatches that can deliver such a concentration of these beautiful creatures, and I almost know for certain there is no other whalewatch that will clarify your misconceptions on Southeast Alaska's aboriginal people (the Tlingit) and immerse you in their ways. Either way, I certainly hope you left with all the proper knowledge of where you visited, and I hope that someday I can meet those of you who haven't been to Icy Strait Point yet. We're waiting to SHOW you what this great land and it's people are all about.......until then, relish the times you did have with the yei and keet......GUNALCHEESH! (Thank you)

 

Koo Hook