St. Lazaria Island near Sitka

[Iris5383]

Has anyone booked a tour on their own that went to St. Lazaria Island?

Three questions: Was St. Lazaria worth the trip? What tour company did you use? Would you recommend the tour company to others?

 

Thanks for your help! We'll be on the Amsterdam round trip Seattle leaving July 13th.

[Budget Queen]

St Lazaria is a puffin rookery. I've been here several times with an independent boat. IF you want to see puffins on the Inside Passage, this is probably one of the most accessable areas to do so.

[Mrs007]

We booked with Capt. Davey and the Ester G (http://www.puffinsandwhales.com) last year. Since we sailed mid-August, there were only a few puffins (but I did get a couple of good pics of them). There were a lot of other birds, but not being an ornithologist, don't know the species, but I'm sure someone else will chirp in with that into. The island itself was very lovely to float around. However, Capt. Davey is extremely knowledgeable of the wildlife in the area and will provide you with an excellent trip. We loved our excursion with him so much that we are already planning on booking him for our stop in July, 08.

[JohnQ]

Has anyone on here used any other vendor to go out to the island for puffins? We will be there end of July and wondering who else to check with?

[Iris5383]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. This morning I booked the 4 of us with Capt. Davey at Ester G. I don't know much about other birds either, but really want to see Puffins. I'm excited about seeing whales with a closer view than from the ship or a larger tour boat. In two weeks and two days we'll be bound for Seattle! I'll post after we return on our impressions of Capt. Davey's tour.

[floataway]

We are booked with Capt. Davey for Monday, July 2nd. We are Alaska bound tomorrow and are so excited. I'll let you know how it went when we return.

:)

[Mrs007]

oh, I forgot to mention the whale tale in my avatar is from our excursion with Capt. Davey. Happy Whale spotting :D

[Iris5383]

Has anyone on here used any other vendor to go out to the island for puffins? We will be there end of July and wondering who else to check with?

 

John - go to http://www.sitka.org/tours.html for a list of private tour companies in Sitka.

Laura

[pcbeck]

We went with Capt. Davey three weeks ago and it was AWESOME!! Davey is the consummate pro and is like a 40 year old kid living the dream. His boat is very nice and even has a porta potty in the back for those that might need to use the facilities. My wife (a nervous boater that couldn't quit talking about the trip afterwards) and I did the four hour tour with a couple of teachers from TX and the trip was just unbelievable. We saw a lot of humpback whales up very close, sea lions, otters, puffins, tons of eagles, and other birds too numerous to count, especially at St. Lazarius Island. He also has extra sets of binos for those without. You won't go wrong by booking Capt. Davey at http://www.puffinsandwhales.com