Whale Watching in Juneau

[LizzieB616]

I am reading about booking independent whale watching tours and I keep hearing Capt. Larry. Can anyone advise what tour company he is with and a web site to get in touch with them? Or if there is any others to check into. I just read the a post from the Star Princess about the Princess tour had 60 people on board to whale watch and the "Capt. Larry" tour only had 16. I like the less is more feature. Thanks to anyone who has suggestion, and it is probably already a post out there but couldn't find it right away.:D

[johninwpa]

He is with Orca. I don't have the website, but if you search for orca, you should get both a site and phone number. We had 24 people last Sept. with Capt Larry. Still had room to move about and everyone could get a piece of the rail to get their clear shots. We enjoyed it.

[ljstevenson]

Hi there

 

if you like the idea of less is more - try and harv and marv (should find them on google if you type that) - there trips are for 6 people - i've heard many good things about them - will find out in a couple of weeks!

[karatemom2]

The company is Orca Enterprises and this is the webiste:

 

http://www.orcaenterprises.com/

 

We enjoyed our tour with them last year. They do have more than one boat. The one we were on was run by Captain Sean and there were less then 20 people onboard. I've also seen very good reviews here of Harv and Marv's tours.

[bay44b]

I am reading about booking independent whale watching tours and I keep hearing Capt. Larry. Can anyone advise what tour company he is with and a web site to get in touch with them? Or if there is any others to check into. I just read the a post from the Star Princess about the Princess tour had 60 people on board to whale watch and the "Capt. Larry" tour only had 16. I like the less is more feature. Thanks to anyone who has suggestion, and it is probably already a post out there but couldn't find it right away.:D

We are booked with Harv and Marv's on May19th. Only six people to a boat. They come highly recommended (this will be our first tour with them, so I can't speak from experience). http://www.harvandmarvs.com

 

Have a great cruise,

 

Barry

[knittingGal]

I remembered I saw a website that has all the independent whale watching operators in Juneau. But I cannot find it any more. Basides the Orca and Harv, are there other reputable companies out there?

[judyfssw]

I also have a question. In 2004, my sister and I took our mother to Juneau on Celebrity's Infinity. We went on a ship sponsored excursion for an evening whale watch. I believe it was on a catamaran, but I'm not sure. There was a vern nice buffet provided and we were able to see hump back whates bubble netting.

We are going to Alaska with mom again this August but Celebrity doesn't have the evening whate watch as a shore excursion. Does anyone know which company conducted this tour and whether we can book them privately. I remember everyone talking about the huge numbers of people going on the earlier cruise but our excursion wasn't full and everyone had room to roam around inside or upstairs outside.

I would really appreciate any assistance with this.

Thank you

[midwestsolo]

Try Alaska Marine Adventures

[cruiseonecer]

I remembered I saw a website that has all the independent whale watching operators in Juneau. But I cannot find it any more. Basides the Orca and Harv, are there other reputable companies out there?

 

As the above poster advises Alaska Marine Adventures:

 

http://www.charter-alaska.com/Alaskan_Marine_Adventures/Welcome.html

[Misha]

We are going with Captain Case on the Can Can from Alaska Marine Adventures in June and are really looking forward to it. He sounds very professional and fun from his emails and also has only 6 people to a boat.

[lovetocruise99]

For those of you going with Harv and Marv, please post back your experiences upon your return. We're going the second week in June and would love to hear how it went.

[amapola]

Question about the Orca boats. How bumpy is the ride? DH has a spinal lesion and he can't do things like rollercoasters (even the "tame" ones at Disney) or rides that bounce hard. Appreciate any feedback on this! TIA :)

[karatemom2]

Question about the Orca boats. How bumpy is the ride? DH has a spinal lesion and he can't do things like rollercoasters (even the "tame" ones at Disney) or rides that bounce hard. Appreciate any feedback on this! TIA :)

 

We were in one of Orca's smaller boats and we bounced along pretty good and it was a nice day. We didn't find it uncomfortable, but if you have a back problem I could see where it might cause discomfort. I would talk with them about it before booking. Maybe the larger boat would offer a smoother ride.

[amapola]

Thanks, Mary! That's pretty much what I thought. I'll email and see what they recommend.

[LizzieB616]

Thanks to all of you - one other question. What about getting sea sick? My hubby wears a patch for the big boats (whimp :) ) and I don't have a problem. I have heard stories about people doing deep sea fishing tend to get sick, is this the same or if you don't tend to have a problem flying or being on the boat everything should be ok? I really want to do a smaller venue rather than something large. Thanks for all of your help!

 

Elizabeth

 

PS We will be leaving Seattle on June 8 on the Star Princess.

[Toyz711]

when the boats stops, watching the whales, it's possible...if you think the motion will bother you, get some meds or patch. as the ship is in motion, you may not get bothered. usually, as long as you don't look at the waves and keep your eyes on the horizen, people don't get seasick...but when watching the humpbacks....you are looking right at the waves...plus the ship is just sitting there...floating over..up/down...the waves.

the day i was on auke bay, the water had white caps and the boat was really rocking. nothing bothers me, plus i was so excited about watching the humpbacks.

[GORDONCHICK]

We went with Harv & Marv this past September and loved it! And I get seasick on the ships so I take Bonine. I didn't do or take anything extra when we went, and the water was choppy. We loved Pete. He honestly loves his summer job (he's a truck driver in the off-tourist season) and it shows. And if anyone is wondering how children do on this excursion, we had our DS who was 6, and there was a 4yo girl, and they had a great time too. Pete was as excited as they were about seeing the water spouts.

[knittingGal]

As the above poster advises Alaska Marine Adventures:

 

http://www.charter-alaska.com/Alaskan_Marine_Adventures/Welcome.html

 

thank you for the website. They seem to have a good review. I will give it a try.

[kellywhitehills]

I am reading about booking independent whale watching tours and I keep hearing Capt. Larry. Can anyone advise what tour company he is with and a web site to get in touch with them? Or if there is any others to check into. I just read the a post from the Star Princess about the Princess tour had 60 people on board to whale watch and the "Capt. Larry" tour only had 16. I like the less is more feature. Thanks to anyone who has suggestion, and it is probably already a post out there but couldn't find it right away.:D

 

We have a whale watch booked on the Scania with Capt Jack..He only takes out no more that 12 ..Its a smaller boat with a covered outdoor viewing platform..

[kellywhitehills]

Thanks to all of you - one other question. What about getting sea sick? My hubby wears a patch for the big boats (whimp :) ) and I don't have a problem. I have heard stories about people doing deep sea fishing tend to get sick, is this the same or if you don't tend to have a problem flying or being on the boat everything should be ok? I really want to do a smaller venue rather than something large. Thanks for all of your help!

 

Elizabeth

 

PS We will be leaving Seattle on June 8 on the Star Princess.

 

On Capt Jacks web site he gives a no seasickness guarentee

heres a link to his web site

http://www.whale-watch.biz/scania.htm

[Sheannb]

We just returned from the Star Princess inside passage and after much research on these very helpful boards we chose Orca Enterprises and were very happy that we did. We were lucky to be on there brand new purple FLAT bottom boat. It rides the waves very smoothly and you hardly feel any motion at ALL.

Please see my review on tripdvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g31020-d660845-r16444204-Orca_Enterprises-Juneau_Alaska.html

Happy Whale Watching!

[bay44b]

Went with Harv and Marvs in Juneau (3rd week of May) and saw both Orcas AND Humpbacks, Eagles, and Sea Lions. Pete (either Harv or Marv this year) was Great and very informative. We watched a pod of Orcas for about 30 minutes!!

 

Good luck.

 

Barry

[GA girl]

We went on a 4 hour trip with Harv and Marv less than 2 weeks ago - Jay, one of the owners, was our captain. Had a great time, saw orcas, seals, bald eagles - and much beautiful scenery. Jay gave us so much information and answered a multitude of questions. On the ride back to the ship his father in law Sandy gave us a great tour of Juneau too. Would highly recommend them.

[Chief Paul]

We just returned from a Princess cruise and did a cruise sponsored excursion with Allen. We saw several humpback wales and other sea life. They did an excellent job - experienced crew, including a naturalist with experience in Hawaii and Alaska. They put us within 100-200 yards of sea wildlife. There was plently room on the catamaran to move around. Many smaller whale watching vessels shadowed us througout the 4 hour excursion.

[Costafox]

For those of you going with Harv and Marv, please post back your experiences upon your return. We're going the second week in June and would love to hear how it went.

 

We did the 4 hour trip with Harv and Marv on their very first day of this season - 10th May.

 

We had a fantastic trip, we saw humpback whales, orcas, seals and eagles and some breathtaking scenery.

 

It was a very personal tour as there were 6 friends on board with Captain Jay - the 4 hour trip is certainly better as some other friends of ours did the 3 hour trip at the same time on the other boat and they missed out on seeing the orcas. They are very professional and friendly people and we had a wonderful time. We were dropped off for a short visit to Mendenhall Glacier on our return from the whale watching trip. We were then collected from the Glacier and returned back to downtown Juneau and I really could not recommend them highly enough.

 

Jay told us that they are pretty much booked up for the whole season but check out their website www.harvandmarvs.com or give Eileen a call and you may just be lucky.

 

Best Wishes

 

Gill