Whales in Sitka

[collector]

We are looking at booking a whale watching excursion (not through the cruiseline), and we wondered if the whales are still around the end of August and who would be good to book out of Sitka. This is our first trip to Alaska and we are so excited. Seeing the whales would be the icing on the cake. We saw them several years ago off the coast of California,and it was really exciting. Thanks in advance

[whale-watcher]

Sitka is an excellent port to book a private small boat whale and wildlife watching excursion...this was one of the highlights of our cruise! Late august should be fine.

 

we used Captain Rich (forst@gci.net) and were very happy with our excursion, as were other people on our ship who used Captain Davey (puffinsandwhales.com)

[Budget Queen]

Yes, Sitka now does have humpbacks eating there all cruise season and this city hosts the annual Whale Fest every November. But it's an excellent port for varied wildlife and the ability to get to St. Lazaria puffin rookery, if of interest?

[cacti4ever]

We just returned from cruising Alaska on the Spirit. We did a sea otter and wildlife quest excursion and saw lots of sea otters, saw several whales (one of which breached!), deer on the shore, as well as a grizzly grazing in a meadow. I think that was my favorite shore excursion (well, okay, after the helicopter ride and glacier). If you get a chance to go whale watching, go for it ~ we loved it!

[SFAM]

We just returned from cruising Alaska on the Spirit. We did a sea otter and wildlife quest excursion and saw lots of sea otters, saw several whales (one of which breached!), deer on the shore, as well as a grizzly grazing in a meadow. I think that was my favorite shore excursion (well, okay, after the helicopter ride and glacier). If you get a chance to go whale watching, go for it ~ we loved it!

 

Same here for last year. The Sea Otter and Wildlife quest was absolutely terrific for us - certainly our favorite excursion of the week. They showed us a bit of everything (we even saw a puffin from far away). The ending part they spent around 30% of the total time looking for whales - in our case we hit the jackpot. First we saw a few single humpbacks, and then came upon a mother and calf that ended up breeching 18 times. :)

 

There was also a whale tour also offered off the cruise ship at the same time. They saw whales but didn't get the fun stuff.

[7seven7]

We also did the Sea Otter and Wildlife Quest out of Sitka. Saw everything from whales, bear in meadow, eagles in nest, otters. It was the best tour.

[Marie321]

We've gone with Captain Davey twice! He does a wonderful job! We saw whales and tons of other wildlife. Here is a link:

 

http://www.puffinsandwhales.com/

[holidaybound]

We also did the Sea Otter Quest in Sitka a couple of weeks ago and also saw humpbacks and sea otters. A great tour and Sitka is so beautiful.

 

We saw Whales from the ship (Infinity) every day except the first and last on the way up from and back to Seattle. It was reassuring to know that the ocean seems to be full of whales!

[cacti4ever]

We only saw a whale once from the ship, although we seemed to talk to people who had seen whales, so I was really happy to find the ones on our excursion. Next time we go, I'd like to take the shore excursion that looks for puffins. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Have been to Sitka several times -- even the end of August -- saw lots of whales and other wildlife.

[dlbaqua]

just back from Alaska (on the Westerdam)

we, too, did the Sea Otter & Wildlife tour out of Sitka

we saw otters, seals, eagles, a bear (well, I didn't see the bear but others did), a gray whale which our guide said was rare for that area and about 12 humpbacks. The whales were very playful and at one point our boat was surrounded by them. It was fantastic!