Whale watching tours: Juneau or Victoria.

Given your druthers, would you take a whale watching tour in Juneau or out of Victoria?

Which, if either, is more likely to see whales? Which is going to provide more wildlife observations?

I have to pick one or the other. Anyone have any thoughts or ideas?

Also try the port of call forums:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=226

more likely to see in Juneau however there are many great things to see in Juneau I am not a big fan of Victoria so if I was guaranteed a whale that's where I would pick it depends on what your interested in

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We did the whale excursion in Juneau last year and saw MANY humpbacks.

I would check out the Alaska Ports Of Call Board.

With that said Juneau is the ideal spot for Whale Watching not Victoria.

Keith

Given your druthers, would you take a whale watching tour in Juneau or out of Victoria?

Which, if either, is more likely to see whales? Which is going to provide more wildlife observations?

I have to pick one or the other. Anyone have any thoughts or ideas?

We actually saw more whales in Victoria than in Juneau when we went.

The 2 times we did whale watching was in Juneau. Both times we saw humpback and orca.

We have done quite a few Alaskan cruises and saw way more whales and wildlife in Juneau than we saw in Victoria.

Juneau = 100% sightings of Humpbacks (some other whales too). Some tours even offer a cash back guarantee ($100 handed to you on disembarkation) - but even a single whale's tail or back means you saw a whale... So you are definitely going to see whales, probably quite a lot of them, but if you feel that you will see breaches and bubblenetting expect to be disappointed - most of the time humpbacks just alternate breathing on the surface and diving down for dinner, with even a good crisp full-on fluke pic a 'nice to have' rather than a definite thing.

Victoria = season average 90%+ sightings, mostly Orca but we do get humpbacks passing through to get to AK waters, and some have enough sense to stay now that herring and other tasty baleen whale comestibles are growing in numbers. Guarantees from every company I'm aware of, but these are in the form of a free tour - so unless you can come back again, worthless.

Victoria's issue is that even the 'resident' orcas don't hang around close enough to the harbour to always be reached in a 3 hour tour - if they're further away and there aren't any Humpbacks, Greys etc. in the area then you'll get a much more 'coastal wildlife' tour with seals/sea lions, birds etc. as the new targets. The tour guys know with almost total certainty whether or not they'll see whales that day (first boats out might be a bit woolly depending where they were spotted day before) but unless you get tight with them they're simply not going to tell you that you have zero chance!

If you do see Orcas you are guaranteed a show compared to the baleen whales - they are much more playful animals. Don't expect Seaworld, but spyhopping and breaches are very normal for these guys.

The other aspects to consider are cost (it may not be relevant to you if you have buckets of cash, but with CAD ~0.80 USD and the base price being approx $120 instead of $160, Victoria is a LOT cheaper per hour on the water!) and what alternatives you are giving up by taking a tour. What would you do in each place if you didn't take the whalewatch tour? How much do you want to see/do your second-choice alternatives in Juneau & Victoria? Which combination will give you the overall most enjoyment?