Whale watching in Juneau if I rent a car

[countdown2010]

We have rented a car in Juneau. Since it sounds like Juneua is the best place to see whales (and this is high on my list of things to do), I was wondering if we can do a whale watching tour by driving there. Can anyone recommend the best way to see whales but not spend half the day to do it? Thanks for any advice. Also, do you see whales while on the cruise ship? This is our first cruise to Alaska and we'll be there at the end of May.

[CowPrincess]

You can and often DO see whales from the ship, but they are a looooooooong way away. If you do see them from the ship, you will most likely see spouts and tails, WAY in the distance. I've had a couple of close encounters while on the ship, but I spend a LOT of time on deck, and recognize how extremely fortunate I've been -- very few people get to see what I've seen a couple of times.

 

A whale watch gets you much closer, often close enough to hear them, and see much greater detail.

 

As for driving to a whale watch, not sure quite what you mean -- drive to where the boats are docked and see if you can get a seat?

[nwwinelady]

After much research, we booked a whale watching trip through the ship (the Golden). This excursion also took us to see the Mendenhall Glacier after our whale watching trip. All in all, the costs versus a private party were very comparable. Our bus through the ship took us to the place where we boarded a boat (Allen Marine) and we went on our whale trip. Allen Marine was fabulous and so was the trip. Then our bus picked us up and took us to the Mendenhal Glacier and we had plenty of time to walk around and take photos.

We did not have the need to rent a car. After we returned to the ship, my husband and his Dad hung out on the ship and I walked into town (right there) and did a little shopping. The day was great!

[frugaltravel]

If you want to drive to where the whale watch tours board the boat, yes, you can do that. But all whale watch tours are 2.5 to 3 hours (generally the more time on the water the better). Not quite a half day, but if you want to drive to other sights in Juneau, you can certainly meet the tour at the Auke Bay harbor (small parking charge there) and it is probably a better use of your time. However, the whale watch tour companies would pick you up near the cruise ships and drop you off back there afterward for no extra charge.

[Budget Queen]

Driving to Auke Bay is simple and fits in well with a Mendenhall Glacier Stop, Chapel on the Lake, St. Theresa Shrine, Glaicer Gardens, hatchery etc etc etc.

 

You don't want to consider any whale watch less than 2 hours.

 

As for seeing whales from the ship, yes, certainly you can see them, I always do.

 

It does require a large investment of time, forward viewing, and necessary is a good pair o wide angle binoculars. For me, the added benefit of knowing the prime areas. You can expect to spend a couple hours out, with then having 1 MINUTE of viewing. :)

 

For any whale watching- expect nothing more than blows, backs and tails. Anything else is a gift. :)

[countdown2010]

Thanks for all the great advice. I will have to see if time will permit for us to do a whale watching trip from Auke Bay. We can't wait until we get to Alaska. The reason we want the car is so we can do things at our own pace. I think it will work out well to have the car. In all the other ports, we are doing excursions that pick us up and drop us off.