Excursion help for July

[gavavemom]

I am just finding out now that some of the more popular tour companies may be booked. We waited so long b/c just weren't 100% sure we would be going on our cruise up until now. We are two, very active adults who enjoy adventure and nature + photographic opportunities. The less touristy and more of a true back door Alaska experience is more our style. Whale watching, sightseeing, hiking are on our list of must do's. Here are our stops:

Juneau (12hrs)

Skagway (12hr)

Icy Strait Point (9hrs)

Ketchikan (9hrs)

 

Must do's? We tried F.I.S.H.E.S already in Icy Straight Point and they are booked. I have a feeling the other small boats in Juneau may also be booked. I prefer independent tours to ones booked through the cruise line. This is so overwhelming for a first timer! Thanks in advance.

[Budget Queen]

I am certain Orca Enterprises can book you on a whale watch in Juneau. But if you have a 7-7 port time, I would suggest you also look at a Tracy Arm boat tour and the ground access hike to Mendenhall Glacier.

 

There are other vendors in Hoonah as well. I highly recommend Teckk Outfitters.

 

Your "sightseeing" referrence is too broad for me, to recommend anything. And hiking is every where in Alaska. That can be fitted in easily after you book your tours. Look over shore excursion lists and determine if there are any other tours of interest for you?? Then repost a more detailed list.

[Marie321]

You might try Orca and Harv and Marv in Juneau for whale watching. I would also recommend Adventure Bound for Tracy Arm if you are in port soon enough to catch the tour.

 

http://www.orcaenterprises.com/ Orca

 

http://www.harvandmarvs.com/ Harv & Marv

 

http://www.adventureboundalaska.com/ Adventure Bound

 

In Ketchikan, try fishing with Ken of Northern Lights or the Deadliest Catch tour.

 

http://www.ketchikanfishing.net/ Ken

 

http://56degreesnorth.com/ Deadliest Catch

 

In Skagway, try the Chilkoot train/van tour, or take the ferry over to Haines. In Haines we had a photography tour which we enjoyed very much.

 

http://www.chilkootcharters.com/ Train/Van

 

http://www.bobadkinsphotography.com/ Haines photography

[gavavemom]

We wont be in the Juneau until 9am so unfortunately we will not be able to do Tracy Arm. As far as sightseeing goes, glaciers are a must. Looking for a back door Alaska adventure. Would definitely like to see Mendehall glacier, White Pass/Yukon excursion and Misty Fjords. City tours are not so important to us. Nature tours are more our style. I contacted Above & Beyond Alaska and they have the Mendenhall glacier hike/ice climb tour available but it pretty much means we wont be able to do anything else in Juneau. We would definitely like to fit in some self guided kayaking as well.

[tee_harbor]

We wont be in the Juneau until 9am so unfortunately we will not be able to do Tracy Arm. As far as sightseeing goes, glaciers are a must. Looking for a back door Alaska adventure. Would definitely like to see Mendehall glacier, White Pass/Yukon excursion and Misty Fjords. City tours are not so important to us. Nature tours are more our style. I contacted Above & Beyond Alaska and they have the Mendenhall glacier hike/ice climb tour available but it pretty much means we wont be able to do anything else in Juneau. We would definitely like to fit in some self guided kayaking as well.

 

You can rent a car in every port but Hoonah and go on your own. That's the back door Alaska anyway, not taking a tour. Look at the 'hippie' tour books for Alaska for hiking trail options in the ports. You can rent a kayak for self-guide in these ports as well. (Not sure about Hoonah. It's the true back door, with little tour infrastructure outside the cooperative efforts with the cruise companies.)

[Dunn1951]

We wont be in the Juneau until 9am so unfortunately we will not be able to do Tracy Arm. As far as sightseeing goes, glaciers are a must. Looking for a back door Alaska adventure. Would definitely like to see Mendehall glacier, White Pass/Yukon excursion and Misty Fjords. City tours are not so important to us. Nature tours are more our style. I contacted Above & Beyond Alaska and they have the Mendenhall glacier hike/ice climb tour available but it pretty much means we wont be able to do anything else in Juneau. We would definitely like to fit in some self guided kayaking as well.

Icy Strait is a good place to do whale watching. We used Glacier Wind Charters and we only had 6 people on our boat. www.g-wind.com In Juneau take the blue bus to Mendenhall and hike out to the glacier and to the falls. When you get back to Juneau take the city bus to the fish hatchery and just look for the creek just to the north and watch the salmon in the creek. Lots of eagles too. In Skagway book a tour with Frontier Excursions to Emerald Lake. www.frontierexcursions.com Take the train up to the Pass and the bus on the way down.

[CruisingGoddess]

We also went in July. I wrote a detailed blog about what we did each day, including who we used for excursions and prices.

 

http://moonprincess.com/travel/category/cruises/alaska-2010/

 

I hope it helps!!

[gavavemom]

Perhaps I should of stated it a little differently. Not so much "back door" as "personal" so not at all opposed to tours just don't want to go where all the crowds go. At the moment we considering:

 

Juneau

-choice of either Harv & Marv's whale tour with Mendenhall glacier option or Above & Beyond Alaska Glacier Trek & climb tour (this is a tough one)

-anyone know of a glacier hike that we could combine with the whale tour (which leaves @ 9:30am)

 

Ketchikan

-Island Wings float plane tour of Misty Fjords

 

Skagway

-Dyea Dave tour with rail option up

 

Icy Straight Point

-haven't figured it out yet but perhaps kayaking or whale watching here

 

Appreciate all the help here. It helps a lot!

[MJAS]

I had the same question. I would like to do a Glacier Trek and Whale Watching and am having trouble finding both tours. Any suggestions? Also is Juneau the only place to Whale Watch?

[Budget Queen]

Juneau

-choice of either Harv & Marv's whale tour with Mendenhall glacier option or Above & Beyond Alaska Glacier Trek & climb tour (this is a tough one)

-anyone know of a glacier hike that we could combine with the whale tour (which leaves @ 9:30am)

 

 

QUOTE]

 

Few if any port times will allow Above and Beyond with a whale watch. The only way to combine them is by glacier helicopter landing, in most cases.

[Budget Queen]

I had the same question. I would like to do a Glacier Trek and Whale Watching and am having trouble finding both tours. Any suggestions? Also is Juneau the only place to Whale Watch?

 

Whale watching is available out of Juneau and Hoonah. You usually see whales on the varied wildlife boat tours out of Sitka, but the overall time of "whale watching" is brief. With Kenai Fjords and Victoria- you "might" see whales.