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Icy Strait

bigmohes

By bigmohes,
in Alaska

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bigmohes

bigmohes

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We will be on the Celebrity Cruisetour 12 in August. We are pretty set throughout the trip with excursions. Whale watch, flight seeing kayaking, Jet boat, all ready booked. Looking for something in ISP. I am looking for any suggestions and would appreciate anything you would share. Thank you

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snowbird1

snowbird1

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We just did a bear search with Misty Bay Lodge. It was one of the best days of the trip. Saw 3 bears and the people could not be nicer. I loved my day in Icy Straight.

 

They also have a good Whale Watch on a smaller boat. The owner has a restaurant in town as well. I did both tours in the same day and loved them both.

 

 

Sent from my iPad

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vjblk

vjblk

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I too would recommend the whale watching. We went with Misty Bay Lodge last August and the whale watching was phenomenal. Small boat with only about 8 of us on board. Loved it! At one point we were surrounded by about 30 whales. Everywhere you turned there was a group surfacing. We had the morning tour and then we had lunch at their restaurant and then just walked around the small town. Had a nice day there.

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Shaelyn

Shaelyn

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Icy Strait for us = small boat whale watching excursions ---- LOVE the experience!

 

Your pictures are amazing. What kind of camera did you use? We sail on the Millenium in Sept. Our first trip to Alaska. Can't wait!

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Italy52

Italy52

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Your pictures are amazing. What kind of camera did you use? We sail on the Millenium in Sept. Our first trip to Alaska. Can't wait!

 

 

Thank you so much for the compliment. For the 2012 pictures we used a Sony A300 DSLR and a Fujifilm Finepix S400.

 

We have had some great Alaskan cruises on the Millennium --- hope you experience the same. We can't wait to board the Millennium to Alaska again in 2014.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

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DragonOfTheSeas "Live from...." Rare

DragonOfTheSeas

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Whale Watching: We took a whale watch from 10am to 1pm with Icy Strait Whale Adventures. We wanted to have a more personal experience so we independently booked a small boat (6 passengers).

This was suggested by one of our Radiance roll call members. By the end of our trip we were cold and tired (in a good way) and headed back to the ship for hot soup.

We loved our whale watch. We saw lots of whales (mostly heads and tails as they breeched the surface). 

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Budget Queen

Budget Queen

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This is the only place for cruise passengers to do a reasonable cost bear search tour, that has good sighting states. This is brown bears with a salmon diet. I use a different vendor who I have been very happy with, but key is to do this independent, not with a ship excursion.

 

The whale watching is excellent with 100% sightings of humpbacks.

 

Native activities at the Icy Strait "compound" are also interesting.

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exbbmom

exbbmom

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We are doing a combo halibut fishing/whalewatching tour with Misty Bay Lodge in July. Hope could not have been more accomodating as some of our group wanted fishing and the others wanted whalewatching. So we have the 6 psg boat all to ourselves for the entire day. I've heard great things about them and their attentiveness to our requests have been amazing. Here's hoping that all goes as planned, but based on their responsivenes to please everyone, I have high hopes that it will be a great trip.

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Budget Queen

Budget Queen

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We are doing a combo halibut fishing/whalewatching tour with Misty Bay Lodge in July. Hope could not have been more accomodating as some of our group wanted fishing and the others wanted whalewatching. So we have the 6 psg boat all to ourselves for the entire day. I've heard great things about them and their attentiveness to our requests have been amazing. Here's hoping that all goes as planned, but based on their responsivenes to please everyone, I have high hopes that it will be a great trip.

 

Only a general comment, but you were very lucky. The problem with the ship bear tour, unless they have now changed? is they go back and forth to a fixed location and platforms. Bears are not always there, and can be a great distance away.

 

With an independent, you have a higher success rate, and better experience, not limited to standing on a platform. I've walked with my armed guide across the river from a feeding salmon etc. The local guides know the area extensively, and try hard with the search for their customers.

 

An alternative choice to consider.

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bigmohes

bigmohes

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Only a general comment, but you were very lucky. The problem with the ship bear tour, unless they have now changed? is they go back and forth to a fixed location and platforms. Bears are not always there, and can be a great distance away.

 

With an independent, you have a higher success rate, and better experience, not limited to standing on a platform. I've walked with my armed guide across the river from a feeding salmon etc. The local guides know the area extensively, and try hard with the search for their customers.

 

An alternative choice to consider.

 

Who did you use?

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bigmohes

bigmohes

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Thank you for all of the responses however, we are doing a whale watch already. It will be on a small boat with just our party. I really want to do a variety of activities to get a sampling of Alaska. I may or may not ever go back so I want to be sure this trip covers a variety. The bear search is of interest.

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frugaltravel

frugaltravel

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I suggest Misty Bay Lodge or FISHES for whale watching. The only company that seems to be mentioned at least a couple of times a year with some sort of negative review is Teckk. Seems to be good if you get one of their good days, but bad if you get one of their bad days. You have to wonder if a couple of "bad days" are reported each year on CC, how many are not reported on CC??

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Bucky3

Bucky3

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A few years ago we did a bear excursion with Teckk Outfitters and were very satisfied. After the tour we had lunch at I believe a place called "The Office" in town where we enjoyed eating crab. Do you know if it is still there and still a good place for a crab meal? Thanks for your help. Glad to see you have been enjoying Hawaii along with Alaska!! Aloha!

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grapehound

grapehound

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I liked Hoonah a lot more than I thought I would. We simply walked into town (away from the pier) and had the world's best fried halibut at Misty Bay Lodge. Very relaxing and everyone was so friendly. It's a picturesque fishing village and the harbor is a great subject if you're into photography. It was also one of the few places in Alaska that seemed genuinely happy to see visitors.

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zonacruiser25

zonacruiser25

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We loved Icy Straight. We did not do an excursion and just walked around. It was raining the day we were there. It is a really pretty area. We enjoyed the local food and drink. We walked under a tree that had over 20 bald eagles sitting in it. We saw them all over town. I hope you have time after an excursion to enjoy the town!

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Budget Queen

Budget Queen

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A few years ago we did a bear excursion with Teckk Outfitters and were very satisfied. After the tour we had lunch at I believe a place called "The Office" in town where we enjoyed eating crab. Do you know if it is still there and still a good place for a crab meal? Thanks for your help. Glad to see you have been enjoying Hawaii along with Alaska!! Aloha!

 

 

As far as I know, the Office is still thriving and serving up their signature crab. :)

 

Give them a call to verify- 907) 945-3215

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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

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We will be on the Celebrity Cruisetour 12 in August. We are pretty set throughout the trip with excursions. Whale watch, flight seeing kayaking, Jet boat, all ready booked. Looking for something in ISP. I am looking for any suggestions and would appreciate anything you would share. Thank you

 

We have done the whale watching tour there a couple of times.

Really great!!

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joeandsue

joeandsue

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We did not really plan anything to do in ISP, but my husband ended up doing the zip line,( booked on shore) he did enjoy it, but really enjoyed the ride up the mountain as much.

 

It was a nice little place to visit, we walked a trail, I watched for whales waiting on my husband to ride the zip line.

 

I wish I had ask to ride the bus up and down the mountain

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