Kayaking in Alaska help

[tc2344]

Hello CC family, DH and I are booked for a Vancouver r/t Alaskan cruise with the ports being Icy Strait Point (3pm-10pm), Ketchikan (2pm-8:30pm) and Juneau (7:30am -8:00 pm) in mid-June (2015, I'm getting an early start) and one of the excursions we are wanting to do is kayaking in hopes of getting close to whales. There are a few videos online that I have seen for Alaska that are amazing, but are there any firsthand experiences kayaking and being successful in having the whales get close to you? If so, which port, what company and what time of day? I was leaning towards Icy Strait Point, but I am thinking I read somewhere that whales are more active in the morning and Juneau is the only port we have a morning arrival. Any thoughts, referrals? Any input is greatly appreciated!

[JNU WW&FISH]

Check with Becky at Above & Beyond in Juneau. The website is beyondak.com

Highly recommended by locals, cruise pax & Jnu visitors.

[tc2344]

Thank you JNU WW&FISH, I visited their website and have it saved to my favorites since it is too early to book for 2015...drat! :)

[Suzanne123]

We went with Above and Beyond and did indeed get close to a couple whales. However, it was a long 8 mile paddle in Auke Bay with choppy water. Lots of fun, but you can't really know where or even if the whales decide to pop up.

We're going again in May. I'll post pictures.

[tc2344]

Suzanne123, Why can't they have trained wild whales waiting for us while we are kayaking:confused:? Just kidding. ;) Now, I'm torn between the straight kayaking (being able to spend more time on the kayak by a couple of hours) and the kayaking and whale watching boat ride (kayaking for 1-1/2 hours). Decisions, decisions, but these are the decision I enjoy making! :)

[Kesstral]

I've got a kayaking excursion booked in Ketchikan with Southeast Sea Kayaks (Orcas Cove tour) in about a month so I'll be sure to post how they are.

[Suzanne123]

We did that excursion and had a great time. We stayed fairly close to the shoreline but we saw amazing purple and orange starfish everywhere. Very nice guides.

[ikirumata]

We also did the Orca's Cove kayak tour. I was also hoping to see some whales from a kayak, but we werent in any kind of deep water for that...which is good for us as we realized how hard kayaking really is in wind.

 

The tour was pretty cool. We saw lots of starfish, eagles, seals, a bear, squirting clams, and an otter. At the end, we got to munch on some smoked salmon and crackers!

 

[tc2344]

Kesstral: I'm so excited for you! Have a wonderful trip and I can't wait to hear back on your Kayaking excursion, thank you so much!

 

Suzanne123: thank you for that insight, so it sounds like I should be asking the question of how far out the excursion goes or if it says towards the shoreline.

 

ikirumata: LOVED the photo! Thank you so much for sharing it! I have heard a lot about the Orca's Cove kayak tour and all the various wild life that is observed and that starfish was so cool!