Victoria or Juneau for Whale Watching

[UFLaw]

Hello All:

 

We are going on the NCL Jewel on May 23 and wanted to get peoples opinion on doing the whale watching in either Victoria or Juneau.

 

We really can't afford to do both, and want to know which town would be better off to explore vs the other. Also, where is the whale watching better?

 

Thank you for your input.

 

Cheers,

 

Eric

[Budget Queen]

I give you the details- Juneau is 100% sightings of humpbacks, with orcas, maybe twice a week sightings- ave.

 

Out of Victoria there is the potential for viewing three orca pods. infrequent humpback possibility. An added issue, is with most of the cruiselines- you have to go with their ship tour, which is shorter than the usual independent timeframe. Big problems with this, as it is all about time, the longer you are out, the more successful you will be with getting to the whales. Time is what is going to dictate how far that vendor can go out. With a late in the day tour, they do have a good idea where their range is going to be, AND they will still go out, knowing you aren't going to see any. I would rough estimate that you maybe have a 80/85% success chance of orca sightings.

 

When I plan my orca priority trips, I go independent to Vancouver Island and invest in several days and multiple tours. There has been one trip, where I had no sighting for 4 days. Thankfully the vendor I used told me, since I had gone with them several times, over several trips, but usually they don't.

[PNW Traveler]

Juneau would be my choice.

I've "watched whales" and observed whales as a boater in SE Alaska, the inside passage, Victoria, the San Juan Islands, and Puget Sound. Juneau wins for a "one time" memory making whale watching trip.

Have fun.

[martincath]

The only amendment to the above I'd throw out is that since you actually have a decent-length stop in Victoria, 2:30-9:30pm, it's quite feasible to do an independent whale watch cruise.

 

Unlike the shorter cruiseline ones, all the Victoria providers claim a 95% or better spotting rate from May through October - and in the cases where you don't see any whales, if you go with Prince of Whales they offer a lifetime guarantee (so if you are ever in Victoria while the company is still in operation, you can keep repeating the tour until you finally see a whale).

 

Another issue, since you obviously can't burn the extra $100+ per person to do a second tour, is the cost of the tour - with the Canadian dollar so crappy right now, and Victoria having a longer whale-watching season anyway, it is *significantly* cheaper to go out of Victoria right now - CAN$115pp = <US$92pp.

 

Whether *almost* guaranteed Orcas for under $100pp seems a better deal than guaranteed Humpbacks for $150pp is something you have to decide for yourself...

[Budget Queen]

The only amendment to the above I'd throw out is that since you actually have a decent-length stop in Victoria, 2:30-9:30pm, it's quite feasible to do an independent whale watch cruise.

 

Unlike the shorter cruiseline ones, all the Victoria providers claim a 95% or better spotting rate from May through October - and in the cases where you don't see any whales, if you go with Prince of Whales they offer a lifetime guarantee (so if you are ever in Victoria while the company is still in operation, you can keep repeating the tour until you finally see a whale).

 

Another issue, since you obviously can't burn the extra $100+ per person to do a second tour, is the cost of the tour - with the Canadian dollar so crappy right now, and Victoria having a longer whale-watching season anyway, it is *significantly* cheaper to go out of Victoria right now - CAN$115pp = <US$92pp.

 

Whether *almost* guaranteed Orcas for under $100pp seems a better deal than guaranteed Humpbacks for $150pp is something you have to decide for yourself...

 

Their port time is a significant benefit, with going independent, my only suggestion. :)

 

The additional possibility is the plus of getting an independent zodiac tour which is my preference for orcas.

[UFLaw]

We were considering doing only an independent and the Juneau one is for 3.5 to 4 hours. It is $800 for the 5 of us.

 

However, it is more about the experience instead of the cost. I know doing two whale watching would be a little much.

[Budget Queen]

We were considering doing only an independent and the Juneau one is for 3.5 to 4 hours. It is $800 for the 5 of us.

 

However, it is more about the experience instead of the cost. I know doing two whale watching would be a little much.

 

With your "little much" comment, then perhaps, take a vote of the 5 participants on which whale they want to see?

[martincath]

If it's not primarily cost that's the issue, I can assure you 100% that the two experiences will be plenty different enough to both be worthwhile doing. Even two back-to-back tours out of the same port to the same bunch of whales you can end up seeing entirely different behaviours; a Juneau tour and a Victoria tour share only one thing in common, that you're on a boat on the water. The scenery, the species of wildlife seen, and the type of boat (assuming you go with BQs very sensible suggestion of a Zodiac tour) will be quite different between the two.

 

As to what you would be trading it off against - if, like it seems many, Butchart Gardens is a Must Do for your party - well, even with your lengthy time in port it would be extremely tricky to combine a whalewatch and a garden tour unless the cruiseline offers one (departure time for the PoW combo is earlier than you dock). Being onshore by 3pm also enables you to visit the parliament buildings, Royal BC Museum, and other downtown attractions like the Bug Zoo that tend to close early - you could squeeze in one of these plus a 5:00pm-ish whalewatch still giving plenty of padding to ensure you'll be back on board by 9pm.

 

And as BQ also suggested - the other 4 people in your group no doubt have their own opinions. If any of them enjoy more adrenaline-fueled activities, zooming across the wavetops on a zodiac tour in your Polar Bear suit is going to seem much more fun than the more sedate vessels all the small independents out of Juneau use - whereas if you have folks with back problems, a zodiac trip would be a terrible idea...

[xlxo]

I vote to whale watch in Juneau with a Mendenhal glacier combo. Size matters.... love to see the larger and majestic Humpbacks.