Juneau whale watching tours

[olesiabr]

OK Alaska experts!

We have decided to go whale watching in Juneau. We are a family of four and will be on the Star Princess next June. Our time in port is 6:30am to 4pm.

Can anyone comment on the three best rated tours on trip advisor: Juneau Whale Watch, Gastineau and Harv and Marv?

Is it worth including a city tour or is that easy to DIY?

Thanks for any input!

[Crew News]

OK Alaska experts!

We have decided to go whale watching in Juneau. We are a family of four and will be on the Star Princess next June. Our time in port is 6:30am to 4pm.

Can anyone comment on the three best rated tours on trip advisor: Juneau Whale Watch, Gastineau and Harv and Marv?

Is it worth including a city tour or is that easy to DIY?

Thanks for any input!

 

All of the Juneau whale watching boats go to the same places. When one tour spots a whale, all of the other tours head for that place. Most of my whale photos have other tour boats included but Photoshop lets me delete them.

 

The choice then is size of boat, amenities, and cost. Larger boats have much more comfort and usually a snack bar. The smaller boats have less competition for good viewing locations when whales are spotted.

 

There is not much to see in Juneau except tourist shops and a few seafood restaurants. I would recommend a trip up to Mt Roberts on the tram for an amazing view if you have time.

[peety3]

We're huge fans of Gastineau. IMHO their boats are the best for whale watching out there, as the inflatable pontoons that are outside the perimeter of the cabin give the boat far more stability than anything except the large 150-passenger catamarans, while preserving the smaller 14 or 20-passenger limit. The windows swing up/in and pin out of the way, so the whole opening is available for photography (with a flip-out elbow cushion), rather than 40% sliding windows on the North Star or closed windows on the catamaran (unless you go upstairs to the open deck). Yet, the boats aren't so small that they're canceled due to weather, as I've heard happens to H&M. Essentially all the right big-boat perks yet all the right small-boat perks.

 

We've always done their Photo Safari (three times), and that's limited to 14 passengers, yet seems to be the same price as the comparable tour that's not the Photo Safari, which is limited to 20 passengers. The 14-pax boats have the enclosed cabin plus a bow viewing area, while the 20-pax boats add a stern viewing platform, so the ratio of window/open space to passengers is probably about the same.

[VennDiagram]

OK Alaska experts!

We have decided to go whale watching in Juneau. We are a family of four and will be on the Star Princess next June. Our time in port is 6:30am to 4pm.

Can anyone comment on the three best rated tours on trip advisor: Juneau Whale Watch, Gastineau and Harv and Marv?

Is it worth including a city tour or is that easy to DIY?

Thanks for any input!

 

Your decision may be made for you, depending on the age of the kids. I think there are age requirements with some of the operators. Their websites may have that info.

[illiniwahoo]

Not to add more options for you, but with 4 people you could consider a whole boat rental. We used "lost in alaska" for our family of 4 last year. It was about the same price per person as the others, but it was just our family. The captain was great, and he had a deck hand to help spot whales. My dad is really into photography, so he even worked to position the boat on the best side of the whales for the lighting! I also wanted a longer time at mendenhall than some of the combo tours provided, so he arranged the taxi to pick us up at mendenhall rather than the ship. I highly recommend the personal experience!

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[xlxo]

Another thought... consider a combo tour that includes Mendenhall. The Whale watches and Mendenhall happen west of the cruise docks. A combination tour saves port time.

[Crew News]

We've always done their Photo Safari (three times), and that's limited to 14 passengers, yet seems to be the same price as the comparable tour that's not the Photo Safari, which is limited to 20 passengers. The 14-pax boats have the enclosed cabin plus a bow viewing area, while the 20-pax boats add a stern viewing platform, so the ratio of window/open space to passengers is probably about the same.

Another vote for the photo tour and the small boat.

[snoopy5386]

We used Juneau Whale Watch this summer and it was a great trip. It was just me and my 2 kids (10 & 6) so a private whale watch was out of the question price wise. We had maybe 30-40 people on our boat, but everyone spread out between the front, back and top decks so it didn't feel crowded at all. My 10 year old got some nice tail shots and one of the guides on board took out her phone, pulled up a website that has pics of all the known whales in the area and showed it to DD and let her scroll through all the pics to try and find "her whale". Mine were definitely the youngest kids on board and the guides were very interactive with them overall. We had a great time.

[lmintzer]

Loved the Photo Safari tour (through Gastineau). Reviewed it in a separate post on this board.

[Glaciers]

We had a good trip with Juneau Whale Watch. Had used Harv n Marv in the past and would not use them again.

[Budget Queen]

All of the Juneau whale watching boats go to the same places. When one tour spots a whale, all of the other tours head for that place. Most of my whale photos have other tour boats included but Photoshop lets me delete them.

 

The choice then is size of boat, amenities, and cost. Larger boats have much more comfort and usually a snack bar. The smaller boats have less competition for good viewing locations when whales are spotted.

 

There is not much to see in Juneau except tourist shops and a few seafood restaurants. I would recommend a trip up to Mt Roberts on the tram for an amazing view if you have time.

 

Completely incorrect myth. Absolutely- the boats do NOT all go together whale watching. There are NUMEROUS whales feeding in Auke Bay- which are individual animals. You WILL find a few vendors- who "demand" their tours, just find any close by whale, with a loop around shelter Island being a sure bet. They have a minimal fuel usage policy and gps their boats. Contrary, some vendors, are more "open" to free ranging. I've been on numerous trips, that we were completely alone in an area.

[Crew News]

Completely incorrect myth. Absolutely- the boats do NOT all go together whale watching. There are NUMEROUS whales feeding in Auke Bay- which are individual animals. You WILL find a few vendors- who "demand" their tours, just find any close by whale, with a loop around shelter Island being a sure bet. They have a minimal fuel usage policy and gps their boats. Contrary, some vendors, are more "open" to free ranging. I've been on numerous trips, that we were completely alone in an area.

 

My apologies for misleading you and those participating on this Alaska Forum. It was not my intention to imply that all of the whale-watching vendors "go together". Indeed many vendors have their "preferred" whale-watching locations to spot the "numerous" whales. I have been on a number of whale-watching tours that have not seen another boat.

 

You must not have observed this but "my" observation has been that when whales are spotted, a number of vendor's whale-watching boats, both large and small, in the vicinity will proceed to that area.

[eandj]

We used hArv and Marv just last week. Great time. We were in a medium sized boat holding 12 of us. Lots of room to stand in front or back, large windows for inside viewing if wanted too. We watched a group of humbacks doing the bubble feeding four times as well as a group of orcas. Fantastic how up and close the whole day was.

[steve293]

I vote for Juneau Whale Watch tours

[auntjoy036]

Budget Queen, Do you have a preferred whale watch provider in Juneau? Crew News, Did you say you prefer Gastineau? I went with Allen Marine via HAL in 2015. It worked well for Mom and me. This summer we toured Tracy Arm instead of doing a whale watch in Juneau. Next year, God willing, I'll be back in Juneau with my teenage nieces. Not needing to accommodate a wheelchair this time, I'd like to try one of the smaller boats.

 

Thanks.

 

Vicki

[Glaciers]

Budget Queen, Do you have a preferred whale watch provider in Juneau?

 

Budget Queen is currently on the NCL Dawn and doesn’t usually post when she’s on the water. I’m curious too. She used to promote Orca Enterprises who went out of business last year.

[Crew News]

Budget Queen, Do you have a preferred whale watch provider in Juneau? Crew News, Did you say you prefer Gastineau? I went with Allen Marine via HAL in 2015. It worked well for Mom and me. This summer we toured Tracy Arm instead of doing a whale watch in Juneau. Next year, God willing, I'll be back in Juneau with my teenage nieces. Not needing to accommodate a wheelchair this time, I'd like to try one of the smaller boats.

 

Thanks.

 

Vicki

 

All of my whale-watching excursions have been through HAL and I'm not sure if Gastineau was the vendor. I prefer the smaller boats. My last was part of the ORCA lodge excursion in Juneau. The previous year in Juneau I was on a Southwest Alaska University boat with 18 other passengers. There is less competition for good photography spots on the smaller boats.

[auntjoy036]

Thanks, Crew News. Your awesome photographs have influenced my choice of excursions during my recent visits to Alaska. Mom and I saw a brown bear cub feeding on dandelions this May, but the blurry little snap I got of him is nothing like the image you'd have captured. Thankfully I have the memory and my Mom to share it with. Thanks again for your help.

 

Vicki

[hjd36]

We went whale watching on M/V Scania - Adventures in Alaska - and would thoroughly recommend it. Saw killer whales as well as humpbacks, plenty of bubble feeding, and the ubiquitous sealions. There were only 6 passengers on the small boat and had a great time.

http://www.whalewatchingjuneau.com

[CindyLouWho2]

I took Harv and Marv in August and had a great time. I paid the larger boat rate but when it came time there were only five others so it was great to have a small group. Free water/pop available, guide was great with the stories and they were on time as well as helpful in directing me to my next stop. I also appreciated that they respected the rules for Whale Watching. I would definitely recommend Harv and Marvs.