Juneau whale watching tour

[georgiacat]

We are planning our Princess June, 2022 Alaskan cruisetour.  I want to do whale watching from Juneau.  I have been looking at several different tour companies and offerings (including the Princess's tours).  I notice that they spend different amounts of time on the water, from 2 hours to 5 hours.  If you have been on a whale watching tour, what do you think is the best tour and amount of time?

 

Currently my favorite is a Juneau Whale Watch tour that also includes Mendenhall glacier.  However, it is one of the shortest on water tour (2 hours).  If you have taken this tour, please comment.

[Italy52]

For Juneau, our favorite independent tour operator for whale watching is Jayleen's Alaska

https://jayleensalaska.com/.

 

Jayleen spends 3 hours on the water and provides transportation to from the ship.  Take a look at her website and see if what she offers fits your needs.  Jayleen also has reviews on TripAdvisor and in some of the trip reports on this Alaska board in case you are interested. 

 

 

[Sailin Gal]

We did a whale watching tour for 4 people with Captain Terry White from Juneau Adventures and would definitely use him again. 

[don't-use-real-name]

Do a combination of whale watching and glacier visits.

 

Look for the 5 hour round trip leaving from the float plane dock at Juneau and heading

south to the Tracy Arm Sawyer glacier - ample opportunity to see migrating whales

both coming and going in that Stephens Passage. 

 

Best part of the glacier viewing is getting right up close for photo opts

and often having the crew snag a piece of glacier ice to feel touch freeze and hold.

 

[quack2]

Independent tours are the way to go.  Smaller boats, fewer people, more photo ops.  The cruise ship excursions are ridiculously packed.

[SueMo]

Highly recommend http://www.juneauwhalewatch.com .  We did their Mendenhall Glacier & Juneau Whale Watching Combo Tour two years ago based on their TripAdvisor rating.  It rained torrents that day and our vessel had a cozy covered seating area with the option of going outside on deck.  Other boats we saw were all open seating and their passengers looked miserable.  The guide was a young native Alaskan lady who had recently graduated college. She did a terrific job in her informative talk.  We saw lots of whales close up.  The Mendenhall portion of the excursion gave us plenty of time to hike to the glacier, and we were fortunate to see a family of black bears there!

[AKStafford]

Harv & Marv's has a great reputation: https://www.harvandmarvs-juneau-whale-watching.com/tours/harvs/

[nini]

We did one with a Captain and only six passengers total! It may have been with Hard and Marv. THAT is the way to go. Otherwise, you will be on a crowded boat with many people.

Edited June 30, 2021 by nini
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