Car Rental Ketchikan

[TMLAalum]

Moon's Travel Buide to Alaska has me thinking that renting a car in Ketchikan might allow us the freedom to explore beyond the Creek Street District. We could visit Totem Bight State Park on our own or head to Saxman Village. DH could do a little fishing at Ward Lake or Herring Cove. On our previous port stop there I did the Misty Fjord ship tour and DH did kayak fishing with a private guide, though he had his best luck right in town.

 

Has anyone done this? Who did you rent from? We are in port from 7-4 but the rental agencies I've researched don't open until 9 and we'd need to return the car by three.

[oaktreerb]

Haven’t rented a car but the city bus should cover the route to Totem Bight State Park and Ward Lake.  It’s been a few years since we did the city bus tour but it is an option.  

[quack2]

Good luck getting a rental car anywhere in Alaska for awhile.

 

[karatemom2]

We rent a car in Ketchikan almost every cruise - there is so much to see and do outside of town. We really love heading up to the Herring Cove area to look for bears and out to Ward Lake for hiking. Lots of little beaches and spots both directions where you can stop and picnic. We always rent from Alaska Car Rental - just reserved with them yesterday for our upcoming trip in August on the Encore. 

 

http://www.akcarrental.com/

[mlmalone3]

We rented a car in 2019 and took off toward Totem Bight State Park...went past it and came to the "End" of the road! Literally...road ends...we parked and took off on a beautiful hike...Lunch Falls Trails.

Then worked our way back into town, stopping at Totem Bight...even stopped at the Walmart and picked up a few things we forgot to pack. If I remember we used Alaska Car Rental also.

[RSF Cruiser]

I've also rented multiple times from Alaska Car Rental. In addition to what the other posters said about things to do with a car, I've downloaded this trail guide (https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5413489.pdf) and have been working my way through the different trails that fit the ship's schedule. There's always Alltrails, but for Ketchikan, I prefer the USDA guide.

[cruise kitty]

On 6/20/2021 at 5:19 AM, TMLAalum said:

Moon's Travel Buide to Alaska has me thinking that renting a car in Ketchikan might allow us the freedom to explore beyond the Creek Street District. We could visit Totem Bight State Park on our own or head to Saxman Village. DH could do a little fishing at Ward Lake or Herring Cove. On our previous port stop there I did the Misty Fjord ship tour and DH did kayak fishing with a private guide, though he had his best luck right in town.

 

Has anyone done this? Who did you rent from? We are in port from 7-4 but the rental agencies I've researched don't open until 9 and we'd need to return the car by three.

 

Hi, do you happen to have the name of the guide your husband used for the kayak fishing?  My husband is hoping to do the same thing, thank you 🙂

 

[TMLAalum]

1 hour ago, cruise kitty said:

 

Hi, do you happen to have the name of the guide your husband used for the kayak fishing?  My husband is hoping to do the same thing, thank you 🙂

 

It was in 2008 so no idea. Try yakalaska.com, but the 1st page of the website is weird so go to the next and there is a# to call plus email

[cruise kitty]

3 hours ago, TMLAalum said:

It was in 2008 so no idea. Try yakalaska.com, but the 1st page of the website is weird so go to the next and there is a# to call plus email

thank you 🙂  continuing the search !  

[zelker]

On 6/28/2021 at 1:48 PM, karatemom2 said:

We rent a car in Ketchikan almost every cruise - there is so much to see and do outside of town. We really love heading up to the Herring Cove area to look for bears and out to Ward Lake for hiking. Lots of little beaches and spots both directions where you can stop and picnic. We always rent from Alaska Car Rental - just reserved with them yesterday for our upcoming trip in August on the Encore. 

 

http://www.akcarrental.com/

 

Do they pick up and drop off at the pier?

 

Can you park close to Herring Cove and walk over to see the bears in the stream?

 

Edited July 7, 2021 by zelker

[karatemom2]

We have experienced different options depending on their staffing and number of cars being rented by cruisers on a given day - on a couple of occasions they have brought the car to the pier for us. Other times we have just taxied over and picked it up and taxied back when we returned it. It’s easy to get taxi service. 
 

The Herring Cove area has some limited parking/pullout areas - some on or adjacent to private property so you just have to be mindful of where you are and be respectful. We have never had a problem and you will see the tours stopping as well. 
 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2021 by karatemom2

[Iafarmer]

We have a rental car booked for this August with Tongass Car Rental in Ketchikan.  We are to meet them/car at 8:30.  We could have met at 8, but I wanted to allow for a little extra time in the morning since we are there until 4.  

This is our first time renting in Ketchikan.  We will also be renting in Juneau.  

[zelker]

20 minutes ago, Iafarmer said:

We have a rental car booked for this August with Tongass Car Rental in Ketchikan.  We are to meet them/car at 8:30.  We could have met at 8, but I wanted to allow for a little extra time in the morning since we are there until 4.  

This is our first time renting in Ketchikan.  We will also be renting in Juneau.  

So is Tongass delivering the car to the pier?  Also, who are you renting from in Juneau?  

[Iafarmer]

We are  meeting them in the Tongass parking lot, not far from the pier.

 

In Juneau we will be renting from Juneau Car Rental--we've rented from them several times.  The thing to note is they are located at Dock A and our ship will be docked at E in August, making for a trek or taxi ride to get there.  In previous visits, we've been docked very close to them.  

[TMLAalum]

14 hours ago, Iafarmer said:

We have a rental car booked for this August with Tongass Car Rental in Ketchikan.  We are to meet them/car at 8:30.  We could have met at 8, but I wanted to allow for a little extra time in the morning since we are there until 4.  

This is our first time renting in Ketchikan.  We will also be renting in Juneau.  

Thanks for this info, IAfarmer! Though I started this thread we are now rethinking a car rental in Ketchikan because we plan in attending 9:30 Sunday mass at church on Jackson St and the rental agencies indicated they didn't open til 9. The church used to offer a shuttle service for cruisers pre-covid, but hasn't committed to doing so this season. The public bus schedule doesn't work for us to get to church on time. At this point we are thinking taxi to church and then hike the Rainbird trail back to near the pier. But if we can get the rental car earlier thru Tongass......

[Iafarmer]

Hope you're able to get something worked out~

It will be nice to take advantage of the longer time in port, unusual for Ketchikan, to explore with a car.