Icy Strait Point Whale Watching

[Suzi66]

We will be in Icy Strait Point in September 2022 for a stop from 7am to 5pm so we have plenty of time to do things for the day.   
Previous to now my husband hasn't expressed a real big desire to go whale watching although he has told me that he wants to do a lot of nature and scenic photography while we are in Alaska.  Tonight I showed him some photographs that were here in CC from a review a few years ago and he was very impressed with them and how close it seemed the small boats got.  We have been on a whale watching tour here in Australia and my strongest memories were holding a bucket for my youngest child and I think seeing a single whale fluke, while hubby was holding a bucket for number 1 child, so we really don't have a lot to compare it to.

If he does decide he would like to go after I suggest it a few times (aka nag in his words) or show him some more photos, which company do you think I should look at booking with?

Is the whale watching in Juneau any different (better / worse / same)?  We have an excursion booked there which is a photography tour at Mendenhall Glacier with a whale watch at the end.  If it is the same, what would be your suggestions to do in Icy Strait?  As a background I have a slight mobility issue because of an acquired brain injury, which normally wouldn't be too much of an issue, but if I get very tired I can get quite sick, which is what has happened this past week, putting me in hospital for several days with stroke-like symptoms.  We will be in Skagway the day before and will be doing both the train and the dog summer camp (neither overly strenuous, but still a long day), so I don't want anything too overtaxing in Icy Strait.

[Dancing Shoes]

I can't tell you if Juneau or Icy Strait is better.  Some will say Juneau and others will tell you different.  Smaller boats will not get you any closer to the Humpback whale than a larger boat.  They are endangered and boats are required to stay a certain distance.  

 

The bigger boat may have less motion, but more people.  You may want to read up reviews on Trip Advisor for whale watching.  I was lucky to live 16 years in Hawaii seeing these beautiful creatures.  

[Ashland]

We've seen from onboard our ship as we docked and on shore near the cannery in ISP whales...no tour was needed

[Ferry_Watcher]

I was in ISP the first week of October and the whale watching was amazing.  We saw a whale breech, saw whales bubble feeding, as well lots of tails, fins and diving.  The boats are fast, comfortable, and you are seated arriving at the viewing location, as well as returning back to ISP.  Other than that, you can be out on the bow, or on the top deck.  We also stopped by a raft of sea otters on our way back to ISP.  We were fortunate that we were there on a bright sunny day - a real treat, and not typical.

 

I see that you are from Australia - it will be nice to have our international passengers back sailing out of the Pacific Northwest!

[Northern Aurora]

We were in ISP twice in September as we were on B2B cruises.  On the September 17th sailing we had $1200 in non-refundable OBC (and also some refundable OBC).  With that much non-obc we did several ship excursions.  

 

One of the excursions was a whale watching excursion out of ISP.  All I can say is that it was simply amazing.  We did the second trip of the day and experienced ninety (yes folks -- 90) minutes of bubble feeding with breaching including a pair of whales breaching together -- quite the synchronized swimming! Two ships were used so they were not totally full.  Acquaintances who were on the other ship told us that they were told that there is a resident pod in the area.  If that is true folks might want to consider not booking the first trip of the day as the boat captains clearly knew exactly where to go as they had earlier found the pod.

 

The loading dock for the whale watching excursion was right beside the dock.  Two boats were used, and they were both catamarans.  So it was a fast and smooth run out to the whale watching area.  While we have been to ISP several times, and have seen whales both from the ship and shore, this was simply incredible.  I told my husband we will never be able to take a whale watching excursion again as nothing will match what we experienced that day.

[hawk1972]

I highly recommend Glacier Wind Charters in ISP. They have small boats ( 6 and 13 passengers) and give very personalized service. We went with them in 2018 and have another trip booked for 2022.

Edited December 19, 2021 by hawk1972

[Italy52]

Another vote for Glacier Wind Charters in ISP.  We have taken their whale watching excursion many times and enjoyed them very much.  Lots of reviews on the CC Alaska board and on TripAdvisor.  We will be going with them again in August 2022 -- looking forward to it very much.

[ExilePA]

On 12/14/2021 at 8:21 PM, Northern Aurora said:

We were in ISP twice in September as we were on B2B cruises.  On the September 17th sailing we had $1200 in non-refundable OBC (and also some refundable OBC).  With that much non-obc we did several ship excursions.  

 

One of the excursions was a whale watching excursion out of ISP.  All I can say is that it was simply amazing.  We did the second trip of the day and experienced ninety (yes folks -- 90) minutes of bubble feeding with breaching including a pair of whales breaching together -- quite the synchronized swimming! Two ships were used so they were not totally full.  Acquaintances who were on the other ship told us that they were told that there is a resident pod in the area.  If that is true folks might want to consider not booking the first trip of the day as the boat captains clearly knew exactly where to go as they had earlier found the pod.

 

The loading dock for the whale watching excursion was right beside the dock.  Two boats were used, and they were both catamarans.  So it was a fast and smooth run out to the whale watching area.  While we have been to ISP several times, and have seen whales both from the ship and shore, this was simply incredible.  I told my husband we will never be able to take a whale watching excursion again as nothing will match what we experienced that day.

Do you by chance remember the excursion name (if it was with RC) or the name of the vendor that provided that excursion?  We have some OBC to use as well and wanted to use it for booking this type of excursion beforehand.  Thanks!

[Northern Aurora]

5 hours ago, ExilePA said:

Do you by chance remember the excursion name (if it was with RC) or the name of the vendor that provided that excursion?  We have some OBC to use as well and wanted to use it for booking this type of excursion beforehand.  Thanks!

 

We actually had $1200 non-refundable OBC on a seven night first leg of a B2B.  I have absolutely no idea how we had that much N-OBC and made several phone calls with no clear answer.  In any event, we were on Celebrity, but RC will likely use the same vendor.  

 

I don't know the name of the vendor.  I've googled ISP whale watching vendors to look at photos of the vessels used by various operators, and don't see a photo of what I thought was one of their boats (there were at least two as they used two boats for our time slot).  Both vessels had Tlingit names and the company logo had form line and ovoid components typical of SE art.

 

There were three time slots that day and we selected the second one.  As the folks who on the first run out to the inlet were returning they were telling us it was amazing.  We we were heading out the captain told us he wasn't going to pause for just one or two whales, and took us directly to the bubble feeding group.  The vendor clearly found that pod of whales on the first run of the day.

 

Wish I could be more helpful.

[ExilePA]

5 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

 

 

I don't know the name of the vendor.  I've googled ISP whale watching vendors to look at photos of the vessels used by various operators, and don't see a photo of what I thought was one of their boats (there were at least two as they used two boats for our time slot).  Both vessels had Tlingit names and the company logo had form line and ovoid components typical of SE art.

 

There were three time slots that day and we selected the second one.  As the folks who on the first run out to the inlet were returning they were telling us it was amazing.  We we were heading out the captain told us he wasn't going to pause for just one or two whales, and took us directly to the bubble feeding group.  The vendor clearly found that pod of whales on the first run of the day.

 

Wish I could be more helpful.

No worries, you did more than you had to!   Just one more question -- About how many people would've been on the boat do you think if it had been full capacity?   Trying to find something with no more than 15-20 so we can not feel crowded and enjoy the experience.  Thanks!

[Northern Aurora]

@ExilePA:  Both boats which we saw (the one we were on and the second which went out at roughy the same time period) were two decks, although in both cases (the one we were on and the second one which our acquaintances were on) they were rather empty.  There were probably about 25 persons on each boat, but with the second level it was hard to determine as I suspect some folks may have been on the second level.  While there were no concession services (ie, no coffee or tea) there were bathrooms.  Both were catamarans so were relatively stable but they were small enough that I wouldn't have been surprised if some folks had motion sickness issues.  While I thought it was rather smooth there was definitely bouncing as we both headed out and returned to the ISP compound.  Folks were seated while heading out and returning.

[matthewthamm]

I very highly recommend Tok River Outfitters (Found on Travel Advisors) in ISP.  Whale watching, they do that.  Halibut fishing, they do that, and so did we (our review is on TA).  This was our favorite stop of the cruise.  Very low key, no Diamonds International.

The whole ISP area and town is a great place to see.  This is a native-run stop.

[silkismom]

No Diamonds International----GASP!!!!    lol😺

[CCJack]

We went on Icy Straight Whale Adventures.   It was a great excursion.   Saw lots of whales up close.  I think they only had one boat, it was in great shape and held about 15 people, one level.