Icy Strait Point or Juneau for Whale Watching

[Jamran77]

I would love some feedback on where is the best place for whale watching.  We currently have a Whale Watching tour scheduled for Juneau but I keep hearing it is amazing at Icy Strait, I really do not want to do it at both places.   In Icy Strait we were just going to walk around and explore the town of Hoonah and go on the small hike, am I making the wrong decision?  

[skrufy]

18 minutes ago, Jamran77 said:

I would love some feedback on where is the best place for whale watching.  We currently have a Whale Watching tour scheduled for Juneau but I keep hearing it is amazing at Icy Strait, I really do not want to do it at both places.   In Icy Strait we were just going to walk around and explore the town of Hoonah and go on the small hike, am I making the wrong decision?  

Can't give you a comparison. We did a bear and whale watch out of Icy Strait and it was spectacular.The whale portion of the excursion took us in the vicinity of Glacier Bays entrance.

[karatemom2]

The advantage of whale watching in Icy Strait Point is not just that it’s generally very good and you’re guaranteed to see whales, but also your options for activity there are somewhat limited. It’s beautiful but doesn’t offer anywhere near the variety of things to do and see as Juneau. So if you do your whale watching in Icy Strait Point you free up time in Juneau to choose something else among the many options there. 

[Chadmo]

I did Juneau a long time ago and it was spectacular,  orca pod going absolutely nuts.   We are going to Icy Strait Point in 2 weeks and have heard good things about there too.  I'd do it in either, but see if these is another excursion that interests you in one and do the whale watching in the other.   Juneau has a nice city to walk around and nugget falls is close to the port while ISP is a small city with less to do.

 

Either way let us know!

 

[JT1962]

I went with Glacier Winds in ISP in 2017 and am booked with them again in a couple of weeks. We saw 15-20 humpbacks bubble net feeding multiple times in ISP. I also booked a whale watching and Mendenhall glacier combo in Juneau since it doubles my chances at seeing whales. 
 

I agree with others that Juneau has more options of things to do, so if you are giving up something in Juneau to take the whale watching excursion, you might consider doing whale watching in ISP.

[Northern Aurora]

We did whale watching last September in both ISP and Juneau.  While Juneau was lovely, we had an incredible time at ISP -- ninety (yes -- 90) minutes of bubble feeding.  Two boats went out and acquaintances on the other boat reported that they were told there is a resident pod at ISP.

[Italy52]

3 hours ago, JT1962 said:

I went with Glacier Winds in ISP in 2017 and am booked with them again in a couple of weeks. We saw 15-20 humpbacks bubble net feeding multiple times in ISP. I also booked a whale watching and Mendenhall glacier combo in Juneau since it doubles my chances at seeing whales. 
 

I agree with others that Juneau has more options of things to do, so if you are giving up something in Juneau to take the whale watching excursion, you might consider doing whale watching in ISP.

Glacier Wind is a great company, we have gone with them multiple times.  Our trip with them is not until August --- can't wait.  Hope you have a fabulous time. 

[Italy52]

We like whale watching in both Juneau and Icy Strait and will go to both places if the opportunity presents itself.  When we are in Alaska we are all about the whales and glaciers.

[CCJack]

4 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

The advantage of whale watching in Icy Strait Point is not just that it’s generally very good and you’re guaranteed to see whales, but also your options for activity there are somewhat limited. It’s beautiful but doesn’t offer anywhere near the variety of things to do and see as Juneau. So if you do your whale watching in Icy Strait Point you free up time in Juneau to choose something else among the many options there. 

I agree.   The port at ISP is nice but the town offers much less to do than Juneau.    Our ISP whale watching was fantastic.   

[quack2]

Tough call.   I've had great whale watching days in both.  Best trip though was with Glacier Wind when we saw humpbacks, orcas, and dall porpoises (swimming alongside the boat).  All on a gorgeous day.

 

Having said that, the only completely out of the water breach I've ever photographed was with Harv and Marv out of Juneau.

[Ferry_Watcher]

Hopefully this cruise to Alaska will just be a 'first' cruise, and you will return at least once more. 

 

Since only a few ships visit ISP, I would say to do your whale watching there.  We were there at the end of Sept 2021 and like others saw many humpback bubble feeding, and one whale did breach.  We also saw a raft of sea otters just floating.  We booked the ship's excursion and the high speed catamaran held about 40 people.  After so much activity, a number of folks went back inside and it just left those of us who were really appreciating the beauty of the whales outside.  We also saw a smaller whale watching boat, and I think because of its size, it could get a bit closer.  We did see a whale pass next to them. 

 

When I return in May '23, I will book a smaller boat for a different experience. 

 

My vote for you is ISP.

[Italy52]

13 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Hopefully this cruise to Alaska will just be a 'first' cruise, and you will return at least once more. 

 

Since only a few ships visit ISP, I would say to do your whale watching there.  We were there at the end of Sept 2021 and like others saw many humpback bubble feeding, and one whale did breach.  We also saw a raft of sea otters just floating.  We booked the ship's excursion and the high speed catamaran held about 40 people.  After so much activity, a number of folks went back inside and it just left those of us who were really appreciating the beauty of the whales outside.  We also saw a smaller whale watching boat, and I think because of its size, it could get a bit closer.  We did see a whale pass next to them. 

 

When I return in May '23, I will book a smaller boat for a different experience. 

 

My vote for you is ISP.

Sounds like you had a wonderful whale watching experience.  We are like you and spend most of our time out on the deck space of the boat as you never know when a whale might pop up --- we have been pleasantly surprised when this has happened to us a couple of times.

 

Regarding the smaller whale watching boats getting closer to the whales, there is a regulation in place:

 

"The Alaska humpback whale approach regulation has been in effect since July 2001 and requires that you: Not approach within 100 yards of a humpback whale. Not place your vessel in the path of oncoming humpback whales causing them to surface within 100 yards of your vessel." 

 

If your boat is idle and the whale decides to come closer to you then that is different. 

[Italy52]

14 hours ago, quack2 said:

Tough call.   I've had great whale watching days in both.  Best trip though was with Glacier Wind when we saw humpbacks, orcas, and dall porpoises (swimming alongside the boat).  All on a gorgeous day.

 

Having said that, the only completely out of the water breach I've ever photographed was with Harv and Marv out of Juneau.

Our photographed breach was with Floyd (FISHES) in Icy Strait.  Still have yet to get that breach in Juneau.  Keep hoping, maybe this year will be my luck year.

[Jldevlin]

Our last Alaska stop in Icy straight we walked into town.  The whale watching from the path was amazing..bubble feeding repeatedly and the whales were all over. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

I've done both Juneau and ISP.

 

Went with Icy Strait Whale Adventure because they have a smaller boat (not a big double decker) so a smaller group. We saw humpbacks and orcas. The first sighting of orcas was at a distance, and then a few minutes later, they popped up near our boat. Then they dove and popped up next to another boat. They knew how to please the tourists!

[CCJack]

We also went with Icy Strait Adventures and had one of our best excursions ever... We also saw Humpbacks initially, then ran across a pod of Orcas feeding on a seal they had captured.  Not necessarily a pretty sight (they toyed with the seal for about 20 min. prior to killing it), but it is nature at work.  Our captain parked our boat a distance away so we could observe.  However one or two Orcas would come back and circle our boat - presumably to keep an eye on us and insure we didn't encroach on their meal.  They circled us and  rammed our boat several times as they dove under our boat.  Made for some very closeup photos as I looked over the railing just as an Orca was about to dive under our boat.   I believe we were lucky, as our Captain indicated it was unusual to run across Orcas hunting seals.   They may have been transient instead of resident Orcas and thus their feeding patterns were different than locals.  (I am not an expert but this is what they told us.)   We had a great day even if a little nerve wracking for a bit.

[cruising twosome]

In ISP we saw numerous whales from the shore putting on a great show. Walked into town and saw so many bald eagles!