Eco Orca Raft Trip in Haines

[sperraglia]

Just got back this week from Alaska and wanted to update you on some information I heard about Eco Orca/Dolly Varden/Dave Buttons. It would seem that a lot of people in Skagway and in Haines have a lot to say about Eco Orca/Dave Buttons and not much of it good. Please note that this is all heresay and may or may not be true, but I was told he had been chased by the coast guard recently, that he was a "grifter", that he had been run out of several Alaskan ports including Juneau and Sitka, etc. Of course more interesting was the fact that the folks on the "fast ferry" said they were not allowed to speak about Mr. Buttons and that he was not allowed to operate on their ferry.

 

It would seem some of you have had good experiences with Eco Orca/Mr. Buttons including Budget Queen who has a tremendous knowledge about the area, but the subject of Eco Orca/Mr. Buttons seems to stir up a bit of controversy. I heard enough about Eco Orca/Mr. Buttons to switch my touring plans to another provider at the last minute, because if a fraction of what I was hearing was true then I did not want to be on a raft with someone whose ethics I would question. That was my choice, but you might want to call the Haines Chamber of Commerce (907-776-2202) and get some local feedback on Eco Orca and other providers before you make you decision.

 

Good luck with your planning and I hope your future trips are as wonderful as the time I spent in Alaska.

[jrask]

Would you report on the tour that you did end up taking?

[Budget Queen]

Yes- he has had some big political problems in Haines, even last year he was in the "hot seat" - but Eco Orca does run an excellent raft tour.

[sperraglia]

jsark - I ended up taking the Chilkat Guides (raftalaska@chilkatguides.com, 907-766-2491). I was impressed with their guides and would gladly take them again.

[srphnx]

We heard rumblings too, on our last cruise, we do love Haines and will take the ferry, even if we don't Orca watch.

[santaharry]

Last year we saw Dave at the pier and he gave us a ride into town. We have known Dave for a couple of years and really like his tour. Haines is a very strange town as it is polarized between people that want the tourist industry and those who want to give it back to the bears and eagles. Why did the cruise line stop going there when once it was an alternative to Skagway and they also built a new pier.

Dave is an enteprenuer that wants tourism and sees it as a means of helping the local economy. They were going to get som competition for the fast ferry this year but I don't if that panned out. This alone would cause the establishment to be concerned as there was no competition before.

I woud still go with Dave and when I return to Haines in the future will employ his services again.

[LynnSD]

We took the Eco Orca rafting excursion two weeks ago and thought it was great. It was private and peaceful, the guide was fun and competent, & we saw plenty of eagles.

[sperraglia]

Santaharry - Glad you have a good relationship with Mr. Buttons. With regard to your comment "This alone would cause the establishment to be concerned as there was no competition before.", the comments came from multiple sources and most of them not from people in Haines so it did not seem to me that that was the reasoning behind the comments I heard.

 

LynnSD - glad you had a great time and saw lots of eagles.

[Momof3kids]

We also took the float trip in early July of this year, and where not impressed. First, we had to walk from where our shipped docked to the pick up point, which was 20 minutes away. Depending on where your ship docks this may or may not be an issue. Once we got to the pick up point, we were driven back past our ship and to the airport, making us wonder why they didn't pick us up in the first place? We were told we would be fly from Skagway to Haines. We had been sold the fast ferry trip. We thought the flight was lovely, but some people had wanted the ferry trip for picture taking, and did not want to fly in small prop planes. When we got to Haines, we were picked up and driven around for an hour and a half before we got to the eagle perserve. This was because the others on our trip had taken the fast ferry, and had not arrived yet. Our driver forgot we had to change vans, and we had to back track about 20 minutes. When we got the river it had been flooded, and it was muddy and hard to get into the rafts (especially for my senior citizen Mom). The river was cold and we only saw 3 eagles from a great distance away. We had better eagle viewing from our bus in Juneau, and trip in Sitka. We really expected more than we got on this trip. Our guide was a really nice guy, and we don't want to knock him. But, the trip was our worst excursion, and not money we would ever spend again.

[Alaska Star]

Had to laugh when I read some of the comments about Dave Button. He is quite the entrepreneur and he has lots of customers - these are things the cruise ships don't want independents to do. Dave goes a long way back from Ketchikan when he was the first independent operator - the cruise ships tried everything they could to get rid of him. You'd better believe the cruise ships are at the heart of any rumors that go around about him. He's not chased by the coast guard - but Chilkat Cruises really does not like him because he represents competition not only on his small fast ferry - but in getting any customers to Haines from Skagway. It is my understanding that he had his attorney write to Chilkat Cruises because of their slanderous comments - which I still hear them make. One of these days Haines is going to realize what an asset he is to tourism. Dave has a great sense of humor and is a true Alaskan character. Many of us who know Dave get really tired of the comments and lies that are told about him - what really is bothersome is that people believe all this trash. By the way, Dave was featured on the NBC Today Show last winter with the eagle trips in Washington - and was also a character in Charles Kuralt's book with his tours in Ketchikan.

[kitsy]

We used Eco Orca while in Skagway. The ride from Skagway to Haines was quick and easy. The bear watching tour was a waste of money, but it's not their fault. There were too many fisherman and not enough salmon running. Then Dave took us to Kroschel Wildlife Park and that was a wonderful experience. We enjoyed the small town atmosphere. Dave and his wife were very nice and easy to work with.