Orcas Cove Kayaking with Southeast Sea Kayaks

We have recently returned from our cruise on the Emerald Princess. I'm not going to do a full review but am willing to answer questions.

First, I want to remind everyone that you can plan and plan and plan for months, but you cannot predict or control what will happen on your cruise. Sometimes you just have to accept what happens and roll with it. There's no sense in getting mad about the weather, or missed ports, or anything else. Take what you get and enjoy time with your loved ones. That's all I have to say about that.

We only did one major excursion on this trip - Orcas Cove Kayaking with Southeast Sea Kayaks. This cruise was in celebration of my daughter's high school graduation, so I let her pick one big excursion. She wanted to go kayaking, and after researching our options, we chose the Orcas Cove trip. It's pricey, especially for 5 of us, but so worth it!

We met at the Ketchikan rain gauge and were led to their "office" which is a boat in the harbor. We were outfitted with waterproof rain jackets and life jackets. Their web site said to dress in warm layers, but we are from Seattle, and it was mid-60s that day. Three members of our group wore shorts and the other two wore jeans and capris. We all wore t-shirts and no jackets other than the rain jacket they provided. We were all comfortably warm, and at times too warm.

We were taken by small boat out to Orcas Cove, where we transferred to yet another boat. Here we were outfitted with kayak "skirts" and then we were helped into the kayaks. My three kids (18, 21, and 24) have all kayaked before. Their friend (24) and I had not. My younger two shared a kayak, the two 24-year olds shared another, and I shared with a guide in-training, Amber. She was a sweet, quiet girl who kept us moving and not running in to rocks or tipping over.

Our guide, James, was solo in his own kayak, and he was amazing! He was very knowledgeable about kayaking, sea life, etc. but he also figured out my kids' personalities and really connected with them. It was like spending a morning with a new, fun friend! I don't often remember and recommend specific guides, but we enjoyed our time with James and I'd definitely request him if we ever did this tour again.

The tide was extremely low that morning, so we were able to see a ton of sea life - sea stars, anemone, etc. At one point my son and his friend were talking about sea cucumbers, and James rowed over to the rocks and found one to show them. Well... he threw it to my son, who caught it , and then passed it around. I'm sure he wouldn't do that with most tourists, but it was exactly the right move with my crazy kids!

We move around and saw a lot, but sometimes we would just sit and drift and enjoy the scenery. It was so peaceful out there, away from the crowds in port, just the 5 of us and our guides. It was an amazing tour - highly recommended!!

Afterwards, we did a little shopping, then met my husband for lunch at Annabelle's. He wasn't interested in kayaking, so hiked Deer Mountain instead. He made it to the top and had a fun time in his own way. After lunch, we did a bit more shopping, including a quick stop at Creek Street.

My baby is off to college in California in a few weeks. I will cherish memories of this day forever!

It is a great excursion. We did it in 2014 and plan a sequel next month when our ship visits. It will be the first time in 25 cruises we have repeated a shore excursion.

We are planning on this Thursday. Right now in Denali and it is 69 degrees out and sunny! Looking forward to our Princess cruise starting tomorrow.

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Thank you for your review. We are doing this when we are in Ketchikan during our cruise. I can't wait.

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Sherryf, thanks so much for posting this! I think we sailed on the Grand together back in 2014, though it could have been the Ruby in 2015 and I'm just forgetful. Anyhow, my wife got a kayak last year and I just got mine this weekend, so we're now really interested in this excursion...maybe not enough to pass on the Bering Sea Crab Fishermen tour next month, but most likely on our next cruise. (And of course, now I'm already looking at tandem kayaks...)

Sherryf, thanks so much for posting this! I think we sailed on the Grand together back in 2014, though it could have been the Ruby in 2015 and I'm just forgetful. Anyhow, my wife got a kayak last year and I just got mine this weekend, so we're now really interested in this excursion...maybe not enough to pass on the Bering Sea Crab Fishermen tour next month, but most likely on our next cruise. (And of course, now I'm already looking at tandem kayaks...)

Yes, we sailed on the Grand together in 2014. That was for my son's graduation - the one with long blonde hair in the photos.

I enjoyed kayaking, but not sure I'd want to hassle with owning one and hauling it around myself. I'm not tall enough to put one on a car roof rack!