Sitka or Juneau for Whale Watching

[kuddles14]

I am looking into doing whale watching in either Sitka or Juneau. I am currently booked in Juneau with Juneau Whale Watching and I have talked to Captain Gary in Sitka. After speaking with him, I am trying to decide if I should do the combo tour with him and cancel Juneau or just stay with what I have booked in Juneau. Then I would do the land tour with Captain Gary. 

 

Looking forward to your suggestions/opinions.

 

Kathy

[Suzanne123]

As I recall, the whale watching in Juneau is in Auke Bay, in rather calm water, and the trip out of Sitka is more in the open ocean.  Juneau Whale Watch is fine. I prefer a boat with about 20 people.  Those 4 or 5 passenger boats are just too small for me and the very large boats get pretty crowded at the rails when a whale is spotted. YMMV. One exception is the evening whale watch on the big boats as I’ve never seen it more than half filled.  Most people head back to the cruise ship for dinner.

 When one boat finds a whale they radio to the other captains and eventually, you have four or five boats sitting in the same area anyway.  
I think a land tour with a small group in Sitka might be nice.

[ricko999]

In Sitka look into Gallant Adventures. Captain Paul is very knowledgeable in marine/wildlife. It's a small boat tour. He's highly recommended.

[Glaciers]

We went out with Paul at Gallant Adventures several years ago. It was a very good trip and we would use him again.  I had recommended him on another thread and was advised that he may have something else going on half way through the season this year so may not be doing tours. I do see his site is up and running which is a good sign.

https://gallantadventuresalaska.com/

 

[LEtue]

On 6/10/2021 at 1:44 PM, Glaciers said:

We went out with Paul at Gallant Adventures several years ago. It was a very good trip and we would use him again.  I had recommended him on another thread and was advised that he may have something else going on half way through the season this year so may not be doing tours. I do see his site is up and running which is a good sign.

https://gallantadventuresalaska.com/

 

 

Paul is working above the Arctic Circle this year and for some of next.   He said he will be available for tours from May 15 - July 24, 2022 before returning to the Arctic Circle.  I am in the planning stages for next year and I didn't want to miss his trip when I get to Sitka.  Now the challenge is to find the best  itinerary that includes Sitka 😄