Sea Otter and Wildlife Quest

[latebuyer]

I’m still on a quest to find an excursion. This excursion is a boatride in sitka. Is sitka sound more scenic than ketchikan? Has anyone been on this excursion that can provide a review? There are some reviews, but they are quite old.

[LEtue]

On 11/6/2022 at 12:11 PM, latebuyer said:

I’m still on a quest to find an excursion. This excursion is a boatride in sitka. Is sitka sound more scenic than ketchikan? Has anyone been on this excursion that can provide a review? There are some reviews, but they are quite old.

Have done this one in Sitka and can highly recommend.  Small boat and very personal service.  Here is the link so you can see if it is what you are looking for.  Sitka Sound is really beautiful and the whales and otters are plentiful.  I have already booked again for August 2023 😀

 

www.gallantadventures.com

[latebuyer]

Thanks for your reply. I’ve seen a lot of positive comments but they seem to be 10 or more years old so i wondered if there is still as much wildlife there.

[m12e31g]

On 11/16/2022 at 4:27 PM, LEtue said:

Have done this one in Sitka and can highly recommend.  Small boat and very personal service.  Here is the link so you can see if it is what you are looking for.  Sitka Sound is really beautiful and the whales and otters are plentiful.  I have already booked again for August 2023 😀

 

www.gallantadventures.com

@LEtue are you saying the RC one is through Gallant? Saw lots of recommendations for Gallant and have been torn between that and RC(RC is slightly cheaper with sale). If they are the same, that solved my dilemma 

[Suzi66]

On 11/20/2022 at 8:40 AM, m12e31g said:

@LEtue are you saying the RC one is through Gallant? Saw lots of recommendations for Gallant and have been torn between that and RC(RC is slightly cheaper with sale). If they are the same, that solved my dilemma 

If the RC one and the Celebrity one are the same, we went with Allen Marine this September.  
This was our first stop in Alaska (and our first trip out of Australian/New Zealand waters) and I, for some reason, thought that we would get a lot closer to the otters than we did.  Make sure you have binoculars.  We did see seals and whales, but saw a lot more whales the day before from the ship, and a couple of days later in Juneau.

We did enjoy the tour, but we also did some land based things in Sitka and preferred those, possibly because we had such a good experience in Juneau to compare it to.

[m12e31g]

2 hours ago, Suzi66 said:

If the RC one and the Celebrity one are the same, we went with Allen Marine this September.  
This was our first stop in Alaska (and our first trip out of Australian/New Zealand waters) and I, for some reason, thought that we would get a lot closer to the otters than we did.  Make sure you have binoculars.  We did see seals and whales, but saw a lot more whales the day before from the ship, and a couple of days later in Juneau.

We did enjoy the tour, but we also did some land based things in Sitka and preferred those, possibly because we had such a good experience in Juneau to compare it to.

Oh thanks for the insight! How close do you think you got to otters? We're looking to get as close as possible and this seemed like best option. Afraid my 10yo will be bored if they are only visible with binoculars.

[Suzi66]

10 hours ago, m12e31g said:

Oh thanks for the insight! How close do you think you got to otters? We're looking to get as close as possible and this seemed like best option. Afraid my 10yo will be bored if they are only visible with binoculars.

This is with a super zoomed camera and cropped as well so we could work out what we were seeing.  Our cameras both have really good telephoto lenses so we thought taking problems wouldn't be a problem.  We were wrong.

 

This is the original shot without cropping but still with lots of zooming. 

 

As a comparison, off the side of the ship on one of our two glacier days.  I was on the walking track for this one and quickly got the snap as they played next to the ship.

[crystalspin]

On 11/6/2022 at 10:11 AM, latebuyer said:

I’m still on a quest to find an excursion. This excursion is a boatride in sitka. Is sitka sound more scenic than ketchikan? Has anyone been on this excursion that can provide a review? There are some reviews, but they are quite old.

Sitka Sound is ALOT more scenic than Ketchikan or even Juneau (not counting Tracy Arm). We saw a LOT more whales and closer than in Juneau (where they are guaranteed). The otters are mainly hauled up on seaweed "rafts" but you never know with wildlife. We were there in August 2018.

[Crew News]

On 11/21/2022 at 8:27 AM, m12e31g said:

Oh thanks for the insight! How close do you think you got to otters? We're looking to get as close as possible and this seemed like best option. Afraid my 10yo will be bored if they are only visible with binoculars.

I have experienced this excursion a number of times.  It must be noted that boats are limited to how close they may approach wildlife.  You will need binoculars if you want to see the expression on the otters faces but not to see them.  A telephoto lens will enable some cool photos.

 

FWIW I would add a visit to the Fortress of the Bears to see them up close from an elevated platform.  A 10-year old will be thrilled.