Torn between Whales & Glaciers

[NU2CRUZB4]

I've read lots of reviews on doing glacier treking and whale watching in Juneau, but my ship is only there for about 7 hours and I don't know if I can do them both. It seems like Juneau is the port with the most helicoptor/flightseeing tours of glaciers and the only port that will guarentee whales.

 

Icy Strait Point also has flightseeing tours and whale watching, but from one person's review about seeing wildlife (more about bears than whales), she was disappointed. Whale sitings are also not guarenteed there.

 

Can someone share there experiences with me as to which Port would be best for whales and which for glaciers? I'll also be in Skagway, but not sure what I'll do there yet.

 

My ideal trip would be able to see wildlife (whales and bears), do a flight seeing/helicoptor tour over the glaciers and trek on a glacier. I've got only Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Skagway to do this in. I'm going this year in early August. Thanks!

[sondrad]

I'm not sure how much I can help, but I saw whales in Juneau. Although it was a neat experience, you usually don't see an entire whale (like you might a bear) out in the wild. We were on a boat with about 6 whales around us. You usually just see the spray and occasionally a partial breach or tail. Apparently it's rare for a non-juvenile to come out of the water completely. Still a cool experience, but not quite what I expected. You can see the pictures of the experience through the link in my signature (although images were with a zoom camera, so the whales were not as close as they seem). Hope that helps some. :o

[kruisecat]

We did whale whatching in Juneau and a Glaicier Discovery by Helicopter in Skagway. By far the Glacier tour/walk was the highlight of my trip. I did not realize that the whales (humpback - not fortunate enough to see orcas) were as anti-social as they were at least on the day we were there. We did see a few but the tour paled in comparison to the walk on the glacier. I honestly cannot say enough of how exciting and awe inspiring it was to walk on the glacier. We were walking on the Meade glacier btw.

 

Hope that helps!

[AKPeaches2]

I've read lots of reviews on doing glacier treking and whale watching in Juneau, but my ship is only there for about 7 hours and I don't know if I can do them both. It seems like Juneau is the port with the most helicoptor/flightseeing tours of glaciers and the only port that will guarentee whales.

 

Icy Strait Point also has flightseeing tours and whale watching, but from one person's review about seeing wildlife (more about bears than whales), she was disappointed. Whale sitings are also not guarenteed there.

 

Can someone share there experiences with me as to which Port would be best for whales and which for glaciers? I'll also be in Skagway, but not sure what I'll do there yet.

 

My ideal trip would be able to see wildlife (whales and bears), do a flight seeing/helicoptor tour over the glaciers and trek on a glacier. I've got only Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Skagway to do this in. I'm going this year in early August. Thanks!

 

 

The bear search tour offered at ISP only goes to the Spaski River area. The local Independents have more flexibility. They are seeing many sightings of Brown Bears, Deer and other wildlife.

 

Sorry to say we have had lots of fog this week and not many flights (socked in).

 

I hope it will be all gone when you are here and you are able to enjoy a flightseeing tour.:)

[jessinphilly]

We did the whales and only saw the backs of about four whales. If I had been deciding between what could be the excursion of a lifetime and whale watching, I would have been extraordinarily disappointed. There are many places in the US where whale watching is possible (Boston, south of LA to Mexico), I can not think of anywhere else in the US where you could do glacier flight seeing and hiking or dog mushing. You could always do the whale watching if your flight trip is cancelled, by walking into town and booking as soon as you got to Juneau. JMHO

[DaisyGirl55]

We went on a whale watching tour with Captain Larry a few weeks ago, and we really wished we had gone to Mendenhall instead. The few sightings we saw were quite far off. One mom and calf did come up to the boat fairly close, and I got a few good shots...but the majority of the two hours was looking at scenery, eagles, and just riding around in the boat.

 

The glimpse we got of Mendenhall was awesome, and I know for a fact that the glacier is where we will be next time. We actually saw more whales, dolphins, seals and such from our balcony than we did the entire time with Captain Larry.

 

I know that whales are "hit or miss" and I am not slamming the tour at all. We had an okay time, but the whales may or not be visible....the glacier surely is!

[JohnQ]

We have gone whalewatching in Juneau twice and ISP once and will go again on each next week. The whales in these two area are some of the best in the world. We have always seen at least 6 or 7 each trip in Juneau and we saw 50-75 in ISP. It depends on the luck of the day. Either place would be great.

 

The helecoptor glacier tours are one of the most recomm tours in Alaska. You can do this in Juneau, Ketchikan or Skagway. They are also one of the most cancelled tours. Go for it.

[DrTee]

When you think about it, both are in danger of disappearing, so we can't say that you should see one of them while you have the chance....

[NancyIL]

My opinion only, having gone to Juneau but not Icy Strait Point: there are no guarantess of seeing whales anywhere - but there are quite a few more excursion options in Juneau than in Icy Strait Point. Therefore, I would choose ISP for whales and view glaciers in Juneau. We enjoyed our whale watch in Juneau, but we didn't see a lot of whales. We saw as many whales on our post-cruise land trip while on the ferry from Valdez to Whittier, and on our Kenai Fjords cruise out of Seward.

[arb711]

I haven't been, but am going end of August, and had the same dilemma as you! I've booked the helicopter/glacier in Juneau, and decided to whale-watch in ISP, I've been told that there is a higher likelihood of whales there. I booked with F.I.S.H.E.S. - small boat, very personal. Website is http://www.visithoonah.com/fishes.

[MercedMike]

The thing about whale watching is that most sightings are brief, views of their backs and tails as they dive. It is really interesting, but not spectacular.

 

OTOH, the glaciers in Alaska ARE positively specatcular!!

 

Further, you really can't do glaciers much of anyplace else. There are lots of places for whale watching. To be honest, the best whale watching trip we were ever on was out of Long Beach!

 

I vote for the glaciers.

 

have a GREAT cruise!