3.5 Hour Crowd-Skipping Whale Tour in Juneau, Alaska

While on our Seabourn Inside Passage cruise, we booked a private whale watching tour with Alaska Luxury Tours through Seabourn out of Auke Bay north of Juneau. Six guests on a lovely speedboat, Champaign, open bar, hors-d'oeuvres, and a wonderful biologist/naturalist guide. Exactly what we wanted, after having participated in some more crowded whale watch excursions early on our cruise (although to be honest both excursions provided LOTS of exciting views of humpback whales) and in other parts of the world, this was special. On this trip we saw "Flame" (recognized by her fluke), seals, lots of birds, including loons, and Stellar sea lions. Our captain stayed in touch with some of the larger catamaran tour boats on the bay so when ever there was a sighting we were able to get there quickly and really see things up close. No breaching this time. We had seen bubble net feeding earlier in the week, but today it was all about seeing the humpbacks as the swam by in a cozy comfy atmosphere..

It was fun and amazing to see the whales! Our navigator and naturalist were informative and highly entertaining. Size of our boat was perfect---small and not so many people.

There was only about 16 people with us and we got to sit inside with his windows until the whales came and our captain was so nice and knowledgeable and then everyone got to go outside where there was plenty of room , we saw orcas, humpbacks and sea lions so close not to mention breathtaking views of Alaska and Mendenhall glacier!

Top notch whale-watching! TJ and Allen knew exactly where to go to let us see the best whales. The boat was extremely comfortable and very easy to see out of. I loved the small size.

Fun crew with great energy and shared good information. First time out to go whale watching and it is something my family will definitely remember! Thank you so much TJ and Andrew plus our bus driver too!

Alan, TJ, & Andrew were amazing- they were very nice and provided lots of info about Junea and the animals in the area

Just 22 lucky whale watchers enjoy a modern clean boat with very comfortable elevated seats. When the whales appear, every guest can walk around the perimeter of the boat so everyone gets great camera shots! Captain TJ and naturalist Andrew on board share lots of interesting information about the whales and even know their names! They seem to enjoy the whale watching just as much as the guests. A friendly bus driver transports the guests from downtown Juneau and shares interesting local information along the way. Highly recommend!!

Great experience! The guides, T.J. and Andrew were professional, informative and entertaining. We highly recommend this tour company!!

Everything they promise in the tour description is 100% true plus more! We met our driver Cedar under the cable cars just as described. He was very friendly, laid back and answered all of our questions on the 30 minute drive from Juneau to the marina. Getting to the boat requires you to walk down a long steep ramp. (Something to note if you have issues with type of thing.) There were clean public restrooms at the marina if you need to use one before or after the tour. It was easy to get on the catamaran but TJ and Andrew were right there if you needed help. There are 20 seats inside a heated cabin with a very clean restroom in the back. Two padded chairs, the height of a barstool, were on each side of the aisle. There is an armrest on the side of the seat that faces the aisle. That made it a little tricky to get in and out, especially when you are so excited to see the whales! There isn't a "bad" seat on the boat! You sit up high enough to see everything on the way out to look for whales. Tj and Andrew were very funny and knowledgable and took turns talking to us and offered us bottled water on the way out to the feeding grounds. Once we got to the area TJ was telling us about, we immediately started spotting whale spouts so everyone dashed outside. There was plenty of room for all of us and we did not feel crowded at all. TJ would tell us where to look when he spotted a whale and Andrew was taking photos of them when possible. It wasn't long before I told my husband it felt like we were watching a tennis match. Our heads were constantly swinging from left to right looking at all the whales!! We never saw one breach the water but we were close enough to smell them exhale (think rotten broccoli) when they came to the service and we saw a lot of tails! After leaving the whales we came upon a bunch of sea lions all jockeying for position on a large buoy. They were very vocal and fun to watch so TJ made sure to circle the buoy several times (at a very safe distance) so we could take videos and photos while watching them. Next, we headed over to a bay where we could see Mendenhall Glacier in the distance. We took some beautiful photos and Andrew was using everyone's phones to take their photo with the glacier in the background. On the way back to the marina, Andrew was able to airdrop the photos he took while we were on the tour. Cedar was waiting in the bus to take us back to port and once again answered all of our questions and told us stories about living in Juneau. We were on a cruise and I never once felt like we were not in good hands or there was a chance we would not make it back to the ship in time. TJ even spoke about that when we were on the tour. This is how they make their living......they are not going to screw it up by getting tourists back to the ship late! This was BY FAR the best excursion we have ever done! You are not going to get this kind of personalized, up close experience on the larger whale watching tours.

TJ and Andrew were our Captain and Naturalist for the trip and Allen was the driver to and from the dock. They were well organized, great personalities and made sure we had fun all along the way. It helps that they know where to go to make sure we got to see the whales and other wildlife.