Juneau Whale Watching Tours

What’s included and what’s not

Included on every trip on this page:

• The bus between downtown (or your ship) and Auke Bay, both ways
• About 2 hours on the water with a captain and a naturalist or guide narrating
• A heated cabin, outside deck space and a restroom on board
• Bottled or filtered water, and on most boats a light snack such as trail mix

Not included, or not on every trip:

• Gratuities. Juneau Tours, Alaska Travel Adventures, Gastineau Guiding, the Juneau Lighthouse combo and Harv and Marv’s list them as extra; the rest don’t say, so plan to tip the crew in cash
• Mendenhall Glacier time beyond a 5 minute roadside photo stop, unless you book a combo
• The shuttle from the AJ Dock to the tram, on trips that meet at the tram (Alaska Tales lists it as a cost you pay)
• Lunch, unless you book the crab shack or salmon bake combo
• Binoculars, except on the Dolphin Jet Boat Tours trip and the Juneau Lighthouse boats
• A whale guarantee on every boat. Alaska Tales and Harv and Marv’s list one; Juneau Tours guarantees sightings 15 May to 15 September; Gastineau Guiding’s itinerary mentions guaranteed sightings; Juneau Whale Tours doesn’t list one. What a guarantee pays out differs by operator, so read it on the listing

Where the listings differ most is the meeting point and the refund rule. Those two lines matter more on a port day than the snack.

The trip, hour by hour

This is the shape of a standard 3 to 4 hour trip, built from the listings on this page. The boats themselves leave from Auke Bay, not from the cruise docks, so every trip starts and ends with a bus.

• 15 minutes before your start time. Check in at your operator’s meeting point downtown or at your ship’s gangway (next section). The time on your ticket is usually a check-in time; Juneau Tours’ listing says departure follows within 10 to 15 minutes.
• First 25 to 30 minutes. Bus north to Auke Bay. Listings put it at about half an hour, and the travelers we watched timed it at anything from 15 to 30 minutes. Several trips, including the Alaska Tales and Juneau Tours boats, pull over for a 5 minute photo stop at Mendenhall Glacier on the way, weather permitting. Bald eagles around the harbor are common: Everyday Getaways counted about 25 in one spot.
• About 2 hours on the water. Most boats spend close to two hours out, heading into the channels north and west of Auke Bay, including Stephens Passage. Harv and Marv’s is the exception, with 3 hours on the water. Expect waiting: crews quoted dive times of 3 to 5 minutes on a shallow dive to Wandering Hewitts, and 5 to 10 minutes after a whale shows its tail in the Viator operator footage. The naturalist fills the gaps with baleen samples and whale ID talk. Boats keep at least 100 yards off, the minimum set by federal humpback approach rules in Alaska, so a whale right beside the boat is one that swam over.
• Back to the harbor. The boat returns to Auke Bay and the bus runs you back downtown.
• 3 to 4 hours after check-in. Back at the meeting point. Combo tours add time on top: about 45 minutes to an hour and a half at Mendenhall Glacier, an hour at Tracy’s King Crab Shack, or a salmon bake buffet.

One thing to plan around. If your trip starts soon after the ship docks, be among the first off. Jeffrey Martin had to rush off the ship, then still waited on the dock for his bus.

Meeting point and getting there

There are three kinds of meeting point in Juneau, and mixing them up is the easiest way to miss a boat.

The tram building sits at the south end of the downtown waterfront, a short walk from the downtown cruise berths. The AJ Dock is different. It’s about a mile from town, and Wandering Hewitts hit long lines for the free shuttle from there. Juneau Whale Tours says plainly that it does not pick up at AJ, so guests berthed there have to shuttle to the tram first, and Alaska Tales lists the tram shuttle as a cost you pay yourself.

The boats leave from Auke Bay, mostly from Statter Harbor, about 12 miles north. You don’t need to get there yourself on any trip on this page; the bus is part of it. If you’re staying in Juneau rather than arriving by ship, some operators can meet you at Statter Harbor instead. Ask before you book.

If you’re running late, phone the operator, not Viator. The number is on your confirmation. Group trips run to a schedule and the bus won’t wait long; Live the Life Media warns the driver “won’t wait” at the Mendenhall stop either.

What to bring

Warm layers, even in July. It’s colder on the water than on the dock, and the best viewing is from the outside deck. Jeffrey Martin expected more inside seating than his boat had and wished he’d kept his hat on the whole trip.

• A waterproof shell and a warm hat. Gloves if you run cold.
• Binoculars. Whales are often farther off than the promo clips suggest, and Jeffrey Martin says so directly. Dolphin Jet Boat Tours includes binoculars, and the Juneau Lighthouse listing says its boats carry them.
• Non-slip shoes. Harv and Marv’s listing warns of a steep tide ramp down to the boats, and Jeffrey Martin met one at low tide.
• A reusable water bottle. Gastineau Guiding asks for one; most boats provide water and a light snack such as trail mix.
• A phone or camera with a zoom, and a spare battery.
• Your ship card and photo ID for getting back on board.

Leave behind anything you can’t get wet, and big bags. Seasickness is rarely raised in the trip videos we watched, since the channels near Auke Bay are sheltered, but if you’re prone to it, take your usual remedy before the bus leaves rather than on the boat.

How to choose

Every boat here goes to the same waters, and every group trip filmed in the videos we watched found humpbacks. So the choice comes down to group size, how much of your port day it takes, and what happens if your plans change.

The dearer combos add time on land and a meal, not more whales. Wandering Hewitts ended up on a group boat after their small private trip was cancelled and called it “basically the same type” of excursion. For a couple, a group boat is enough to see the whales; a private charter starts to make sense when six to eight of you can fill it.

Pick this if:

• It’s your first time in Alaska and humpbacks are the thing you came for
• Your ship is in for at least six hours, so a 3 to 4 hour trip leaves time for town
• You’d rather have a naturalist explain feeding behavior than watch from the ship’s rail

Skip it if:

• Your port call is under five hours, or the trip would start within an hour of docking at the AJ Dock
• You get badly seasick and can’t face two hours on a small boat, even in sheltered water

If whales are a maybe rather than a must, our Juneau guide covers the free waterfront and the city bus out to the glacier.

Season and timing

Whale season and cruise season line up almost exactly. Travel Juneau puts the best viewing from April through September, with June to August the peak, and names Favorite Channel and Saginaw Channel as the main feeding areas.

Time of day matters less than your ship’s hours. Travel Juneau says morning trips tend to have calmer water and afternoon trips warmer light. On a late port call, an evening departure works, because it stays light long after the shops close.

Orcas aren’t seasonal in a way you can plan around. Crews told both Island Time and Live the Life Media they show up on fewer than about 5 percent of trips. Island Time was one of the lucky ones, and so was the crew in the Viator operator footage, who called it the biggest orca pod they’d seen.

FAQ

Not sure whales are the best use of your day? Our Juneau shore excursions page sets them against the glacier and the flights.