Ketchikan: A Floatplane to Misty Fjords, or a Whale Boat?

These are the two biggest spends of a Ketchikan port day, and most visitors can afford the time for one. The real tension is the weather. A boat sails in the rain; a plane may not fly in low cloud. Here is how the two compare among the tours in Ketchikan Alaska, who each suits, and how to fit both into one port day.

Side by side

The case for the floatplane

Misty Fjords National Monument is 2,142,243 acres of wilderness, the largest in the Tongass National Forest. Its western edge lies about 22 miles east of town, and Travel Alaska describes rock walls rising 3,000 feet straight out of the ocean. There is no road in. A floatplane shows you the scale of it in the time a port day allows.

• The narrated Misty Fjords flight from Berth 2 costs $349, with a window seat and headsets. Morning departures run from 7am to noon and afternoon ones from noon to 7pm. It refunds in full up to 24 hours ahead.
• The flight with a water landing costs $470. It lands for 20 minutes on a lake or inlet, and you step out onto the floats. It flies a classic de Havilland Otter or Beaver, with two-way headsets so you can talk to the pilot.

The Misty Fjords flights guarantee you will not miss your ship. The narrated flight also needs every passenger's weight when you book. Every flight, including the bear flight to Prince of Wales Island, is on Ketchikan seaplane tours.

What you see from the air

The narrated flight takes off from the Tongass Narrows, right in front of town. It crosses Revillagigedo Island and Orchard Lake, then flies into the monument past New Eddystone Rock, a spire standing out of Behm Canal. Your pilot talks you through it on the headset.

President Carter proclaimed Misty Fjords a national monument in 1978, and it became wilderness in 1980. The Forest Service lists 13 public-use cabins and 20 miles of trail inside it, and no road reaches any of them. More of the numbers behind the town and its wilderness are on Ketchikan facts.

The case for the whale boat

A boat gives you animals, and it gives you them in any weather. Humpbacks are the whale you are most likely to see, with eagles, harbour seals and sea otters along the shore. No sighting is ever guaranteed, but the boats sail when the planes cannot.

• The wildlife and whale watching quest leaves Berth 2 with a cabin, snacks and blankets, from $178.
• The open Zodiac expedition takes 12 at most, low on the water in full rain gear, from $209.
• The jet boat and seafood boil adds a rainforest boardwalk and a meal at a lodge, from $196.

All the whale boats are compared on Ketchikan whale watching tours.

What you see from the boat

A whale boat shows you Ketchikan from the water first. The quest from Berth 2 sails past the fishing boats of Thomas Basin and down the Tongass Narrows toward Metlakatla. The Zodiac threads narrow channels between forested islands, rocky shores and black sand beaches. You sit close to the water with a naturalist beside you, in rain gear the operator provides.

What the weather does to each

Ketchikan averages 149.54 inches of rain a year, and it rains on about half of summer days. Rain alone does not stop a boat. Low cloud is what grounds a plane, and the pilot decides. Several July and August 2026 reviews of one flight describe weather cancellations. Month-by-month odds are on Ketchikan weather, and the full picture is in Ketchikan rain, in numbers.

Refunds and getting back to the ship

The Misty Fjords flights carry an all-aboard guarantee: the operator gets you back before your ship sails. The boats do not promise that, so you build in your own margin. For the whale boat, check in at booth 16 on Berth 2 thirty minutes before you sail. From Ward Cove, be on the shuttle an hour before that. The meeting point for every tour is on Ketchikan cruise port.

Can you do both?

Yes, if your ship stays about six hours or more. Fly first, in the morning, and take a boat in the afternoon. If cloud cancels your flight, you still have the day for the boat, and you can look for a later flight. Allow two hours for the flight, three for the boat with check-in, and time to walk between them.

The cheapest pair costs $527 a person: the narrated flight at $349 and the whale quest at $178. If time is short, choose on the weather forecast the day before you arrive. With an hour to spare after either one, walk Creek Street before you board; the other ideas close to the ship are on things to do in Ketchikan.

The verdict, by traveller

• You came for the scenery: fly, and book the flight that refunds.
• You came for wildlife: take a whale boat.
• Travelling with small children: the whale boat, which takes them from 3.
• On a budget: the whale boat, at about half the fare.
• Once in a lifetime, with time: the water-landing flight, then a boat in the afternoon.
• Nervous about weather: the boat, or a flight with free cancellation.

Flights and boats to choose between

Misty Fjords Flightseeing 1.5hr -includes 20 minute water landing

A 1.5-hour flight over Misty Fjords with a 20-minute landing where you step out onto the floats. Non-refundable once booked.

From $470 per person

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Misty Fjords Floatplane Flightseeing Tour

A floatplane from the Narrows over Misty Fjords and back in about two hours, with a window seat and an all-aboard guarantee.

From $349 per person

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Alaska Ocean Wilderness Expedition

Twelve at most in an open Zodiac with a naturalist, in full rain gear and overboots, for 2 hours 20 minutes on the water.

From $209 per person

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