Ketchikan With Kids: Age Limits, Short Trips and What Works

The worry most parents bring to Ketchikan is simple: will the tour you want take your child? Each trip sets its own minimum age, and some add weight or height limits. Get that right and the rest is easy, because the town is small and the wildlife comes to you. Here is what fits each age among the best tours in Ketchikan Alaska, and what to save for later.

Age limits, trip by trip

Ages come from each tour's own booking terms, as of September 2026.

What children love most

Animals up close win every time. On the crab boat the crew pulls up a 700-pound king crab pot and brings the catch round. Children can touch crabs and hold small sea creatures, and eagles dive for the fish the crew throws. It stays in the sheltered Inside Passage, so rough water is not a worry.

On the whale boat from Berth 2 there are blankets, binoculars and hot chocolate. Children can sit inside when they are cold and run out when a whale blows. In July and August, the salmon in Ketchikan Creek are a free show. Stand on the bridges by Creek Street and look down.

Babies and toddlers

Most tours let an infant ride on your lap. The whale boat takes strollers. The small-group rainforest walk has a child car seat or booster on request, if you ask ahead. The photo safari sells child places from age 1. The Discovery Center is indoors, free for children and a good place for a wet half hour.

Teenagers

Teenagers open up the bigger trips. From 13 they can fly to the bear platform on Prince of Wales Island, and the Misty Fjords water-landing flight sells youth places from 13 to 17. At 16 they can join the e-bike ride and rainforest hike. A teenager with a camera will get the most from the photo safari, where one parent said their teenage son learned a great deal.

Totem poles with children

Totem poles are easier to love when you know their stories, and a guide helps. The Totem Heritage Center keeps original 19th-century poles indoors, which suits a rainy morning. Potlatch Totem Park has a carving building, a clan house, a dugout canoe and a row of antique cars. At Totem Bight, ten miles north, children can step inside a clan house. Saxman, south of town, stands 24 poles in the open. Which tour stops where is on Ketchikan totem poles.

A family port day that works

Here is one plan for a family with children of five or more. Take the crab boat from Berth 3 in the morning, for three hours of crab, eagles and stories. Eat in town, then walk Creek Street and look for salmon from the bridges. Spend the last hour in the Discovery Center, free for your children, and walk back to the ship from there.

If your ship is at Ward Cove, add the shuttle at each end. It runs to Berth 4, about 20 minutes each way, and Berth 3 is a short walk from there. Where your ship docks, and where each tour meets, is on Ketchikan cruise port.

What to prepare for

• Rain. Pack a waterproof jacket for every child; it rains on about half of summer days, as Ketchikan weather shows.
• Weights. Floatplanes need every passenger's weight at booking, and ziplines set weight limits.
• Long trips. The bear trip by land and sea runs 4 hours 45 minutes, and its listing does not recommend it under five.
• The ship. Choose trips that end well before all-aboard, with time to walk back.
• Fishing licences. One charter notes that children under 16 need no licence; confirm with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

How to time a whole port day around those limits is in how to visit Ketchikan.

Food, snacks and breaks

Hungry children change a day, so check what each fare feeds you. The jet boat trip ends with a seafood boil at a lodge. The Orca Cove kayak trip brings smoked salmon, dip, crackers, vegetables and hot and cold drinks. The whale boat serves snacks and non-alcoholic drinks all trip, and the small-group rainforest walk ends with a hearty cookie.

The crab boat is the exception: food is not in the fare, though chips and chocolate bars are sold on board. Pack a snack for any child who cannot wait three hours. Answers to other common questions are on the Ketchikan tours FAQs.

Best trips by age

• Under five: the whale boat, or the jet boat to a lodge and a seafood boil, both from age 3.
• Five to ten: the crab boat, or kayaking in Orca Cove with a guide and six paddlers at most.
• Eight and up: the Mahoney Lake UTV, where guests drive and trade off at the wheel.
• Tall enough to zip: the ropes and zipline park at Ward Cove, with port pickup.

Every active trip, with its limits, is on Ketchikan adventure tours.

Free and cheap with children

You can fill a morning for nothing. Walk Creek Street on its boardwalk over the water. Watch the salmon from the bridges in July and August. Wander down to the fishing boats in Thomas Basin and watch the floatplanes land on the Narrows. Then spend an hour in the Discovery Center, free for anyone 15 or under. The full list is on things to do in Ketchikan.

Family trips by age

Alaskan Lodge Adventure and Seafeast

A covered jet boat to Silverking Lodge, a rainforest boardwalk and a seafood boil, with children from age 3.

From $196 per person

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Orca Cove Sea Kayaking

Six paddlers at most, a boat ride out to Orca Cove, waterproof gear and smoked salmon, from age 5.

From $205 per person

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Ketchikan Shore Excursion: Rainforest Canopy Ropes and Zipline Adventure Park

Seven ziplines and eight canopy ropes courses at Ward Cove, port pickup included, for riders from 70 to 280 pounds.

From $150 per person

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