Ketchikan private tours carry only your party: road tours you route yourself, priced per group, a rainforest and beach walk that meets you at your berth, and fishing charters. For a big family, the group fares can cost less per head than a shared tour.
A vehicle and guide for your party of up to 14, three hours on the stops you choose. One price covers the group, with fees, taxes, coffee, tea and snacks included.
From $680 per group (up to 14)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A fishing boat sold to your party only, four to six hours for salmon, halibut or both. Priced per person, at least three per booking. Your fishing licence is extra.
From $700 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Only your party, met outside your ship's berth downtown or at Ward Cove, for two hours on foot at Settlers Cove and Lunch Creek Falls. Admission, poles and ponchos included.
From $117 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Up to four hours for up to nine people, on a route you set: Totem Bight, Herring Cove or wherever your party wants. One price for the group; Totem Bight entry is extra.
From $1,000 per group (up to 9)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A private halibut boat for three to six, four hours from Berth 3 with whale and wildlife watching. Tackle, bait, water and snacks aboard; licence and tips extra.
From $499 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Your own charter for two to six anglers, four to six hours for halibut and salmon. The captain meets you at the cruise docks. Licence and king salmon stamp extra.
From $685 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Three hours, your choice of stops, fees and snacks included, one price for the whole group.
Check availability from $680A private tour is sold to your party only: nobody from another ship, another family or another booking joins you. The guide or captain works to your pace, and on the road tours you choose the stops as well.
Private tours here are priced two ways. The road tours charge one price for the whole group, up to 9 or up to 14. The walk and the fishing charters charge per person, and the charters set a minimum party size. Work out your cost per head before you compare them with a shared tour.
On the road tours your party picks the stops: totems, beaches, wildlife or time downtown. The four-hour tour suggests Totem Bight and Herring Cove, and leaves the rest to you.
The tour for up to 14 costs $680 for the group, under $49 each with 14 aboard. The four-hour tour for up to nine costs $1,000, about $111 each when full.
Nobody else sets the pace, and nobody waits at a stop for another party. With children, that is often the difference.
The beach walk meets you outside your berth, downtown or at Ward Cove. The fishing charter captain meets you at the cruise docks.
A small-group tour caps the numbers but mixes parties. Here is what going private changes.
| A private tour | A small-group tour | |
|---|---|---|
| Who joins you | Your party only | Other parties, 9 or 12 guests in all |
| Route | Yours to set on the road tours | Fixed stops |
| Price basis | Per group on the road tours | Per person |
| Cost for 4 | $680 or $1,000 for the group; $468 on the walk | $400 on the nine-guest wildlife loop |
| Cost for 12 | $680 for the group, under $57 each | Not possible in most |
| Pickup | At your berth on the walk | Usually at Berth 2 |
For two people, a small group is almost always cheaper. At seven people the tour for up to 14 costs under $100 each, and at 14 under $49, with the stops your party chooses.
Group fares are $680 and $1,000. Per-person fares run from $117 on the walk to $700 on the longest charter. Every private tour here refunds in full up to 24 hours ahead.
Mind the minimums on the charters: three per booking, except two on the $685 one. The beach walk's guide is out on tours by day, so email rather than phone. And if your ship tenders, book the walk's private tender option by phone.
The tour for up to 14 meets at the Visitors Bureau, 131 Front Street, and the guide comes to you if you call. The four-hour tour meets at the bronze statue in front of the Visitors Bureau on Berth 2.
If you are two travellers, a private tour costs more than it saves: take a small-group tour from the Ketchikan city tours page. If you are fishing alone, no charter here takes a single angler. If anyone uses a wheelchair, the crab boat and the Rainforest Sanctuary tour are marked accessible. And if your group wants to fish, the Ketchikan fishing tours page compares every charter.
Your party only, two hours on foot at Settlers Cove and Lunch Creek Falls, downtown or Ward Cove.
Check availability from $117Next: the small-group options on avoiding the crowds in Ketchikan, and the meeting points on the cruise port page. Every tour sits side by side on Ketchikan Alaska Tours.