Ketchikan whale watching tours spend two to three hours on the Tongass Narrows and the passages north of town, looking for humpbacks, orcas and seals. You choose between an enclosed cabin with seats inside and an open Zodiac in full rain gear. Fares sit close together, so the boat decides it.
About two hours on the water out of Berth 2, through the Tongass Narrows toward Metlakatla, with indoor and outdoor seats. Snacks, soft drinks, binoculars and blankets are on board.
From $178 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
An enclosed jet boat from Clover Pass through bays and inlets, then a boardwalk into the rainforest and a seafood boil at Silverking Lodge. Whales are often sighted on this route from May through September.
From $196 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Twelve at most in an open Zodiac with a naturalist, 2 hours 20 minutes on the water. Full rain gear, overboots, life jackets, coffee and snacks come with it. From age five.
From $209 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Ninety minutes on an enclosed boat in Clover Passage, with local storytellers aboard telling fishing and wildlife stories. A van or coach takes you out from town. From age three.
From $189 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
About two hours on the water toward Metlakatla, with indoor seats, snacks and binoculars, from a booth on Berth 2.
Check availability from $178A boat trip of two and a half to four hours, most of it spent on the water looking for humpbacks, orcas, seals, sea lions and eagles. Some boats leave from downtown. Others leave from Clover Pass, north of town, and a coach takes you there first.
What changes between them is the boat. You choose an enclosed cabin with seats inside, or an open Zodiac where you sit in the weather in full rain gear. Everything else follows from that choice.
The downtown boats work the Tongass Narrows and head south toward Metlakatla. The Zodiac follows the wildlife rather than a set route. You cover water you could never see from town.
Eagles, harbour seals and seabirds turn up on every route. The lodge trip adds a rainforest boardwalk and a seafood boil. The storytelling cruise adds local people talking about fishing and wildlife.
The whale quest has indoor and outdoor seating, and the Clover Pass boats are enclosed. The Zodiac is open to the air, so it hands out rain gear, overboots and dry bags.
Most take children from age three, and the Zodiac takes them from five. The whale quest, the lodge trip and the storytelling cruise accept strollers.
The other boat trip people weigh this against is the crab boat at Berth 3. Both put you on the water. Only one is about whales.
| A whale-watching boat | The crab boat | |
|---|---|---|
| What you watch | Whales, seals, eagles, seabirds | The crew hauling a 700-pound king crab pot |
| Time | 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours 45 minutes | 3 hours |
| Water | Narrows, passages and open channels | The sheltered Inside Passage, never the Bering Sea |
| Wheelchair access | None of the whale boats | Yes |
| Youngest traveller | Age 3 (Zodiac age 5) | Age 5 |
| Fare | $178 to $209 | $249 |
If whales are the point, book a whale boat. If you want a working boat, a story and the calmest water, the crab boat is the better morning, and it is the one to choose with a wheelchair user in your party.
Fares run from $178 to $209 a person, and every whale boat here refunds in full up to 24 hours ahead. The whale quest checks you in at booth 16 in the Berth 2 Visitors Center, 30 minutes before you sail. The Zodiac leaves from 124 Thomas Street, a 10 to 15 minute walk from the docks. It arranges a docks transfer on 48 hours' notice.
The Clover Pass boats take longer because of the drive. The lodge trip meets Ward Cove ships at the Ward Cove Welcome Center, and downtown ships at The Rock. Low tide can make its dock ramp steep, so it does not suit anyone with limited mobility.
Book a morning if your ship sails early, and take a layer even on an enclosed boat: highs in July and August average under 65°F at the airport.
If you get seasick, take the crab boat, which stays in sheltered water, or a land trip. If you use a wheelchair, none of the whale boats is marked accessible, so the crab boat or the Rainforest Sanctuary tour is the better choice. If bears are the point, the Ketchikan wildlife tours go where bears feed. And if you want the fjords from the air, the floatplanes to Misty Fjords cover in two hours what no boat here does.
Two hours 20 minutes on the water with a naturalist, rain gear and overboots supplied, from Thomas Street.
Check availability from $209Next: the berths and meeting points on the cruise port page, and what to wear on Ketchikan weather. Every tour sits side by side on Ketchikan Alaska Tours.