Juneau Lighthouse Tours — Local services in Juneau

It was a cold and dreary day when our cruise ship pulled into Juneau and we figured the tour would be uncomfortable. The driver of the van that picked us up was wearing a "bear" hat and was friendly. He drove us to the dock, about 30 minutes away, stopping at a viewing area along the way so we could also see the Mendenhall Glacier, about 4 miles away. Seeing a glacier is simply awesome! It was low tide when we arrived at the dock and boarded the catamaran. We only had about 28 people on this tour, the catamaran can hold up to about 50 folks in a heated compartment. The seating is well designed giving everyone a great viewing area and it also had several outside viewing areas., and yes there are restrooms on board. We were greeted by an amazing staff, Capt. Dalton, and naturalists Morgan and Tess. As we left the dock area we past, and stopped to watch sea loins bathing on the shoreline. Then we went onward to the Sentinel Island Lighthouse, an active coastal lighthouse . This is a unique stop, as the Lighthouse is on a small island in the Lynn Canal system and only accessible by boat. They are currently refurbishing the Lighthouse bringing it back to life and we got to talk to a couple of the workers about the process. And even though one of the workers was from "M"ichgan (we are from OH-IO) we enjoyed hearing about what they were doing. After we left the lighthouse we proceeded to find some whales. And whales we did find. They seemed to be all over the place and we had no problem locating them and watching them play. We saw a family of three that included one baby and we saw them do plenty of what they normally do, several times they breached the water. We took plenty of pictures and learned about their habitat from Morgan and Tess. While on the tour, they provided water, soda, and several snacks. Truly a memorable tour and a big thanks you to the staff for providing us the opportunity to watch such spectacular animals. If you are looking for a tour of a lifetime, this one...

What a wonderful excursion this was for our port day in Juneau. The crew picked us up right outside the cruise ship and drove us through the city on the way to the boat where we eventually whale watched.

Our bus driver, I believe his name was Jack, was such a charming tour guide. I did not expect to receive such a fun tour of the city just being shuttled, but Jack was full of knowledge. His timing with the info was only possible for someone who truly knows their home. It was a very nostalgic feeling, like a beloved relative telling you fascinating stories that made your mind turn.

As for the whale watching, what can you say more, you get to see whales! The crew is always receiving Intel behind the scenes and is making the most out of your time so you see the most whales possible.

Dale was a great tour guide, funny but not over the top. I really respected his ability to provide interesting facts about the whales we saw as he was coordinating our next moves and answering questions.

We got to see several humpback whales within the first few minutes of the boats engines starting. We later toured the nearby lighthouse, saw hundreds of sea lions, bald eagles, harbor seals and at the very end of the trip, we took a detour and located a lone bull Orca whale.

Very comfortable the entire time. The boat (Beacon) was extremely nice and stable. Good seats, good windows for viewing and abilities to go out on deck for closer viewing. Crew even handed out complimentary snacks.

Can't recommend this crew enough for showing us a...

A decent experience. Not exactly what we had anticipated however. We saw the amt of time, 10:30-3pm, and assumed we would have at least 3 hours on the water looking for whales. Unfortunately, you spend over an hour and a half in the bus coming and going to port, plus they stop on the way to get a peak at the Glacier. Finally on the water, we only got about an hour to an hour and a half looking for whales. We found a spot where there were three or four whales, petty far off. Our captain stopped, and we watched them from a afar. Didn't get close at all. I know there are rules about how close you can be, but at least 6 other tour boats moved MUCH closer to the whales. We never left our original location. There were some locals on the boat, and our captain seemed distracted talking to them about local politics. We just stayed in that one spot for almost an hour, while we watched the whales get further away. Then the captain announced it was time to leave, and we drove back to the dock. It was sad and disappointing to hear a bunch of our cruise friends talk about how many whales they saw close up, and even Orcas etc. I chose this particular tour based on reviews and how it was supposedly so much better than the cruise tours, but sadly that wasn't...