Out to Sea Expedition Company — Local services in Ketchikan

I'm not embellishing when I say that Out to Sea Expedition Company brought us on a once in a lifetime boat ride. It was an experience none of us will ever forget. The reviews speak for themselves, but hopefully, my review will convince you to visit them.

Eric, Delaney, and Jenny (aka science mom!) were delightful. Eric kept the boat steady and somehow managed to prevent us from getting wet. He has a very calming presence and he's full of knowledge. Jenny was like the teacher in school that everyone adored and is likely the catalyst for many future scientists considering she is a teacher. Impressive knowledge from both of them! Delaney helped us get to the right spot and was a delightful spark of energy that got us excited for our trip.

We started out looking at some sea stars, but suddenly, 15-20 minutes into our trip, we spotted a pod of three whales. Eric kept us a safe distance from them but kept us pointed in the right direction so we could get tons of pictures and videos. They gave us quite the show! We watched them for at least half an hour and we were just absolutely amazed. After the whale sighting, I could have fallen into the cold water and still consider the day a ten out of ten.

Once we picked our jaws up off the floor, we continued our day through the waters of Ketchikan, learning about the area, the wildlife both above and below the water (potato birds!), and having some general chit chat about where they're from and whatnot. We had such a wonderful crowd on the boat. Lots of laughs. They even had snacks and hot coffee, tea, and cocoa.

At one point, she showed us some kelp, and my wife played it like a trumpet. Who knew kelp could be so cool? It was awesome to learn about so much out there while also enjoying the scenery. We covered a lot of ground (aka water) on the trip, and 2.5 hours felt like one hour. I'm not even joking; I was shocked to see how quickly the time passed. I felt myself smiling during the entire trip. We saw sea stars, mussels, seals, otters, whales, bald eagles, and more.

To Jenny, Eric, and Delaney: thank you so much for giving us a tremendously fun day. That was truly a special experience. It was all we could talk about for the rest of the trip. The picture in my review of the two whales next to each other I can safely say is the coolest photo I have ever had the pleasure of taking. My wife frequents Ketchikan for work, and we 100% plan on visiting Out to Sea Expedition Company again. Thank...

A great experience overall! The only downside was that there weren't longer tour options allowing for further exploration. As it were, we saw a lot of wildlife in 2 hours. As far as mammals, we watched and photographed 2 Humpback Whales bubble net feeding, Harbor Porpoises, Harbor Seals, and Sitka Black-tailed Deer. We also saw a number of birds and as a birder, I was happy to gain a few more "life list" birds. We saw many of the common birds like eagles, crows, ravens and gulls, but we also saw some birds that are of higher interest to birders such as Black Turnstone, Marbled Murrelet, Pigeon Guillemot, and Common Murre.

Eric was our captain and Jenny our onboard naturalist. They were both great and very enjoyable to be around. Jenny was able to answer any questions thrown at her and Eric was great at maneuvering the boat always being mindful of the safety of the whales and his crew. He also was mindful of the placement of the sun for photography purposes which is always a nice touch for photogs like me.

Delaney though not on the actual adventure was my main point of contact and she was also in the shop before the tour. I got there earlier than everyone else and had some great conversation with Eric, Delaney and Jenny and can tell you that they are great people to hang with.

I would not hesitate to get out on the water with them again if given a chance. Thanks guys for the adventure and for putting up with the demands of a...

I would have given 10 stars if I could. This was one of the best things we did on our Alaska cruise! Book with Out to Sea Expedition Company if you have a port of call in Ketchikan or are there visiting!

We booked this excursion somewhat last minute in July after looking up tours in Ketchikan on Instagram. It looked right up our alley being nature lovers. We showed up to the shop and the other folks in the group must have canceled but Eric and Delaney still took our party of 2 out that morning! We had an amazing tour and saw so much wildlife. The Zodiac was fun and comfy. We got to see a couple of crabs from their citizen science program they participate in. We saw lots of seabirds and a few shorebirds including some lifers for me. We were also blessed with seeing a humpback whale feeding and harbor seals hauled out in large numbers. We also saw one Sitka Black-tailed Deer. My husband and I really enjoyed the low tide exploring in the zodiac around the cliffs to see sea stars, urchins, and anemones. They give you high quality rain gear to wear during the excursion to keep you dry. I couldn't recommend this excursion more we had such a great time and learned a lot about the local wildlife and the owners were extremely...