Sourdough Cab Company — Local services in Ketchikan

Our family was on a cruise ship excursion in Ketchikan, AK, and as a last effort to help us fulfill our goal of spotting a bear in the wild, we thought we’d just ask a nearby Sourdough Cab about possibilities of places to do that. Our driver Jacob was confident he could get us to Herring Cove from the Lumberjack show in time for our return to ship time, and the rate he quoted was $100/hr for all five of us to ride in the very comfortable and clean minivan. It would have cost us $90 or more per person to book an excursion that would not have had a guaranteed return time to our boat. Jacob was friendly and personable, plus he didn’t just drive us out to Herring Cove and drop us off—he got out of the cab and pointed out wildlife, as well as directing us to the place to look for a bear to emerge. He waited with us and advised us to give it ten or fifteen minutes, and during that 10 minutes, a juvenile bear emerged from just the spot he told us to look! He has grown up in Ketchikan, so on the way he kept pointing out bald eagles and telling us things about the places we passed along the route. After helping us with our bear sighting, he took us to another location for additional views of the bear, gave us more advice about how long to wait, and then took us to a lovely waterfall for a family picture, which he did a good job of taking. All in all the trip cost us $125 before the tip we left him, and our family of five would have had to pay much more for an official excursion that would likely not have been as enjoyable as this comfortable cab ride with an honest, reliable, knowledgeable young man. He truly made our day....

Jacob, you're popular in the reviews, as you should be! As promised, I told Jacob, our driver, who I swear I do not personally know, that I would leave a review. I called Sourdough Cab 30 min before our cruise ship docked in Ketchikan, as soon as I had service, and scheduled a cab with them. It is all automated. I didn't know the address we would be docking, only the dock/berth number, and it came back with "Ketchikan cruise docks" so I went with it. With no confirmation # or contact information, I was so nervous we would actually get our cab on time, and we were in a rush due to a short time in port and a chartered fishing trip scheduled. Literally 2 minutes before my scheduled time, Jacob called and said he was there. Hallelujah! He was at the cruise docks, where the machine automation confirmed, which was actually a little bit away from berth 4, where we were. Jacob knew where to go and arrived a couple minutes later and got us to where we needed to be. He had me contact him again with the pick-up time, and again, like a miracle, we were early finishing our trip, and there Jacob was waiting for us... early! He was awesome and is very intelligent, made obvious by how incredibly witty he is and how easy it is for him to hold conversation no matter the subject or age of the guests. He's a young guy traveling to another county for other opportunities soon, but Sourdough is lucky to have him while they do. Jacob's a Ketchikan native, too, so if you have him, ask any questions you have or have him show you around. Thanks for a...

Everything about my experience with Alfie via sourdough taxis was positive.

So I had very limited time on Ketchikan because I was on a cruise but from another guide I heard that I needed to get to Herring Cove to do some photography of bald eagles, my true goal.

I was unable to call and get a ride from sourdough but was able to hail Alfie from the side of the road.

Aphlie wasn't just a cab driver he was like my own Ketchikan tour guide, a local brother who seemed to know everyone and all the best places to visit to support local shops, insulting star gallary.

After getting me to Herring cove, he told me he would come back close to an hour to pick me up and he was true to his word. In fact, he brought with him another family that wanted to see some bears. We continued at our time checking out eagles and bears for about another half hour before heading back.

It was so sweet to see Alphie interacting with his other drivers, friends and his brother and sharing a bunch of local knowledge.

My only regrets include not giving him a bigger tip and having more time to hangout at this port

Herring cove is the place you want to go. If you want photos of bald eagles and black bears.

Don't second guess yourself, hire sourdough and...