We booked the Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Watching tour upon arrival at the Juneau Port (dock side) for half the cost of the on-board price of the cruise line and we got a much better tour. Our tour tour started with transportation to the Mendenhall Glacier and 2 hours for hiking, sightseeing and touring the glacier and visitors center which was the perfect amount of time. We were then transported from the Mendenhall glacier to the whale watching boats.
The boats appeared to be brand new, were fast, comfortable, super clean and had an amazing crew; Captain Brenden, Tori and Dave. All three were locals who had such enthusiasm and love for the whales and orcas and other sea life it made for an informative and fabulous afternoon. They guaranteed that we would see whales and they did not disappoint. We first spotted two Orcas just hanging out in the waters and the Orcas came fairly close to the boats. Captain Brenden then took us down to the area where humpbacks were seen earlier in the day and sure enough there they were about 10 adults and a couple of calfs a couple of hundred yards out. Captain Brenden turned the boat off, stopped and with-in minutes the whales actually approached us and came with in feet of the boat and just stayed there surfacing and diving and feeding for about 45 minutes.
Captain Brenden, Tori and Dave all made such a positive impact on all of the passengers with their knowledge and experience making the day truly memorable