We have now done three trips with Outer Island Expeditions over the course of three years: the Point Doughty kayak trip, the Sucia Island trip, and the whale watch trip. All three were very good experiences. The Point Doughty trip was my personal favorite -- our knowledgeable guide took us past the seal whelping grounds. The really impressive thing was that he seemed to have no particular educational background in the region's biology, and had only been on Orcas a relatively short time, but had amassed a pretty decent understanding of the region's ecosystems and wildlife -- they seem to value that at OIE. Sucia Island went smoothly and was well worth the money. The whale watch trip encountered a pretty significant problem -- no whales within several hours of Orcas -- but I thought OIE handled it really well. They offered us a choice of re-booking on a different day, or using the time to do a wildlife tour of the local area. We did the latter, and I thought they did a very good job for a spontaneous unplanned expedition. Overall, I find their service to be friendly and relaxed without being sloppy. As a point of comparison, I called their competition before the most recent trip (Shearwater) and asked about taking my 8 year old son on a kayak trip. They were snotty and condescending over the phone, but OIE reps were patient and informative; and on the trip they were really great with my son, who had never paddled a kayak before (but did great with the guide's instruction and help).