Hoonah Whale Watching Tour: Small Group Boat & Wildlife

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.97 (309 reviews) 98% rated it 5 stars

1/5

Duration3h

GroupUp to 13

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Thirteen people, one boat, whales that show up when they want to

You're driven from Icy Strait Point to Hoonah's harbor, board a small whale-watching boat with a local captain, and spend the morning looking for whales and wildlife with room to move around and time to breathe. Snacks and hot chocolate are included, and the van brings you back to your starting point when it's over.

Step-by-step itinerary

Whale and wildlife tour in Hoonah

Meet at Excursions Hub
Van ride to Hoonah
Board whale watching boat
Enjoy whale and wildlife tour
Return to harbor
Van ride back to Icy Strait Point

The Experience

There's something about knowing the boat won't be crowded that changes how you feel before you even step aboard. The Hoonah whale watching tour keeps groups to a maximum of 13 guests, which means you're not jockeying for rail space or squinting past someone's shoulder to see what the captain's pointing at. You get picked up at Icy Strait Point in a van — it's a five-minute drive to the harbor in Hoonah — and then you board a boat that's actually designed for whale watching, not just retrofitted to hold bodies. The captain running the boat is a local who's been doing this for over 25 years and knows the water, the animals, and where they tend to show up.

What makes this different from a lot of other tours is the pace. You're not rushing through a checklist of stops or watching the clock. The tour length is built so you have time to actually sit with what you're seeing — the whales, the wildlife, the way the water looks in that light. The boat has a restroom, which matters on the water, and they pack cold water, hot chocolate, and chips so you're not buying overpriced snacks or getting hungry halfway through. The captain has stories about the area and the animals, and he's not reading them off a script. After you're done on the water, the van meets you back at the harbor and drives you back to where you started.

It's not the longest tour you could do, but it's long enough that you feel like you actually went somewhere instead of just checking a box. The minimum age is nine years old, so families with kids that age and up can go. If you're pregnant or have cardiovascular concerns, this one's not recommended — it's on the water and there's motion involved. Otherwise, fitness level doesn't matter.

What’s included

Your tour includes van pickup and drop-off from Icy Strait Point, transport to Hoonah harbor, whale and wildlife watching on a small boat with a local captain, cold water, hot chocolate, individually packed chips, and access to an on-board restroom.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditions

Operated by Glacier Wind Charters, LLC

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see whales without feeling like you're packed into a tour bus with fifty other people — the small group size and local captain are what make the difference between watching wildlife and actually connecting with it.