Highly recommend spend a couple of hours with Captain Rick of Sitka Sound Tours. Its a small group…read moretour on a comfortable boat offering both inside and outside seating. Rick described sights in Sitka as we navigated to a cove where the whales were feeding. Sighted other wildlife along the way. Also enjoyed listening to Rick talk about his and wife's upbringing in Sitka and life there for their family. Family run business that leaves right from where the bus drops cruise passengers off in downtown. Would certainly book again!

I would highly recommend this tour. We had a very personal experience and The captain was…read moredetermined to get us where we could see as much wildlife as possible. I can't say enough about our experience. He grew up in the area and his experience in the water was reassuring. I would give him a 10 if it were an option

What an awesome experience!  My husband and I enjoyed this tour with Captain Gary very much.  From…read morestart to finish, it was fun and exciting.   We came from the cruise ship port by a free 10 minute shuttle. We boarded the boat which was new, clean and beautifully designed, plus it had SUPER comfortable seats.  Before we even left the local bay, we saw multiple whales and seals. We went to several areas to see more amazing whales, salmon jumping out of the water, otters and a waterfall! We were able to sit inside or go on the front or back decks for photos or to hang out a bit and observe the natural beauty around us. As a fellow nature lover, It was fun that Captain Gary was excited to see the whales as well even after having grown up in Sitka and seeing them many times before.  He was a wealth of knowledge about the wildlife and area, plus relaxed and easy going.  I appreciate the details about the whales names and that he recently found out how some were related. This was our favorite tour of our entire cruise, hands down.  We'll recommend Captain Gary's Sitka Adventures to everyone traveling to the area!

Fantastic Land & Sea Tour! The boat was new & fit 14 people comfortably & handled the waves very…read morewell. We saw several whales, sea otters, & sea lions. We then went to the land tour where we went to a park & saw several eagles & enjoyed the rainforest. We then went to the Bear Raptor Center & Eagle Raptor Center & grabbed a hotdog at the Bear place. We enjoyed both tours & saw a lot of Sitka & our driver (also named Gary) was very knowledgable about the history of Sitka & we learned a lot! Definitely recommend!

We visited Sitka on our cruise and had a great experience on this tour. The free shuttle to town…read moredrops you off right where the tour stand was so it was easy to find, and their vans were very nice and new looking. This was a small tour which we loved, only max 10 people; we had 8. Our tour guide, Bret, was very helpful, courteous and professional. He was also an excellent photo taker!! The raptor center and the Fortress of the Bear are both smaller venues so it doesn't take a long time to see everything. I think the tours allowed for 30 minutes at each place, but I think it would have been nice to have maybe another 20 minutes at the Fortress so we could have read some stuff and looked around more. There were so many bald eagles there too! The Sitka Nat'l Historic Park was beautiful as were all the totems, we walked a short loop around while our guide, Bret provided a lot of wonderful information. I would have loved to have gotten more time there to read a bit more in the museum and walk more of the the trails. If we get back to Sitka, we will absolutely come back and re-visit the park and trails. Bret shared information with us the whole time he was driving and we really learned a lot. Worth taking and less expensive than the cruise ship.

I visited Alaska on a cruise and wanted to see some sites in Sitka. Sitka Wildlife Tours was…read morerecommended by someone in our group. We had a private shuttle to accommodate our group of 10. Our tour guide Brett took us to the Fortess of the Bear, the Raptor Center and the Park. Amazing centers that support the wildlife is such a great spot to visit. We had plenty of time to watch the bears communicate with one another and the staff at the centers. I also love that there are items in the gift shop that support the sanctuary so purchase those and know your purchase supports the wildlife. The Raptor center has amazing eagles, owls and other birds that are in need of medical help. Absolutely amazing to see them up close. The park has so much history on the natives, totem poles, and beautiful artifacts to see up close. If you're in Sitka I highly recommend you take this tour.

Great experience did an awesome job accompanying my 80 year old father in law. Plus we caught lots…read moreof fish!!!

Everything went very smoothly from booking to cleaning and packaging the fish…read more Very polite and helpful. Can't wait to go back !

What an awesome experience! The grandeur of Sitka is breath taking…read more We booked a 3 fishing excursion trip, with an additional day for sight seeing. Kevin was an incredible concierge. He arranged everything and was super flexible- our party size kept changing as our kid's plans were changing. We were booked with Capt Steven, and were joined a couple days with the owner Herb. Steven heard the fishing was challenging, so he took the risk and headed south about 40 miles. Flat calm sea and limits of King Salmon, halibut and black rockfish! We fished the same location on day 2. We limited again on Kings and halibut and then hooked a SEAMONSTER. after a 30+ minute fight we boated a 250+ pound halibut. We only had the opportunity to boat this animal because Herb had harvest tags for halibut in the "slot" (40-80 inches). Normally it's only legal to harvest halibut less than 40 or greater than 80 inches. This fish looked close to 80+, so we bought a harvest tag. It was a centimeter short of 80"! We would have been in huge trouble if Herb didn't have harvest tags! Day 3 was a shorter cruise north through some amazing waters. We saw wild bears and cubs! Bald eagles diving for fish! and Deer galore. We had limits of Kings, halibut and Rockfish as well as releasing several decent lingcod. The extra day was well worth it. Fortress of the bear and the Totem trail are best experienced in person! YouTube doesn't do either justice! We're already negotiating with Kevin and Herb for next year!

Great experience all around. Coordination was excellent,…read morefood was great, fish processing included, great room accommodations, and we caught limits daily as we think we had the best captain around. Can't wait to get back. Brian F Sebastopol Ca

We did the Sitka to Juneau cruise on the Chichagof Dream (70-passenger vessel) from June 18 to June…read more23 2023, and it was absolutely fantastic! The crew went out of its way to find and follow the wildlife: whales, wolves, mountain goats, bears, eagles, sea lions... We had the luck of a perfect weather, with no rain at all, which we understand is outside the norm. Whatever the weather, the ship is great, the food very good and the crew extremely warm, welcoming, and fun to interact with. Kudos to Alaskan Dream Cruises.

We went on an eight day boat cruise from July 24th to August 1st 2025 on the Admiralty Dream for a…read moretour called The Last Frontier. We got a 30% discount from the $15,000 list price by booking last minute on June 18th. Only 120 square foot rooms available and were the second most expensive rooms on the top deck of a three deck boat. ADC had a shuttle to pick us up at the airport, even when we arranged to arrive a day early, and stay a day in Sitka. Boat left from an anchorage right next to the downtown area. Our boat had 41 passengers in 2 person cabins with most cabins 96 or 110 square feet. These were the smallest rooms I've seen on boat cruises. There were no balcony cabins, with outside corridors running on the outside of each room . ADC provided wading boots, waterproof pants, and waterproof jacket. You needed the wading boots to travel from the ship to shore by zodiac boat when there were no docking facilities. You were left off in ankle deep water. Zodiac boat also for touring the islands and forests where the water was too shallow for the Admiralty Dream. People walking by could look through the windows into your room. There were curtains, but they didn't wrap around, so the corridor night lights shone through the edges, right into the eyes of me lying on the bed next to the window. Units on the bottom deck were 96 square feet in size with portholes and interior corridors. Boat built in 1979 and of antiquated design, although the sink and track lighting were new. Rooms had no drawers and no dressers and no locks on the sliding doors from the outside. We kept our valuables in our lockable luggage stored under the bed. Phone booth size shower with curtain next to toilet. After each shower we had to wipe the floor next to the toilet of water so that the next user of the toilet would not get their pants wet from the wet floor. Water from the sink had a light brown tone, and tasted like it was full of iron. At least they gave us a large water bottle. Continuous background noise from the ventilation motor running behind our third deck cabin. Highlights of our tour of the Alaska inlet area include the following. Hike to lake Eva's hidden Fall hatchery along with kayaking. Red bluff Bay bears. Tracy arm fjord glacier point Hugh Whales, William Henry Bay orcas. Orca point Lodge Juneau. Hike to coastal artillery, and kayaking. Glacier Bay Bartlett cove near glacier Bay national Park visitor center. Meals were served in dining room including breakfast lunch and dinner with multiple choices of each. Quality of the meals was generally very good although no food was available outside of regular dining hours. Salmon was the most served dish, with no crab served until we reached Orca point lodge. No cell phone coverage and no Wi-Fi for eight days. Would go again except that Alaskan dream cruises did not sail in 2026.

OUTSTANDING Whale Watching Experience! If you're visiting…read moreSitka and want to see whales and other marine life up close, book with Gallant Adventures! Captain Paul is incredible -- he knows the area inside and out, understands wildlife behavior, and shares fascinating insights throughout the trip. Our group of five had the perfect setup: a comfortable, well-kept boat with plenty of room. We asked Capt. Paul all manner of questions and he shared so much information about the marine life and the geology. We got to see Up close whales, and otters and seals, and we went into a great cave to see birds. The views were beautiful, it was a magical tour. Everything about the experience was top-notch. Highly recommend! Once in a life time kind of thing!

We joined Captain Paul Davis and this personable tour exceeded our dreams! The whales were out in…read moregroups and the captain knew where to find them- what to look for, and we had the best experience I've ever had on a wildlife tour! Highly recommend!

What a day! Captain Xander scooped us up at our dock right on time, he greeted us with a huge smile…read moreand made us all feel comfortable and welcome immediately. We took a few spontaneous stops to view gray whales, humpbacks, and seals on the way to Goddard Hot Springs. Xander is knowledgeable about the history of Sitka, as well as the wildlife and migration patterns that we were curious about. Before disembarking for the hot springs he drew us a map and made some recommendations for our group. On the way back to the boat, I GOT ENGAGED and Xander's excitement for us was memorable. He snapped a bunch of photos of us and we got a few with him too. Highly recommend taking a ride with Captain Xander on any of the services he offers. Thanks for having us, we'll be back next time!

Captain Xander is patient, accommodating, punctual, and clearly knows the lands and waters around…read moreSitka. The boat is great! fast and quiet. Will definitely call on him again the next time we need a water taxi!

Exceeded all expectations for whale watching specifically we were gifted with seeing between 20 and…read more30 whales today as well as sea lions. Nice small boat, which guarantees an intimate experience. Patrick was terrific as a host and captain.

DO NOT RECOMMEND Met Patrick first thing in the morning about a whale watching excursion. He didn't…read morehave enough people to go so we found another place to purchase our excursion. He then proceeded to berate us and tell us that we were not supporting local. He also wanted cash rather than card. Which is interesting, he made sure to tell us we wouldn't have to pay sales tax if we paid cash. He bases his business on tourists yet he proceeds to be rude if he doesn't get his way.

Ok, First time to…read moreAlaska and have been mind blown by scenery. The natural beauty of this state is almost overwhelming in its grandeur. What really made the trip special was getting out on the ocean with a local guide that not only knew the ins and outs of the waterways but was also truly dedicated to his craft as a guide. Captain Dave is passionate about his home town of Sitka and an absolute wealth of information. On the way out of the harbor he fired off a plethora of awesome facts that rivaled anything Wikipedia might have to say about this majestic seaside port. Safety was always on his mind and that played a huge roll in our comfort considering we had a 5 and 7 year-old with us. At all times, including when we disembarked on a remote island for a quick hike, he was sure to let us know he had our back (he had a bear deterrent on the form of a shotgun). Dave also provided us with a killer breakfast and lunch which were both accompanied by spectacular views at unique locations on the water that were second to none. Bottom line, if you want to see AND learn about Sitka and it's wonderful culture/history/ecology then Captain Dave and his vessel the Esther are the premiere choice for anyone who wants to see the real deal Alaska!

We had the most amazing day with Davey! We saw whales, puffin, sea otters, and more! The homemade…read morecookies were the best I had ever eaten and most importantly, Davey made sure that we got to do exactly what we had dreamed of doing. He was a pleasure to deal with and my whole family continued to rave about our day on Esther G Sea taxi.