Ketchikan Rainforest Island and Boat Adventure
Description
A motorized rigid hull inflatable Seahawk provides a short, but exciting cruise along the coast of Clover Passage where whales, sea lions, seals, porpoise, bald eagles and migrating seabirds may be spotted. Join your naturalist guide on a secluded beach in the Tongass National Forest, for a walk through natural, unspoiled beauty in the coastal rainforest on Betton Island. Hike through the beautiful old growth forest, and learn about botanic species native to this region. Enjoy an Alaskan snack at a campfire and take some time to explore tide pools or other interesting elements of the natural beauty around you before returning.
Tour Options
Itinerary
A motorized rigid inflatable ocean raft provides a short, but exciting cruise along the coast of Clover Passage to a remote island in the Tongass National Forest. Guests may see whales, Stellar sea lions, harbor seals, porpoise, bald eagles and migrating seabirds on this route. Once ashore, join an experienced Alaskan trail guide for a walk through natural, unspoiled beauty of this coastal rainforest. The trail takes you through a beautiful old growth forest, by way of a secluded beach. The one-mile, mostly boardwalk path is well maintained. Follow your knowledgeable guide through this ancient forest and learn about regional botanic species, such as the Western red and yellow cedar which Alaska Native cultures have depended on for spiritual enrichment, shelter and transportation. Learn about the history of the Alaska State tree, the Sitka spruce, and how it played an instrumental role in the construction of Howard Hughes' famous "Spruce Goose" and other early vintage fighter planes. After hiking this gently sloped historic trail, gather by the campfire to enjoy an Alaskan-style snack and take some time to explore the natural beauty around you before re-boarding the vessel for the return trip. Bring your camera and binoculars!
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
**Ketchikan Meeting Place:** Please meet us by the RAIN GAUGE located outside on the north end of the visitor center building on the dock. If your ship is docked at The Mill at Ward Cove dock, please meet in the WELCOME CENTER building at the Tour Departure sign. - Take careful note of your tour departure time noted above and please be at the designated location 15 minutes prior to departure time. - When you arrive at the meeting area, look for the Alaska Travel Adventures tour representative. They will be wearing a red jacket/shirt and a red hat. Look for our distinctive Caribou logo. Have your tour voucher ready to show the representative so that they can direct you to the appropriate transportation.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(13)
It should be in the brochure that the hike is an hour of a botany lesson , and that the hike is nothing but stairs it’s not an actual nature hike like they lead you to believe. But the zodiac ride was wonderful.
Not adventurous unless you consider zig-zaggin across the water at high speed an adventure. Their trail description as one mile mostly boardwalk is not correct. I am 82 and have had knee replacemen surgery so I am careful about tours I select and even asked about the one mile trail again as we left the dock enroute to the tour location and was told, no problem, mostly boardwalk and not difficult. Actually, the trail is boardwalk, but it has steep stairs in many places and is rather narrow. When we questioned this during the "adventure" one of the guides even said they have problems with the description of the trail. This excursion is not for anyone with knee/hip/heart problems. My wife and I had to skip the trail, wait on the beach, and go on to the cracker and cheese snacks.
Great experience! Loved the forest tour and banana boat ride. Guide were great, enthusiastic and knowledgeable
Hiking in the rain forest was wonderful. It was so beautiful and peaceful. The guide was personable and very informative.
This was a great adventure! A fun and festive way to see Alaska. The guides took so much time to try to find animals. Autumn, Trey, and Captain John deserve raises!Thank you so much!
This review is strictly for the operator of this excursion, not any third party that you might see that books this same excursion. We were on the Oceania Regatta in June and this was to be our first excursion in Alaska. Ketchikan was our first port of call. We got off the ship and found the rep for the operator in the appropriate location. We discovered we were a total of four to be on this excursion. The two of us and two others. The other two people never arrived after 30 mintues at which time the operator rep disappeared and was never to be found. Our only recourse was the Oceania excursion rep who told us our excursion was cancelled by the operator because of not enought people. This all happened at the shore terminal. If you book this excursion be VERY weary of the operator. They are not reliable nor ethical. Because the other 2 people not showing up forfeited their money the operator still would have had the monies associated with their booking and our booking keeping them whole. But they decided to bail. They bailed so aggressively that they were nowhere to be found at the terminal. Do NOT book this excursion as they might leave you "hanging out to dry" and abandon you at the very last minute prior to your excursion. Oceania still offers the "Rainforest Island Adventure" excursion and is offerred by many of the cruise lines. I would recommend avoiding this excursion at all cost. I hope this review can help someone avoid the experience we had to endure from this operator.
We took a bus to the marina from our cruise ship, got a quick safety talk, donned our life vests and got on the boat for a lovely ride to an Island. The boat ride was probably 20 minutes and was very scenic. We were dropped off to our guide for the Island Hike. A lot of the hike was on a boardwalk, several steps involved with a good amount of up and down. Our guide was knowledgeable and friendly. At the end we had cowboy coffee, hot chocolate and delicious salmon dip and crackers around a campfire. The boat returned to pick us up and take us back to the marina, our bus and our ship. My husband and I were with our son and daughter in law and we all enjoyed it.
None, unable to attend due to knee problems - unable to get money back. Please refund our money as we are unable to attend
We enjoyed seeing the rainforest, but we had hoped to see more wildlife. The boat ride was great and the tour guides were informative and kind. Be sure and wear comfortable gripping shoes and be okay with some inclines.
Had an absolutely amazing 4 hours on this tour! We were with a group of 19 people, picked up right at the port in Ketchikan. We saw humpback whales (one even breeched), harbor seals, bald eagles, banana slugs and star fish! Our guide, Damon was so fun and knowledgeable. The snack after our rainforest hike was an added bonus! BOOK THIS TOUR, you will not regret it.
