Mendenhall Glacier Waterfall and Whale Watching Tour
Description
Although we are the original whale-watching company in Juneau (operating since 1994), we are still small and family-owned and operated! We want you to feel like part of the family, and we pride ourselves on prioritizing local hires in order to give back to our community and give you the best possible tour experience. We want our guides to love Juneau as much as you do! This tour offers an additional hour at the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area. This gives you an hour and forty-five minutes to two hours to look at salmon, visit the Visitor's Center, and make the hike to Nugget Falls! Our fleet consists of only mammal-friendly jet boats, and the small size and intimate setting will make you feel right at home with the whales. We pride ourselves on our quick transfers between vehicles! We don't want you to wait any longer than you absolutely have to!
Tour Options
Itinerary
Drive through the city of Juneau on a guided bus ride.
Take an easy hike out to Nugget Falls to really immerse yourself in our rainforest! It takes most people about 45 minutes round trip, but if you are a slower hiker, or you want to stop and take pictures, this is the tour for you!
Stop by the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors center to learn more about the stunning glacier!
Hop on one of our mammal friendly jet boats to go find some whales! Leaving from Auke Bay Harbor, our expirienced captains will use their local knowledge to show you the most exciting whales out there!
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
Reviews(112)
We got to see whales and seals. Mendenhall glacier and nugget falls are stunning.
The walk to the waterfall was well worth it! The ship crew and shuttle drivers were great. Thank you for the early shuttle back!
Captain JJ and Kaylee were very knowledgeable and passionate about the whales and wildlife. We saw whales, sea lions and eagles. Kaylee was especially good with the children (5 & 9) in our group. The boat was covered so rainy weather was no problem. Our coach driver William was also very knowledgeable of the area, indicating and explaining points of interest. Mendenhall Glacier was amazing. We highly recommend this tour for all ages.
We had a full day of fun whale watching and exploring Mendenhall Glacier. Our bus driver was entertaining and went all out to make sure we had a wonderful experience. The narrator during the whale watching part of our tour was very knowledgeable. We saw many hump back whales breaching and saw many tail flips. We moved on to view Mendenhall glacier and took a short walk on the trail to the water falls near the glacier. Got some excellent photos. Good experience.
Great Experience, The naturalist did a great job describing what we were going to see and what the whales where going to be doing. The captain maneuvered the boat so we an excellent view.
We booked this excursion as part of a cruise experience with Silver Whisper on Saturday, June 20. We looked very forward to this activity and believed it would be the highlight of our long awaited trip. We went with a group from the cruise ship, people we did not know, and were meant by the driver McKinley. He brought us to the glacier and waterfall, and emphasized that time was limited, so we opted to go to the photo point location instead of the water fall trail because Nugget Water Fall was a longer hike. He gave us a so-called test before we exited the bus, which included his name, the bus number, and pick up time. I wrote them down. He explained that the parking time was limited and he couldn’t linger. This comment caused us to decide on the shorter path to the glacier. At 2:15 we stood at the pick up spot, only to see McKinley pull out from behind the other waiting buses and leave the area. At first we believed he was going to return and was just complying with a “no lingering” rule. He never did return for us. Clearly he never took a head count and didn’t even know we were stranded. Fortunately a kind driver by the name of Debbie from the Alaskan tour company notified the dispatcher no an hour later we took another bus back to Juneau. We did not go on the whale watch obviously. Silver whisper did reimburse our fees, for the failed trip, however, there were no vacancies for future whale watches. We received no apology from Alaska Tours. McKinley’s approach to his job was unprofessional and negligent, We were respectful and punctual and he did not care enough to make sure 2 elderly people were provided with the transportation they paid for. We won’t ever be in Alaska again, it was a once in a lifetime trip, and whale watching was to be a highlight for us. We appreciate that another young driver helped us. We also noted that he did a head count of his passengers and was apologetic to us. MCKinley should have more concern for the welfare of his passengers, especially elderly people. It caused a lot of unnecessary stress and a waste of an afternoon.
Rio was an amazing guide and explained every detail of Juneau that we could have wanted. We saw so many whales, sea lions and just beautiful scenery! This excursion was a true highlight of our vacation!
An amazing experience! JJ and Nelly were fantastic
So much fun! We saw several whales including 3 adults swimming and diving together. It was amazing. The crew was friendly and had lots of great information about the whales and the area.
Tour was well organized and staff was friendly and informative. We had plenty of tour to explore the glacier and nugget falls. The whale watching was excellent.
