Saltwater Expedition Sightseeing & Wildlife - Boot mit 6 Passagieren

Thanks Tyler for an amazing 3 hour private tour. We really enjoyed seeing the wildlife in Ketchikan by boat. Your boat tour was very informative and descriptive and we learned a lot about the area. After hiking up to the first section of Deer Mountain the previous day on our own and seeing Ketchikan from above, it was only fitting to experience the area’s beautiful wildlife by boat on our second day. We were delighted and surprised to see a whale breech within the 20 minutes of your tour. During our boat ride we fortunate to also see lots of flying fish, see planes landing., and a small group of seals basking on rocks near a secluded cabin. Your great sea adventure stories kept us interested and we were glad to get to know Ketchikan from another vantage point. Thanks for a lovely time.

We love the small fast boat! Beautiful day! Spectacular wildlife! Captain Keith was awesome! Very informative and kind! Loved the small boat! Very personable! Would highly recommend this tour!

I want to start out by saying that Sheldon was very professional and an extremely nice person. He definitely knew his way around a boat. The issue was what we expected out of the excursion vs. what we received. Like most tourists coming to Ketchikan, we were hoping to see some different types of wildlife and to learn more about them and the surrounding area. The day we were there was rainy and foggy, not unlike the majority of days during the summer but we were still excited for the expedition. Prior to meeting up w/ Sheldon, he had contacted my friend that we were traveling with to let her know he was there when we were ready. When she asked him if he thought we were going to see anything, his response was, “Probably not.” Definitely not what we were hoping to hear but went along and hoped for the best. From the get-go, it was a bumpy ride in which every time we hit a wave, there was a large impact where we had to brace ourselves. Considering that I have a bad back, I am glad that the seats were reinforced, and it didn’t bother my back. In an odd way, it seemed like Sheldon was more into the challenge of riding the waves than the excursion itself. Sheldon did start out by saying that since he was driving the boat that we should keep an eye out for wildlife. Having never been to Alaska and knowing how to look for whales or other types of fish, I didn’t know if there was a certain strategy or tactic that would help. Sheldon did make conversation with us but none of it was about how to find the wildlife or about the surrounding area, more about his journey and how he had gotten to Ketchikan a couple of months earlier and some other small talk. Any time we asked him about something he either said he didn’t know, let me google that or he picked up a phone to call someone else. After 30 minutes of him driving the boat and not talking or stopping to look or see anything, me and my friend actually dozed off for a bit because just going fast in a boat and looking for whales can somewhat put you into a trance or in this case, to sleep. Except for a couple of fish that jumped out of the water to dive deeper for food, that was the extent of the wildlife that we saw on our excursion. When the excursion was almost over, Sheldon asked if we wanted to see some totem poles. At this point, we were happy to see anything (in the water or out.) We told him what time we needed to be back to the boat, so he called someone to ask where to go to see the totem poles. At first, he got lost and wasn’t sure where they were. Then, he called the person again and was able to take us to see them. Unfortunately, he did not know anything about them to share any history or stories. He also pointed out something else that was supposedly noteworthy but couldn’t tell us why. When I contacted the owner of the company (John) to discuss our concerns, he responded by saying that Sheldon was an experienced captain (which we weren't even complaining about), that there was no guarantee of seeing wildlife (again, not our complaint), and even asked if I would be asking for a partial refund if we had seen a whale. Bottom line, make sure you have an experienced/knowledgeable person conducting your excursion and know that customer service is clearly not Johns main focus.