Hoonah or Juneau for whale watching?
Plenty of Alaska cruises stop at both Juneau and Icy Strait Point, and both ports sell whale watching. Booking it twice is an option, but most passengers want to choose one. This guide compares the two on price and crowds, and on how the trip fits the rest of your day ashore.
Two ports, about 40 miles apart
Hoonah lies on Chichagof Island facing Icy Strait, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Juneau. Both sit in the same stretch of Southeast Alaska where humpbacks return to feed each summer, and both rank among the state's reliable whale waters. We know of no fair way to say one has more whales than the other, and we would distrust anyone who claims it. What differs is everything around the whales, from how you reach the boat to how many other boats share the water.
Whale watching from Juneau
Juneau is the state capital and by far the bigger town. Its whale fleet is large, and most boats leave from Auke Bay, about half an hour by bus from the cruise docks, heading into Stephens Passage. On a busy day you share the water with many more boats than in Icy Strait, so expect company around any whale that surfaces.
The prices start lower. When we compared them on GetYourGuide, a 3-hour Juneau whale cruise with snacks started at about $154 (rated 4.8 from over 700 reviews). A combination of Mendenhall Glacier with whale watching started at about $199 (4.7 from about 400). That glacier pairing is Juneau's strongest card, because a single booking covers both of the sights most passengers came for.
Whale watching from Hoonah
Icy Strait Point is a single port owned by Huna Totem Corporation, with the small Tlingit town of Hoonah next door. Tours from Hoonah are run by small local operators, many of them family businesses, and the van ride from the dock to the harbor takes about 5–15 minutes. Fewer boats work the strait, and Point Adolphus on the mainland shore near Gustavus, a known humpback feeding area, lies within reach across the water.
The six main tours cost ~$225–314. Hoonah Travel Adventures, from ~$225, has several departures a day. Alaska Whales & Drones, from ~$250, adds drone footage of the whales that you take home on a USB drive. At the top, Hoonah Whale Tours' catamaran, from ~$314, refunds your money if you see no whales but is non-refundable once booked.
The town is part of the appeal. With under a thousand residents, Hoonah (Xunaa to its own people) still counts as the biggest Tlingit community in the state. Its people, the Huna Tlingit, count Glacier Bay on the far side of the strait as their homeland, and most of the old village burned in 1944. Fishing and logging built the town you see now. Leaving from its small working harbor feels nothing like a departure from a busy dock, and with Hoonah Travel Adventures you can linger in town after the boat docks, then catch the shuttle that heads back to the port every 30 minutes.
The two side by side
| Juneau | Hoonah | |
|---|---|---|
| Whale cruise from | About $154 | ~$225 |
| To the boat | About half an hour by bus to Auke Bay | About 5–15 minutes by van, or none on one tour |
| Boats on the water | Many on a busy day | Fewer, mostly small local operators |
| Combine with | Mendenhall Glacier, from about $199 together | Hoonah town, or the zipline at the port |
| Whale water | Stephens Passage | Icy Strait, with Point Adolphus nearby |
A drone over the whales, a copy for you
Alaska Whales & Drones collects you at the Excursions Hub for 3 hours on a boat of 14 at most, and the crew's drone films the whales for a USB drive your group takes home, from ~$250. No other tour on our list films the whales this way. Both booking sites cancel free up to 24 hours ahead.
Choosing by the rest of your day
If you only book whales once, let the other plans in each port decide. Juneau has the glacier, so a whale cruise there competes with the most famous sight in town. Spending Juneau on Mendenhall Glacier and doing whales in Hoonah gives you two different days. Icy Strait Point has fewer big-ticket sights. Its long ZipRider zipline is the main rival, along with the town of Hoonah and its Huna Tlingit culture, so a whale tour there rarely crowds anything out.
The ship's timetable matters as well. Check how long you have in each port, because a 3-hour Hoonah tour needs a comfortable margin before all-aboard, and in Juneau the bus to Auke Bay and back eats about an hour. Either way, the ship will not wait for a tour you booked yourself, so our guide to the Icy Strait Point port day covers the margins to leave.
Doing both, or something different in Hoonah
Some passengers book whales in both ports and come home happy. Two trips with different captains in different water give you two chances at a breach or a feeding group, and the second tour is never quite a repeat. If you go out from Juneau and want something else in Hoonah, the smallest option is a whale watching and bear search by Wooshkeetaan Tours, from ~$275, which keeps the group to six and watches the shoreline for bears. Its catch is the size, because six seats fill fast and the tour has far fewer reviews than the main six. For a day with no whales at all, Hoonah Beach House offers a village walk that ends in a crab feast, from ~$195. Its catch is that it skips whale watching, and GetYourGuide shows only 10+ reviews for it.
Before you book in Hoonah
Four of the six Hoonah tours cancel free up to 24 hours ahead, which protects you if the ship misses the port. Glacier Wind and Hoonah Whale Tours cannot be refunded, so book those once the itinerary looks firm. What a Hoonah whale watching tour costs puts the six prices next to their refund rules, and the animals of Icy Strait describes what you might see. The months are covered in the best time for whales in Hoonah, and if a rolling boat worries you, read seasickness on Icy Strait whale tours first.