We offer great tours for visitors arriving by cruise ship. Although cruise lines offer whale watching shore excursions through their own onboard excursion desks, many passengers may prefer to join us on our smaller boat to enjoy a more personalized whale watching experience. Because we understand that the unexpected can happen when arriving by cruise ship, we also offer the same guarantees - yes you can get your money back if the ship has changes which affect your booking.
Our tour boat offers small personalized tours, with a maximum of 14 people at a time. This allows us to adapt our itinerary to current sightings. While out on the water, Captain Josh keeps in communication with other area boats as they share information about current sightings of humpbacks and orcas and we are able to adjust our destination to any nearby sightings.
Those lucky enough to witness the incredible display of a "Bubble Net" humpback feeding frenzy will agree that this creates a lifetime memory! Or check out a pod of Orcas as they speed through the waves in formation! Our tours offer guests many opportunities for great photography, whether sitting in our covered seats or standing at the bow or stern of our tour boat.
Originally from Washington, Captain Josh has worked a wide variety of boats up and down the Pacific coast, from commercial fishing in Petersburg, charter fishing out of Kodiak, Scuba boats from Washington and of course, whale-watching boats in Hoonah. His love and passion for all ocean creatures is obvious as soon as you ask him about it, and he’s never without some answers for any animal questions!
"Captain Josh" first came to Alaska when he was thirteen, already an avid scuba diver, fisherman and a passionate biologist, to work on his uncle's whale-watching and charter-fishing boat in Juneau, Alaska. That first month of fishing and working with the whales was an amazing experience for him, and it laid the foundation for a love of Alaska and her wildlife, as well as a desire to share it with as many people as possible.
In the years since then, Captain Josh has worked in Alaska as a whale-watch guide and naturalist, commercial fisherman, commercial diver, film producer, wildlife photographer, bear guide, charter fishing guide, and as the captain for whale watching vessels.
Because of his extensive work background, Captain Josh has put together all of his experiences and passion into designing the greatest whale-watching tour he can out of his home base of Hoonah, Alaska. He combines his knowledge and experience of wildlife with his skills with drones, boats and cameras, providing the ONLY drone-integrated whale-watching excursion in Alaska!
Alaska Whales And Drones offers something very special - our drone captures incredible images that we may not be able to see from the surface, as well as video of what we can see from our whale watching tour boat. We include one USB Souvenir Video per group, with additional videos available for purchase.