Ketchikan Activities

[mrsp1030]

Looking for ideas of what others have done in this specific port. Just curious if a tour or just general town area was good. Splurging on two other ports so was trying to figure this port out. Thank you.

 

[KashasMom]

We're going back to Ketchikan for the 3rd time and going on a private excursion with Island Wings also for the 3rd time. Have done Anan Creek (for bears), Misty Fjords Flightseeing, and this time Traitors Cove (for bears). They've been excellent but - just like the rest of Alaska "air" excursions - expensive. If you don't want to splurge you can definitely walk around the town - Creek Street, check out the totem poles, watch the fishermen on the pier, go to one of the salmon ladders/viewing spots, etc. I think it's one of the nicer towns to walk around.

 

[jdb in AZ]

It's fun to just walk around the little town. Creek Street, a former "red light" district, still has the buildings from the former brothels, but it's now a shopping area. But don't trip and fall like my elderly DMIL. She said she was a "fallen woman on Creek Street."

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Our excursion was cancelled day-of in Ketchikan so we simply hopped on an open air bus to see the totem poles then saw the lumberjack show - it was great!

 

[clten]

This was definitely the port call that you can do "cheaply" if you were going all out in the others. One time we went out to see the totem poles, once we just walked around town and did our souvenir shopping. We've also done the Duck Tour - doesn't take you anywhere spectacular - you can see all the sights from walking in town or along the waterfront - but it is a fun couple of hours that won't break the bank.

 

[mrsp1030]

Great to hear! Thank you all!

 

[lklgoodman]

We did the DCL excursion that had the lumberjack show and then took us to the Potlatch totem pole park. We enjoyed both and had plenty of time to walk around and shop in the area by the port afterwards. We did it in 2014

 

[Homemom]

We "splurged" on our other ports, so here we just spent the day walking the town and souvenir shopping. It was very fun and actually sunny!

 

[lilsonicfan]

We have done the lumberjack show, though I think we just booked it ourselves instead of doing it as an excursion. Had a great time!

 

[AngelDisney]

We did snokeling via DCL in late August and had a wonderful experience. Got to see many sea creatures and kelp, lots of kelp. It was cheaper comparing to the flight excursions. We also did ziplining in Skagway which was fun too.

 

[mmmears]

My family members did the snorkeling in Ketchikan, which was a pretty reasonable excursion. Loved it! Oh, and it also makes for a fun conversation even years later. Most people don't know it's even an option there.

 

[Aby]

Another vote for snorkeling in Ketchikan - it was awesome!

Aby

 

[dvcdisney]

We booked the cruise excursion - DCL Exclusive Lumberjack show...I'm not sure if it's different from the regular shows, but it was quite entertaining. Perhaps someone here who has done both the DCL exclusive and the regular show can post about the differences.

We spent the rest of the time visiting the town which is actually not very large. We also rented an electric car from one of the stores (sorry can't remember the name), but the little cars are parked beside it....it was actually quite fun for my family...it was very silly but we drove around several times...they had a little guide map of all the places you can visit and we were able to do that, plus drive as far as we can (they do have a limited area that you can drive in since the speed is limited) but it was fun...

 

[lady9]

If you are looking for a place to have lunch, try Annabelle's. My DH and friend's DH had the most enormous king crab claws I've ever seen! They said they were delicious. I am allergic to shrimp so I don't eat any shellfish just in case but had chicken fingers. I don't know what they did to them but they were so good. We had a great time just walking around town and shopping.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

If you are looking for a place to have lunch, try Annabelle's. My DH and friend's DH had the most enormous king crab claws I've ever seen! They said they were delicious. I am allergic to shrimp so I don't eat any shellfish just in case but had chicken fingers. I don't know what they did to them but they were so good. We had a great time just walking around town and shopping.

Annabelle's is great. King crab legs look like monsters from the deep. HUGE. Not what you see at Kroger's , Smith's, etc. I only need one and some bread. DONE.

 

[jrabbit]

we've ziplined in Ketchikan (through DCL) was a blast!!

We took a boat tour to Misty Fjords - a bit spendy, but the scenery was awesome, even in the light rain.

 

[Pooh2]

We did the Duck Tour through DCL, it was pretty inexpensive and offered a nice overview of the area. Then we walked over to Creek Street, then up to the super market to get some snacks for our travel days.

 

[Mich123]

We also booked excursions the first three days and I was worried we’d be tired of so much planned activity by the time we got to Ketchikan that we decided to go without plans. DH and I took morning and afternoon walks around town and checked out the shops. In between we had a great lunch on the boat (Indian food at Cabanas FTW!). There were a few vendors offering discounts on excursions at the end of the docks and by the shops near the docks—check them all out before you purchase tickets, if you decide to do it. There were a couple of variations of offers to see bears, along with totem poles and boat rides.

 

[cmarsh31]

Add us to the Lumberjack show crowd. It was a lot of fun! We really enjoyed walking down Creek Street as well - saw a ton of bald eagles.

 

[cmph]

There were a few vendors offering discounts on excursions at the end of the docks and by the shops near the docks—check them all out before you purchase tickets, if you decide to do it. There were a couple of variations of offers to see bears, along with totem poles and boat rides.

Did you end up taking one? We did, can't recommend. I'd actually discourage anyone from trying to do this. It was ok. We sailed a few weeks ago, too early to see the bears, but they all tried to claim the bears were there early and hooked my sister. It was not the worst experience ever, but definitely a waste of money. We were in a nice enough bus, and our driver/tour guide was a very knowledgeable local, but that's about it. We stopped at a place near water nearish the salmon run. I suspect it was the company's family property, otherwise not sure how we'd have been allowed to park there. Needless to say, we saw no bears. We stopped to see the totem poles, but it wasn't an officially sanctioned tour so we didn't get to go in and talk to the man carving or anything like that. Last, we went to Eagle Point (pretty sure that was the name) which was, um, odd. Unless you sincerely enjoy taxidermied squirrels posing in costumes. My toddler nephew was very excited by the eagles swooping when they tossed fish toward the water. I'd say that was the high point for the adults. The high point for DS and my niece was sitting in the back of the bus by themselves.