If you want to see whales or go halibut fishing, then Rainbow Tours is who you want to use. I flew into Anchorage, Alaska on July 24,2008 and picked up my mom. We drove to Homer, Alaska the next day. She said that I would enjoy Homer. Little did I know that I fell in love with the quiet little town. We stayed at a hotel called Land's End( which really was at the end of the spit). It was really nice. The spit is a pennisula that is like a town all by itself.

The next morning we left to go whale watching. We didn't know what to expect. But, we got our money's worth, plus some. There was whale's around us all day. The captain said that the depth where we were was something like 130ft down and the plankton mass was so dense that the depth finder was showing 67ft or so. There was whales everywhere. One of the crew had a fishing pole on board, so he drop a line in the water and caught a halibut( with NO bait). The crew on this boat was great!!! Any questions you had, they would do there best to answer. We seen humpback whales. That was all the was showing off for us. Our lunch was provided for us( it was part of the price). It was a sandwich and chips and a drink. But, you got to pick what you wanted on it. Whale watching with Rainbow Tours is all day. And you won;t regret it!!!

The next morning, we left to go half a day halibut fishing with Rainbow Tours. Oh my goodness!!! It was absolutely awesome!!! We had a different boat and crew. And can not say enough good stuff about them. They were great. They made sure that everybody got off the boat with at least one halibut. Your limit is 2. But, it was your choice on which halibut you kept. I ended up catching 4 and released 2. Which I thought was great. And don't forget to buy you halibut derby tickets!!! You will be tired and your arms and body will hurt. But, I would go tomorrow if I could. When I get to take my husband with me next time I will 100% us Rainbow Tours.

My stay in Alaska was 8 days, and if I didn't have relatives that live in Anchorage, I would have stayed in Homer the whole time. Be prepared to pay a lot for a hotel and food. But it was worth it for a once in a lift time chance.

I went out on a 1/2 day halibut tour in the 1st week of August with my girlfriend on the Jackpot. Despite fishing being slow for most of the trip, the captain committed to perusing multiple spots in order to improve our catch rate. On the second to last stop, all but ~2 people had their limit from the 1 hole alone. The captain even exceeded the allotted time by ~30mins to help those 2 people get their limit, going above and beyond the call of duty. My girlfriend and I were actually the first to obtain the 2 fish limit. Average fish: 10lbs (5-15lbs. range). Great staff, great trip...and cheap.

We were able to book a 1/2 day halibut trip the day before and we are so glad we did. There were 5 people in our group (3 adults, a 15 y/o and a 12 y/o). We are not outdoors/fishing types but we really wanted to experience halibut fishing. We went out on the Jackpot and the captain and crew were really great. They took care of everything (except for actually catching the fish). We all caught 2 halibut about 15 lbs each. We ended up with 38 lbs of filets. The Coal Point staff were ready and waiting at the dock and we used them to process and ship our fish ($268 for 34 lbs to Maryland).

We decided to take a half-day fishing trip, which ended up being more than enough time. Rainbow was very professional. They demonstrated how to fish for halibut and helped out those who needed it while fishing. They go out from Homer for a little over an hour, and then you get to fish. Because of Alaska law, you can only keep two, but if you catch smaller ones, you can throw them back and keep going. You will not catch hundred-pounders on the half-day charters, but we each caught fish that were around 15 pounds each, which was plenty for us. They spend the trip back filleting for you, and you get a large bag with your 8 fillets and 4 halibut cheeks. You can then go to Coal Point and get it vacuum-packed and frozen, and shipped home if you want. We kept some out for a few dinners and got the rest packed.

The day cost $95 each. We each got more than $120 worth of halibut (at Maryland supermarket prices), plus we got a cruise past beautiful mountains, and a great experience.