We went on the whale watching and marine wildlife tour with Tad. It was a great boat that held about 5 passengers. Tad was very knowledgeable about the marine line and Sitka overall. We were able to see so many whales as well as sea lions, seals, sea otters and an eagle! We had a great time. Highly recommend.

My wife and fifteen year old son had an awesome time with Capt. Ted Lara and crew. The boat was the perfect size, had an internal heated cabin and cut through the waves. My wife shared numerous pictures and videos of whales, sea otters, and bald eagles. My son initially thought whale watching would be boring, but had a different perspective after this trip - he loved it! The Captain was informative and explained history and ecological information about the area. My wife said that at one point she watched another double decker boat go by packed with people and they looked miserable, reiterating how happy she was with this tour. Thank you Capt. Ted for taking care of my family and providing an awesome experience!

What a great Trip!! Tad was such an amazing captain! Before we even got further out from the bay, we saw a Minke whale just enjoying a morning swim! We went on to see Humpback, gray whales, sea otters and sea lions! Tad had tons of info, and seemed to spy the whales with ease! Great trip! Highly recommend Baranof Tours! Thanks Tad and family! Maggie P

Whales, whales, whales. We couldn’t have asked for anything more. From the moment we boarded the boat, it was majestic ! Our captain was amazing. He took to various spots where we saw two humpback whales, a cow and a calf, feeding near the shore. We also saw Sea Otters . Great day!

We booked this off the ship! Great tour. This tour only held 6 people plus the captain. We saw whales, otters and sea lions! Fully recommend

Here’s the deal. The cruise ship terminal is 15 minutes away from downtown Sitka. This company does not pick you up for the excursion. You will need to take a bus to downtown. Your cruise company will issue out tickets which means logistics are a nightmare and you’re not going to make this trip. The company will not help you or refund your money. We have no control over the bus ticket times and we’re not told this until the afternoon prior. We had no cell service and couldn’t get a hold of the confirmation until this morning. Never in our 20 years of traveling with excursions outside of cruises have we encountered this situation where the company won’t work with us.

Capt. Ted Lara was the highlight of the day in Sitka. Very knowledgeable and took us right to the spot to enjoy seeing multiple whales in spite of rough waters. Very friendly!!! I would and will recommend him to friends and family that plan on visiting Sitka. It was a great day!

Captain Tad was AWESOME! We were on Royal Caribbean’s Ovation and chose Baranof Tours through Shore Excursions. Our group were the only ones so Captain Tad asked us what we wanted to do. He took us in search of bears. We weren’t lucky enough to see one however we saw lots of salmon running in the most beautiful settings! We then went out to see whales and Captain Tad told us what to look for. We saw so many hump backs! Fabulous photos! Captain Tad was extremely knowledgeable, personable, excited to see our pleasure and just a fun person. We will definitely schedule again if in the area!

Captain Tad and a total of 4 whale watchers on a 27' boat. The trip was wonderful. We saw steller sea lion, sea otter, seals or sea lions on the navigational buoy. Lot of whales, humpbacks or grey, I'm no expert but we probably saw 50 as close as 100', they swim right by! We saw a juvenile whale jumping repeditatly. Tad was totally open to suggestions, if you see a spout just yell it out and he will adjust the boat position for great views. This is a tour better for active people, standing on deck taking pictures in the chop can be challenging! I recommend 100% Don't do the giant boats, too many heads in the way! Get on a small boat!

Fish,whale tails from humpback, coastal brown bear with cub. Well worth it on typical Alaska summer day.

We took 2 separate whale watching tours this week. The first one was on a larger boat with 50-60 persons (not Baranof). The second and much better one was with Capt. Tad and his smaller 6 person boat in Sitka . He can maneuver the boat on a dime and quickly get to whale "hot spots" - as a result we had a much more engaged experience and great views of whales, seals, etc. A smaller boat and less crowd meant that our guide was able to answer all questions and provide great insight during the entire trip. Unlike larger boats, every place you stand is a direct view and not peering over someone else's shoulder. Highly recommend!

We booked this small boat excursion not really knowing what to expect and we really lucked out—it was just four of us on the boat and we saw tons of humpback whales, some giant otter including a baby laying on top of its mama, and a giant sea lion eating a salmon. The captain was really friendly. We had a great time!

Captain Tad Lara led us on a beautiful and intimate whale watching experience! He was super knowledgeable about the animals and the scenery and we highly recommend taking a basically private whale watching tour with him. He was professional, boat was clean, they were timely, and checked in with our next excursion for us. We saw a mom and calf combo, as well as lots of otters and sea lions. Thanks Tad!

The ship tours were very expensive and we only wanted to do the Fortress of the Bears. So we called Christian at Baranof Taxis and he was wonderful. He picked up our party of 4 ( 2 couples ) and took us directly to the Fortress of the Bears. Entrance fee was $15 per person . Taxi was $35 each way ( plus tip ) . We could stay as long as we wanted to. We decided to stay one hour. He asked if it was ok if it was 15 minutes longer and we said that was fine. He returned one hour and 5 minutes later and took us back to the ship. Excellent job !!! With 2 couples splitting the ride … MUCH less expensive than a ship excursion! Tell him his Southern friends says hi !!

Captain Tad exceeded our expectations for this trip. We saw so much in our time and Tad shared so much information on Sitka as well as the marine life.