We were cruising on Disney Cruise Line and had about five hours in Ketchikan. In the course of my trip planning, I had decided to make all our port plans independently in order to avoid paying top dollar and being herded around. Trip Advisor, of course, being a top tool in making my choices.
I started out by contacting Howard via e-mail with some questions. I had some concerns considering the ages of my children (one of which just turned seven, the minimum age for the tour, a few weeks prior). He assured me that most children enjoy the tour, but honestly stated slow/educational and some children with low attention spans might get bored. Since my girls (ages 7 and 9) are curious learners with decent attention spans, I thought they might enjoy it.
Now, let me say here that before committing to the trip, I asked my daughters what they thought. At first, they gave a vehement fear-driven "NO!". When I said "kayak" I think they pictured the slender sporty type navigating through class IV rapids. I went on YouTube and searched for "Ketchikan Kayak Company" and found a video of the tour that I think pretty accurately showed some of what you are likely to experience. (So go look yourself!) Upon seeing this, they were very enthusiastic about the kayak plan.
Howard was early meeting us right at the dock, and fortunately, so were the few other passengers from another cruise line. We were transported a short scenic drive in a van up to the the marina.
First, worth mentioning is up at this marina there were more bald eagles than I had ever seen in one place in my life (and this was the day after we went to "Eagle Beach" in Juneau and only spotted a few distant flights.) There were mature eagles, brown juveniles, locking talons, fishing, flying around, perched on a rock in the water practically in spitting distance. Truly, an experience by itself.
After watching the eagles and gearing up in waterproof gear and life vests (provided), we boarded tandem kayaks. Let me start this story by saying the other kayaks were being paddled by two grown men each, save for ours. Each (my husband and I) with one of our young daughters.
After a bit of acclimating, we were off! The tour started off much like the tour we watched on YouTube, and we were just having a grand ol' time. Our guide Howard (solo in a much more agile kayak) was careful to make sure each of my daughters got up close and personal with seastars and sunstars, and a very friendly, curious seal swam incredibly close to our kayak. Very exciting!
The kayaks were fairly easy to maneuver (at least compared to my experience with really ratty Girl Scout issue canoes), even as a single adult doing most of the work for a child. I'll mention here our ONLY complaint, is that my husband found his kayak exceedingly difficult to maneuver. His opinion as a physicist is that given the fact that he had a very lightweight 7-yr-old seated in the front of his kayak, he had no authority with the rudder that some ballast should have been added in his situation. (Hopefully Howard is reading this and can note for the future). Probably 10-20 lbs would have done it, as I weigh about the same as my husband and my 9 yr old is about 15 lbs heavier than our 7-yr-old and I was doing alright.
So after kayaking around for a couple hours, seeing sea lions, eagles, and just some beautiful seascapes, we ended up getting some light rain and then some wind. That increased. And increased. I'm not talking crazy windstorm or anything, but enough wind to be uncomfortable, and enough where a chubby housewife like me and a lanky desk-job guy like my husband began to question our capacity to tandem kayak with an almost-useless child to "help" against certain currents.
Howard is this super mellow guy and very helpful and non-threatening. He advised we wait out the wind, but when it didn't die down it came down to a "Better Off Dead" moment (if you've seen the 80s Cusack film). "See that opposite shore? Point your kayak there. Paddle, and if something pushes you sideways, turn."
Right-O!
So off I go, into the blue, and the shore seems a million miles away. The wind and drizzle pelting into my face, my glasses laced with raindrops, and my daughter screaming "THIS IS NOT WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE ON THE WEBSITE!" and paddling all but uselessly until I have to just tell her to stop in order to prevent her from just disrupting my momentum with her random flailing and paddle-collisions. My husband and younger daughter are faring even worse, but Howard is hanging back with them keeping them on coarse, sometimes by physically nudging their kayak with his when necessary.
There I am, convinced we might very well have to be rescued by the Coast Guard, though I am being assured by the co-guide that I am, in fact, making progress, in spite of all appearances to the contrary.
Knowing that, short of being rescued in an embarrassing ordeal, the only way I'm getting to that opposite shore is to paddle with all I've got, I steel myself to keep going. My back is killing me (leaning forward helps, just FYI) and my forearms are burning, and I am very acutely feeling at a severe disadvantage to the two-grown-men kayaks that have made substantially more progress than I have.
Just then, my deficiency is is rewarded by the sound of a blowhole shooting off water and a splash. I turn around, and there, behind me, but in front of my husband's kayak, are a couple of *humpback whales*! NO JOKE! I am far close than any whale-watching tour gets, I am awed, amazed, and a little bit SCARED! I can't stop, I've got this hard-earned momentum, a little girl in the kayak with me, and there are fifty foot long animals rolling in the water behind me. I keep looking back at these amazing animals, and use the boost of adrenaline from the experience to keep going faster than ever. AMAZING! My husband and younger daughter got an even better view.
By the time I get to the rocky shore, the wind dies down, and two more humpbacks are swimming about not far at all, giving my daughter and I a fantastic view as we recover from our ordeal, before we see them sounding deep.
So there I am just blown away by this literary story arc of an experience I've just had in my three-hour kayak tour. CRAZY.
Of course, our experience had a lot of random circumstances come together, and I imagine each tour is different. All I can say is, don't let concerns about kids, about being nonathletic, about rain, get in your way of trying this experience if you have an interest in doing it. If you have a good attitude and enjoy nature and adventure I can't see how you wouldn't enjoy this trip, even if there are no whales or zephyrs throwing drama into the mix. I can't imagine a more gorgeous environment in which to kayak, and you are in great hands with Ketchikan Kayak Co.
I also have to say, I think it is an excellent value - while much pricier than just renting a kayak and going for it, it is still FAR more reasonable than any comparable cruise-affiliated excursion and what you are paying for in terms of safety, area expertise and time-management while out on the water is WELL worth it.