Juneau- Must pick- Whale Watching or Helicopter?
 

We just found out that because of the timing of our arrival in Juneau is September that we will not be able to do BOTH the helicopter to Mendenhall and the whale watching we had hoped to do because of the limited amount of daylight. If you had to pick just one, which would you pick? I'm wondering if because of the potential for bad weather if it mgiht be best to arrange for the whale watching instead of betting on good weather and then maybe not getting to do anything.
Thank you again for all the help!!

For me it would definately be the helicopter. IF you are organized, you could pick up a whale watch if your helicopter is canceled. Orca Enterprises office is right across from the tram.

Before making your decision, If you have not checked out doing BOTH with Orca, please give them a call to see if it is possible. They worked it out for us to have a glacier landing with Coastal Helicopters and the whale watching. It is because they pick you up from the heliport and take you directly to the boat, which saves a lot of time. http://www.orcaenterprises.com/

I would take the helo trip - there are no guarantees you will see any whales.

We did both in June. Definitely helicopter!!!

I'd do the helicopter. We did the whale watch with Orca Enterprises and didn't see that many whales...not their fault. I think the helicopter excursion would be much more thrilling. Hopefully you can do both.

For clairfication, they are going in Sept. they have no time to do both with an afternoon arrival. It is dark at 7pm.

The most exciting of our excursions was the whale watching out of Victoria. It depends on what appeals to you most I think. If you are going to Victoria you can check out the there. Those conducting the tour are marine biologists who have been studying them for quite some time. They take you to their "neighborhood" so to speak. :-)

We booked helicopter out of Juneau and got rained out. Thank goodness we ALSO booked helicopter out of Skagway just in case. Both through Princess. We had enough time (24 hours) to cancel the Skagway if the Juneau worked out so we had no risk of being double-charged. But be sure with the cruiseline before you do anything like this. We did and were happy with the outcome. My son's heli ride to the top of the glacier and then dogsledding experience was, in his words, "the best moments of my life". (He was 17 when we made the trip). The Whale Watch I took out of Juneau (actually Photo Safari) was a disappointment. We saw whales, but there are laws about how close the boats can go to "chase" them. If the whale comes in next to the boat, it is okay. Otherwise, they have to keep their distance. We could barely see some little black specks and spouts of water and even my super-duper magnification lens could barely pick them up for pics.

I just received a response from Orca Enterprises saying they could arrange for us to do both. They would have us picked up at the ship at 2:15 and have a 3 PM flight landing at 4 and then a whale watch after that. I really think this might be pushing it a bit since we are not scheduled to dock until 2. What do you think?
Thanks!

Orca Enterprises is directly across from where you dock. You will have to go to their office, pay and sign papers. They will then wisk you away. If they say they can do it, I would trust them. I asked the same thing and they pulled it off without a hitch.