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Private Custom Excursion with a Local for up to 14 people

Name: Private Custom Excursion with a Local for up to 14 people
Brand: Matthew Bishop
SKU: 349745P1
Price: 680 USD
Rating: 5 (122 reviews)

Recommended by 97% of travelersBadge of ExcellenceKetchikan, USA

Personalized Alaskan adventure with a local Your ride to all the best places

3 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Discover the wildlife and native cultures of Ketchikan on this half-day nature excursion for your private party. Visit an old Native American village to learn about its culture and see the intricately carved totem poles. Learn about the edible plants of the region, see local wildlife such as salmon, whales, and eagles, and visit several of the area’s beautiful beaches.

Keep your eyes peeled for local flora and fauna
Enjoy free time to shop in downtown Ketchikan
Get insider tips on what to do or where to eat
A private tour means a personalized experience

What's Included

Air-conditioned vehicle
All Fees and Taxes
Coffee and/or Tea
Bottled water
Snacks

Meeting and Pickup

You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Pickup details

You can contact me at 907 821 8383 and I can come to you.

Meeting point

Ketchikan Visitors Bureau
131 Front St, Ketchikan, AK 99901, USA
Please call and I will come to you.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation

Infants must sit on laps
Most travelers can participate
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Questions?

Visit the Viator Help Centre for any further questions.

Product code: 349745P1

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Kristopher_M

Matthew was an excellent guide on our tour of Ketchikan. He brought us to so many great stops and was able to tell us all about the history and significance of the stop. We really enjoyed the day with him and could tell he has a passion for what he does. Great job!

Reviews

4.8

122 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 122 reviews

Wildly overpriced, racially upsetting and embarrasing

Ginger_F, Dec 2024

Felt like a major scam. At $50 per person, for hardly 3 hours of travel (including wait for departure), I expected a custom tour to include areas not frequented by larger tour companies. Our guide, Shad, went to all the same spots, at precisely the same times as other groups. He acted irritated by the crowds, yet should have been familiar with their standard itineraries, and could easily have visited the stops in a different order, at least. He left us on our own at the indigenous village (why would any customer hire a private guide, just so he could disappear??), affording us very little understanding about what we visited. Tragically, the branding of this tour "by a local" did not mean the guide was a member of the local tribe. In fact, he continually made comments disparaging the tribe, such as "they aren't like you and me, they expect the government to...", or "their burials are not like ours, it's crazy, but they still believe that..." I'm horrified to guess what he meant by "us", which not only assumed that we shared his religious, racial, and (strong) political background, but demonstrated how poorly he read his audience, a family of Chinese Hawaiians. Every time he made an insensitive or bigoted comment, we sat in surreal silence, dumbfounded and hoping it would end. I'm so ashamed that I was the one who discovered and booked this tour, and that I didn't have the funds to reimburse my fellow passengers for the awful experience.

Fantastic tour

Heike_N, Sep 2024

We did have an absolutely great tour with detailed explanations of the Totem poles and extraordinary bear sightings with cubs in the rain forest.

Amazing!

Iris_J, Sep 2024

We had a wonderful time in Ketchikan with Shad. We loved to see the father of the killer’s whale just by the shore. It was also amazing to see the perseverance that salmons have when they go up through the river to lay their final eggs.

Worth the price for sure!

ilyse_K, Sep 2024

Mike was an amazing tour guide of Ketchikan! He knew the best spot for us to finally see a bear! He helped us climb down into a waterfall, see salmon running and even showed us where to shop for the best “non-tourist” souvenirs. He was easy to find and had a great planned day for us. We really enjoyed our time with him. It was the best day of our trip for sure! Thank you so much for everything!

Wealth of knowledge

Steve_W, Sep 2024

Dale is a very friendly and personable guide. He was very knowledgeable and treated everyone like family. We all enjoyed his enthusiasm for his job and his down to earth character. Highly recommend him. Thx

Worth the trip

David_P, Sep 2024

Matt was such a fantastic guide. He was very informative and fun to be with. We had a big group and accommodated us with no problem.

Sea lions, eagles, and bears…OH MY!

Katie_B, Sep 2024

Shad was a great tour guide and was very knowledgeable. We were hesitant to book outside of the cruise ship for excursions, but this was DEFINITELY worth that risk! We got to see a bear, some eagles, seals, and more. We even got to gold pan and found some gold and tasted fresh water. Will 100% be booking this again when we visit in the future. If you’re considering booking an excursion outside of the cruise ship but are hesitant, this is the one for you! He picked us up at the cruise port and dropped up back off with plenty of time to get back on board. Great experience!

Scenic Ketchikan with a local guide

Elizabeth_W, Sep 2024

We had a wonderful 3 hours with our tour guide, Mike. He is actually a local resident who really knows the area and the wildlife habitat. We saw an orphaned bear, starfish, sea anemones, and loads of salmon. Great morning!

1 traveler found this review helpful

So so

Lee_M, Sep 2024

Seeing salmon swim upstream watching the bear fish for salmon, Went to some places at the driver recommended not really sure that it was a fit for us. We didn’t want to see totem poles, and she didn’t want to take us to streams.

1 traveler found this review helpful

Love Ketchikan

Gabriella_M, Sep 2024

We really enjoyed seeing Ketchikan. It was our favorite stop on the way! We didn’t see any bears unfortunately but we loved the salmon and the totem poles! Our guide Chad was awesome. Highly recommend way better than any tour the cruise could have provided. Also the lunch spot Chad recommended and dropped us off at was killer. And we saw whales while we were there!! ❤️

Great experience!

Edward_S, Sep 2024

100 percent recommend! Mike our guide was very knowledgeable and tailored our excursion for our family of 8 even after the recent landslide - we felt like the time spent was well worth it and he took great pictures for us. Would do it again.

Amazing private Tour!!

Melissa_D, Sep 2024

Amazing private tour! Mike was our tour guide and he did not disappoint!! He was knowledgeable, friendly and took us to some great spots! We saw the salmon run, an amazing waterfall, searched for bears, went to creek street and the totem pole park. Highly recommend.

Enjoyable

Justine_T, Aug 2024

We went on our excursion today and it was wonderful. We had Paul and he was wonderful and informative. 10/10 recommend if visiting Ketchikan.

Great day!

Kristopher_M, Aug 2024

Gorgeous Ketchikan

Karen_T, Aug 2024

Such a great excursion. We were able to see Ketchikan from a local’s perspective. It wasa pleasure to have Dale as our guide. We saw a bear, eagles, and salmon at our stops along the way. Beautiful waterfalls and Ketchikan history were just a part of our experience.

The very best Ketchikan excursion!

Maria_M, Aug 2024

Our amazing tour with Matthew was wonderful! From making reservations to port pick-up/drop off, everything ran so smoothly. Matthew was extremely knowledgeable of the area, its history and especially the best places to visit (to avoid the throngs of cruise-ship visitors). We loved seeing the bears, the salmon ladder, the native village/museum and the totem pole buildings. We were most grateful when Matthew went above and beyond helping us find a lost wallet at one of our stops. We had 11 friends in our group, and Matthew was an excellent host/guide. Thank you so much!

The majesty of Ketchikan in 3 hours or less.

Megan_C, Aug 2024

An amazing tour in a short time: We arrived at 7:15 ish and had about an hour to sight see and souvenir shop (we are suckers for magnets) before our bus driver, also named Chad, picked us up right outside the cruise terminal. This was so nice because it was just our little group of 7. First we went to Bear Cove and saw an actual Black Bear in the river catching and eating a salmon (my mom's dreams came true with this one), then, we went to a waterfall and drank more glacier water. After that, we headed to the Tlingit Reservation and learned about their totem poles and some history surrounding their tribe. It was definitely a sacred and special place. After that, he took us to the salmon ladder in midtown where we saw 100's of salmon trying to swim up the river. It was a short stop...the tour was 3 hours, but jam packed with amazing sites. We even stopped to pick and eat local berries...so yummy.

Excellent trip

William_M, Aug 2024

Enthusiastic guide with a flexible approach. Persevered to allow us to get a good view of wildlife. Using his own experiences of Ketchikan was great, Fantastic to receive a personal text the day before the trip to confirm details and give useful information.

Perfect

Mark_W, Aug 2024

Dale was our guide with a good sense of humor and great appreciation for music. He knew the local area and times to see what with less people and pressure than a typical tour. We had an amazing time and highly recommend him again and again anytime.

Informative and Engaging! 👍👍

Lawrence_C, Aug 2024

We found Dale to be very helpful and informative about the Ketchikan area. He took us to both secluded and popular spots for great picture taking. Also, he and Grandpa had great conversations! Thanks again, Dale! :)

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