Apostle Islands Cruise Service

We enjoyed the morning grand tour. 3 hours. I will say first off be early and be in line on the pier because you will want to be on the top deck outside. If it’s crowded you’ll be packed in but everyone is friendly and the captain will turn the boat at the really cool attractions. The narration of the tour is very nice and entertaining. I would suggest bringing a drink with, pop, water, and a snack if you like. It’s allowed. I get sea sick but because the cruise is between the islands it’s not bad at all unless the wind is out of the north east.

We did the evening cruise. We purposely got in line early as I wanted to guarantee a spot up top for pictures. The line gets long quick so if you want to be up there plan on showing up early. It does get chilly when you get out in the middle of the lake too so come prepared (no matter how hot it is on land). This cruise was wonderful. Our tour guide was very informative and very funny. I also LOVE how they will spin the boat so both sides of the boat are guaranteed unobstructed pictures of whatever they want. Also, it was so cool how close they were able to get us to the caves. I am not exaggerating when I say we were within about 15 feet of one of the cave walls. The evening cruise only costs $ 42 a person which is well worth it for a 3.5 hour tour (plus 20% of that goes to the NPS). Do not pass on this!

This place is 5 star all the way! Bryce was outstanding! He took excellent care of us! Friendly & kind staff. Absolutely lovely people to deal with! We went on the dinner cruise. Sat on the top of the boat. We got there an hour early. Sat at the dock relaxed and read a book. Bring something to sit on while waiting. Even the wait was great all the sail boat watching. Was very beautiful, bring a jacket for when the sun goes down. Sat in 3^rd row from the front of the top… View was outstanding. First portion of the trip is a lot of just seeing islands and trees but it’s all in undisturbed … Which might seem boring to some BUT when you take in the open air, the company your with, the incredible blue green water, and how small you become and how great Gods design is Wow! The stories, the views… Then Devils island is over the top amazing! It is so gorgeous, unique, remarkable and it’s worth the whole trip and it’s the farthest point. So you have to imagine it takes a little while to get out there. The lighthouses are so beautiful and just stunning to see. The next day we did the Stockton Island tour. We met JIM aka Frosty, if you get a chance visit with him he’s a wealth of information. Absolutely loved him! Such a sweetheart! We hiked the rocks (2 mile hike)…Bug spray… Bug spray… Bug spray… Bug spray!!! get it at the office before you leave. Otherwise incredible… Jaw dropping! We didn’t go to the Julian’s Bay beach… We saw it and started hiking the rocks. The rocks were too enticing. They are HUGE! Only complaint I wish it was a little longer of a tour maybe another 1 hr — 1 ½. Cause you just don’t wanna leave! But for some the timing will be perfect! Other people we rode over with thought the timing was perfect! Loved everything about this company and the tours! Would totally go again!!!
Angie & Jordan

We went on a very cold and choppy cruise. I realize that they are not in control of the weather but we were somewhat disappointed.

So I have very mixed feelings about this Cruise — as it was not what I expected and I was far from happy when it ended. However, now that it has been several weeks and I have given it some thought, I can see the bad with the good.
Here’s our story.. . so we arrived on Saturday afternoon in Bayfield. Had seen info online about the «Evening Grand Tour» that left at 4:30. We had just enough time to rush to the docks and get our tickets and get on the boat. This is when we got pretty upset. We found the boat very crowded and most of the seating was inside on these narrow benches. It was a pretty hot day and inside that boat was like an oven. We of course thought «we’ll just go on top» planning on sitting outside the whole time. We then came across this sign — «Upper Deck Limit 37». Which should have said — «If you want to sit outside and get good views while on this boat tour — you should have been one of the first 37 on the boat!!» Of course, the upper deck was full and no one was moving. The tour guides made sure no one else went up unless some came down and that just wasn’t happening.
This wouldn’t have been so bad if the lower deck had better viewing, more windows that opened or wasn’t over crowded. We spent most of the 3.25 hour cruise looking at other people and the inside of a hot boat. NOT what we had planned, at all.
Now I will say the people were nice — or trying their best despite the fact that a majority of the people were trapped in a hot boat. The tour itself was really quite boring — someone narrated what we were passing the first few hours, but it really wasn’t that enjoyable. Once we finally got to the northern most island — Devils Island — things were much nicer. The ice caves and rock formations were beautiful and IF you could fight your way up to a window — you could lean out and hopefully get a few photos.
We also did get to see some nice sunsets. Devil’s island and sunsets were the highlights of the whole trip. Raspberry Island lighthouse was nice — and there were a few times between other islands that you would catch a breeze and it was a bit enjoyable. We didn’t see any wildlife, except an eagle which the guide pointed out and could only be seen with my telephoto lens.
Ultimately — I think they should do a much shorter cruise and tell people to get on early or be prepared to sit below and look at the inside of a metal boat most of the time. If they did a cruise just up to Devils Island and back — they probably would have a lot less people feeling a bit ripped off.

We enjoyed our tour of the islands. We made our reservations weeks in advance, but were told when we arrived that the cruise might not go, as they didn’t have the necessary 16 people to sail. Huge downer! However, we spent a few minutes walking around downtown, and by the time we returned, they were up to 15 and decided to go ahead.
It was REALLY cold. We started out on the upper deck, but quickly wimped out and went below. You could still see well with the large windows (they open so you can get good pictures), and it was a smooth ride until we got to the most northerly island. It was extremely choppy on our way out (for maybe 15 minutes), but other than that, an easy trip. They get you close enough to the islands that you can see the sea caves, fishing camps, etc., and give a good narration of the history of the islands.
Well worth the trip — it’s about 3.5 hours — and a good introduction to the islands.

We went on the grand cruise. We arrived 30 minutes early to board. There was a limit of 37 on the upper deck so we were forced to sit below the deck where it was difficult to see/​hear and near impossible to get a good photo. The best part of the cruise was the caves on Devil’s Island. I would not recommend this cruise unless able to sit on the upper deck.