Gastineau Guiding Company

Just finished a great hike with Bre and Tristan. Bre was an awesome guide and they were both very friendly and knew a great deal about the trail and glacier. Highly recommend!

booked a hike through our cruise. although it was rainy our guide Clayton made it fun and interesting.

We were privileged to have Skip & Jen as our guides on the «Whales & Mendenhall Glacier Photo Safari» in Juneau. Skip is an incredibly down-​to-​earth — yet passionate — guide & conservationist. He’s also one heck of a photographer, as evidenced by the slide show of his captivating photos (via PowerPoint at the front of the bus) during our bus ride to the hiking trail. Although it was POURING rain during our excursion (08÷12÷15), Skip and the crew were very prepared (loaned us all parkas) and very informative from start to finish. We thoroughly enjoyed our glorious hike through «Trail of Time» up to the Mendenhall Glacier (with which Skip is very familiar). Along the way, Skip worked with each & every one of us on picture-​taking techniques and provided interesting Alaskan tips & trivia. After the glacier hike, we were taken by bus to a small port where we boarded a small whale watching boat and headed to the inlets with Captain Jen (& Skip). We saw a TON of whales, and «Eagle Eyes» Jen gently glided us over to a gorgeous Bald Eagle perched atop some rocks in the middle of the inlet. We all got great pictures. But for some strange reason, she decided to pull our vessel away from the current pod of Humpback Whales. Just as I felt we were going the wrong way (opposite the whales!) UP POPS A POD OF ORCA!!! Jen had been tracking the pod for some time, but didn’t want to get our hopes up until she was sure she could get within distance of the Orca. All I can say is it was INCREDIBLE! A dream come true! I cannot recommend this excursion enough. Worth every red cent — we’ll be talking about this excursion for a lifetime! If you’d prefer a smaller, more intimate excursion with one-​on-​one time with the guide (s), this is the excursion for you. If you’d rather be sandwiched amongst dozens and dozens of other tourists in an impersonal whale watching boat, by all means choose another guide company.

We just went on the Mendenhall Glacier Guide’s Choice hike with Tristan as our guide. This was a great day even with the rain. The scenery is gorgeous and Tristan is incredibly knowledgeable and paced the hike appropriately for all members of our group. We would recommend this hike for anyone cruising Alaska.

We had an incredible experience hiking to Mendenhall Glacier (2 mile round trip) and going whale watching with Molly and Keith. Our party comprised 23 people (including 7 kids, ranging in age from 6 – 12). The hike was easy for the kids, moderate for the older members of our party. Molly and Keith were incredibly knowledgable, helpful, and enthusiastic. They were also great with the kids. Worth every penny. Ask for Molly!

on a recent cruise we took a guided tour on the Mendenhall Glacier trail. Our guide was Clayton and he was fantastic! Despite the rainy weather, he kept us informed and laughing along the way. We highly recommend the tour company… ask for Clayton!

My Son went to college with a native Alaskan. When we were planning our trip to Alaska she recommended this company for our tour in Juneau. We went for the nature walk /​camera guide /​Mendenhall Glacier then whale watch that was offered. Our guide Colin was fantastic. He really knows his stuff. He gave us guidance on how to photograph the forest all the way along to the glacier. Then we met up with the boat that took us out to look for whales. We saw many, it was so exciting. The group was just the right size. We were given water, a snack & a DVD about photography & all the places we visited. Top notch experience. Worth every $

Booked a whale watching excursion and saw orcas and humpback and stellar sea lions! The captain was patient, efficient and knowledgeable. Our naturalist, Kellie Nightlinger, was the absolute best!!! She’s not only a very interesting person to get to know, she’s got a wealth of knowledge and experience on land and in the water!

Excellent time on our tour of Mendenhall Glacier. Did the six mile hike; our guide, Molly Fox Zaleski, was perfect. Kept just the right pace, and was very knowledgeable about the Alaskan rain forest. Very personable as well. I would highly recommend them if you are in the area doing a tour.

Had a Great tour with Aali and Capt. «Ahab» Jen. Aali was easy going and very informative, and Capt. Jen is on her game. Ahab ignored the whales spouting off port and was heading out to sea, she had another sea creature on her mind. She was chasing down a rare sighting of an orca in the area. We got to see the Orca and then a whale breaching a little later on. Not to mention a bald eagle perched on an island.

Recently went on a cruise to Alaska and booked the Whale watching and rainforest trail excursion through Carnival.
They selected as the tour company Gastineau Guiding located in Juneau. We were picked up in a very nice passenger bus for about 12 people on the tour and we went to the dock and got on a whale watching boat named «Seeker».
Our tour guide was Trevor Wade and he was awesome. Very personable and had a real love and admiration for what he was doing and what we would see.
When we got out to the whale site we not only saw whales but a very unique way they were feeding and a full breech of a whale out of the water. I think Trevor was just as excited as we were which made it all the more special because you could feel his enthusiasm spread through everybody else.
We then got off the boat and went to the rain forest trail to Medenhall Glacier and Trevor continued to enlighten us about the special properties of this temperate rain forest and the natural wonders surrounding us.
This was one of the most memorable experiences I’ve ever had on a shore excursion and highly recommend you take this excursion and get Gastineau Guiding and Trevor Wade to take you. You will not regret it.

We booked the Hike to Mendenhall Glacier, Guide’s Choice excursion through our cruise ship Holland Amsterdam. Chiska our guide and driver, who grew up in the area, was a biologist. She was very knowledgeable and an excellent guide. I really appreciated the fact that she hesitated around a few corners where the bears are usually hanging out and was ready with her bear spray. Although we didn’t see a bear (thankfully), we did see a lot of the glacier and a lot of different plants.
We had beautiful weather, high 50s, and since I dressed in layers, I was peeling some of the layers off after the first two miles that were most of the elevation gain.
This was truly a fantastic hike with a wonderful guide. I highly recommend it, and if you can request a guide, request Chiska.

Had a great experience whale watching and taking a hike to look at the glacier. We saw a ton of humpback whales and even a breaching session. Plus sea lions bald eagles and other wildlife. Spectacular and professional host

The entire tour, from the photo safari to Mendenhall Glacier to whale watching, was fantastic. It’s great that our tour guide, Molly, was knowledgeable enough about cameras to help us each get the pictures we wanted. Molly also knew A TON about the glacier, the whales, and everything else in Alaska. I would absolutely recommend this tour to anyone who wants to see the best that Juneau has to offer.

Well, we booked through Celebrity Solstice on our Alaskan cruise.
We did the Choice Hike of Mendenhall Glacier. It was a GREAT hike/​tour.
Our guide, Bridget, aka Britney or whatever else you wanted to call her, was SUPER knowledgeable and cool throughout the trip. Absolutely loved her style.
The hike itself was pretty moderate, which we appreciated to get the sweat going on vaca a little. Also, the views of the glacier were amazing!

By far the best part of our trip. We took a mid-​June cruise on the Norwegian Pearl, and this was one of the excursion options for Juneau. I almost never write reviews, and almost never enjoy guided tours, but I feel like this tour and our guide should get as much good credit as possible. Our guide Austin really made the trip; he was friendly, enthusiastic, very knowledgeable — it was very apparent that he knew his stuff, and that he sincerely wanted us to get the most out of our experience and really see what Juneau had to offer.
The hike and view of the Glacier was beautiful, but whale watching was the real highlight. We saw a pod of an estimated 11 – 13 humpback whales, and were lucky enough to see them do some bubble net feeding. The guides were great and worked hard to make sure we saw as much as possible. Definitely worth the money.

While on a Celebrity cruise through Alaska’s Inside Passage up to Hubbard Glacier, we booked a shore excursion that was billed as a «photo safari» during a stop in Juneau. My daughter is a budding photographer, and I wanted to give her the opportunity to get some good outdoor and wildlife photos that were unique to this part of the country; mountains, glaciers, old growth forests, and hopefully a bear or a whale. We met up with our guide — oddly enough, named Cam — just next to our ship, and we boarded a van for a 20 minute ride to the Tongass National Forest. During the ride, he gave a presentation on how to set up your camera for the best shots, what to be looking for, how to frame your subject, etc., all great information that my daughter absorbed immediately. The hike in the forest had some spectacular views, not the least of which was the base of the Mendenhall Glacier. We were hoping for a bear sighting, but today it wasn’t in the cards. In between stops, Cam kept passing on his wealth of information about photography and setting up both your camera and your subject matter, as well as details about the glacier and the trees. After about 90 minutes, we got back in the van, ate the snacks and drank the water our guide supplied, rode to a much smaller port than where our cruise ship was docked, and boarded a small whale watching boat piloted by one Captain Jen. She was young, early 20’s at best, but knew her way around the boat, and the water, too. Within a few minutes, she had found us a humpback whale to follow, and we all got some great pictures of it’s back and tail. We went further south, and found a channel marker covered with Stellar sea lions, and topped off with beautiful bald eagle. While looking for another humpback, we came across a pod of dolphins, salmon leaping out of the water, and a Dahl’s porpoise. All the while, there was Kodiak Island, mountains, and a small lighthouse to photograph as well. Cam continued to impart more great details on taking photos you’ll be proud of, and some marine biology about the animals we were «hunting» on our safari. It was during one of these mini-​lectures, when everyone’s attention was on Cam, that the unbelievable happened. Just a few feet behind him over the boat’s bow, an enormous black humpback breached the water with it’s mouth fully opened wide, all the way past it’s eyes. The background went totally black behind Cam, and I was utterly speechless. All I could do was point and make a grunt to get everyone’s attention, but quickly, everyone else noticed as well. It only lasted a second or two, and my camera phone was not cocked and ready, so I totally missed the shot. My daughter had a great vantage point of the whale, but as she raised her camera, she was quickly muscled-​out by the other photographers at the front of the boat, and unfortunately only managed a couple of shots of their elbows. It was the highlight of our time in Juneau. Realizing that what we just saw was as good as the whale-​watching gets, Captain Jen steered the boat for port, and got us back to our van, that got us back to our ship. During both rides, Cam continued with great tips on fixing shots with photoshop once you get them out of your camera, really invaluable stuff that anyone could use to take better pictures. While it was a little pricey (almost $ 200 per person), I understand that the excursions are how the cruise lines make their real money, so I don’t regret the money we spent, and would do it again in a moment. We’ll take the experience with the humpback whale for the rest of our lives, whether or not we got a picture of it.

I went on the Photo Safari Tour with Gastineau Guiding through the cruise line I was on in May of 2012. As with most cruise line excursions it seemed a bit pricey and I almost didn’t go. That would have been a BIG mistake.
First of all, the uncontrollable factors worked out weather, whales, and eagles. But with-​out a doubt the real hit was the tour guide Stacy, she was very knowledge, energetic, and fun. At no time were you made to feel as just one more bus filled with tourists, she took time with every single person whether they had a simple point-​and-​shoot camera or a more complicated system. I would highly recommend Gastineau Guiding to both new and more advanced photographers.
Thank you Stacy for being a highlight of my Alaska cruise, and adding to my vocabulary.

We signed up for a guide-​led hike around the Mendenhall Glacier as one of our cruise shore excursions. We were met by Scott and Lissa, who divided us into 2 groups and they each led us through the woods and ended at the glacier.
Despite the weather (60 °F and pouring rain in late July), we had a wonderful time. They provided rain ponchos, snacks and water, and some great, educational info about the area. The hike was not too fast for the kids in the group, but fast enough to keep it interesting. Lissa was knowledgeable about all the plants and geology, and made the hike really fun. Scott is a botanist and provided detailed info on the mosses and other plants.
They made sure we stayed safe, kept a lookout for bears (we didn’t see any), and got us back to the ship in time for dinner. Gastineau Guiding is a top-​notch company that cares about their guests. Highly recommended!

These folks have a reputation of finding the best places to view whales. In one day, two boats spotted over 20 whales when they were feeding. The whales breached and waved their fins. One went up to the boat and hammed it up for the cameras.
They have some very talented guides for nature walks in the area and for tours of the Mendenhall glacier.
Good prices and successful outings — not something that always happens in Alaska.