Our tour with Ken was so amazing! My 3 girls (16, 15, 11) are all obsessed with the ocean and all have their favorites. We saw everything everyone hoped for and more! Seals, sea lions, a humpback whale, bald eagles, a puffin, a sea otter, and of course... orcas! We thought it was super cool that he drives clear up into Canadian waters to search for orcas. The boat is very fun to ride on and goes quite fast, which my kids thought was so exciting. Ken goes ABOVE and BEYOND to make sure you have an incredible time on your tour. The chance to see these animals in the wild is something that I hope everyone can experience at some point. Skip the huge boats full of crowds and hire Ken, you'll be in for such a jaw dropping experience and have the tour all to yourself. It was an absolutely epic day!
Ken is amazing! I surprised my husband with a trip to Orcas Island (we live in Indiana) with a goal for him to see orcas in the wild. We have been on whale watching tours in Alaska and Monterey, California and saw other types of whales, but no orca. Finally! Ken helped make my husband's bucket list item a reality! Thank you, Ken!
What a day! We had the time of our lives!
Ken is a lovely and funny guy! He teach us a lot about orcas and the wildlife
We saw an orca family! It was spetacular! We came from France to see them and we were so so happy! We really spend a lot of time watching them, I really had no idea we could see them so clearly.
Ken was as excited as we were! It was a pleasure!
I really really recommand this tour! Thank again Ken 💙
Wonderful tour! We took a 3 hours semi-private tour with Ken with our 2 kids age 10 and 7. We were alone on the boat, and Ken brought us right on an orca pod that had been spotted earlier and followed it for more than an hour. We really appreciated that he was very knowledgeable about wildlife and local geography, and that he was really respectful of the wildlife (distance and position of the orca, boat speed, etc). He also took beautiful pictures that he sent us by email afterwards.
The boat was in perfect condition and very stable and comfortable.
Reply from Spirit of Orca Whale Watching & Wildlife Tours2024.07.04
Very happy you enjoyed your time with me. I don't understand the "semi-private" comment, I only do private charter and each family or couple are the only ones on the tour besides me and my wife.
My friend and I joined Ken and his wife, Laurel, in July 2024 on an AMAZING tour to see the local wildlife, sights, and TWO pods of orcas meeting up. It was incredible as we sat in the boat and began to realize that one of the pods was actually swimming right to us! They passed right by the boat, with one stopping at the front of the boat to peep up and check us out. If course, that just made our day, but all of the other wildlife we saw along the way, the seals, the puffin and other waterbirds, the eagles - everything - was pointed out by our knowledgeable guides. Ken coordinated with other boat captains in the area to get the coordinates in the latest whale sughtings. And, can I tell you something? Laurel did all of this with a broken ankle!!! Ken and Laurel both know so much about the Salish Sea and its inhabitants. Book a trip with them and you WILL NOT be disappointed. Highly recommended.
Reply from Spirit of Orca Whale Watching & Wildlife Tours2024.03.28
Thank You Lisa. Come back anytime. 😊
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Shelli Royer2023.10.01
Captain Ken was very informative and educational while guiding us to see all the wildlife on our watch list! He gave 110% towards our tour. And he encouraged us to enjoy while he took amazing photos with his professional camera! Definitely a must do
Captain Ken has a anger problem and should go to anger management class.
He also navigates he's boat in a reckless manner with passengers on board. I highly recommend island adventure whale watching boat.
TL;DR- Fantastic experience that the entire family enjoyed!! *Highly* recommend Spirit of Orca!!
Helmed by CAPT Ken, his passion for orca-spotting was evident even before arriving in Anacortes. We had driven up early to make sure we were situated, and 90 minutes before our scheduled 2PM time, he called us asking if we could go early because he had just spotted a pod of orca and wanted to ensure we could see them. He made best speed, expertly navigating through some choppy water and within an hour, we had our first visual sighting of two orcas. He safely trolled near these two, which eventually led us to the rest of the pod that was at least 5 strong! For the next two hours, we stayed with them, getting incredible pictures and sightings.
CAPT Ken ensured we had the best experience possible, and his in-depth local knowledge of individual pods, their history, offspring, and the distinction between the Southern Resident "salmon eaters" and the other species of "mammal eater" orcas helped make the whole tour that much better. He focused on giving us the best experience possible. I will caveat this by saying even if we had not seen a single orca, his dedication and passion in finding these beautiful creatures would not have detracted from our experience. We came across a larger whale watching boat, and I can attest that the smaller group setting is the way to go. Had we been at the mercy of a multi-party charter, we would have certainly missed the front row seat/private viewing we had for 2+ hours.
These are wild animals, and despite best efforts, cannot always be predicted. The Whale Watching Fleet and CAPT Ken do their best, and for us, it paid off in the best way possible! If you've read this far, I can assure you this is the orca charter for you!
Note: photos by CAPT Ken himself!
Save yourself the time and research, book this tour!! I have never written a review before, but I feel it is absolutely necessary after our great experience with Spirit of Orca. This was the best tour we could’ve asked for.
After doing hours of research comparing the multiple whale watching tour companies in the area, we had decided on Spirit of Orca. I can say with 100% confidence that we made the right choice. Ken exceeded every expectation - from accommodating our itinerary changes due to canceled flights, to finding every animal on our “wish list,” to taking professional-quality photos during our tour and sharing them with us for free - making this the highlight of our vacation.
Our experience with Spirit of Orca began when two of our flights to Seattle were canceled, resulting in us missing our original tour with Ken. We were resigned to the fact that we were not going to be able to go on a whale tour during our vacation and that we were going to lose the money we already paid to book it. Ken quickly eased our worries though. He was responsive and did everything he could to fit us in for another tour during our stay in Washington. Despite his boat being in the shop that week - plus the fact that he was otherwise fully booked until October - he made it happen. Ken bent over backwards to get his boat tour-ready as soon as it got out of the shop and, as a result, he was able to add an extra tour to his schedule to accommodate us. All this at no additional cost for us. I’d never before experienced this level of kindness and service. It was clear that Ken genuinely cares about his customers and their experience.
Our tour conveniently departed from Anacortes, so we didn’t need to take the ferry to Friday Harbor. Upon departure, Ken educated us on the area and its marine life. Through our conversation and questions, Ken deduced which animals we’d be most interested in seeing. Ken knew exactly where to find all of the animals we were hoping to see - orcas, porpoises, sea lions, seals, river otters, bald eagles, puffins, cormorants, and other marine birds. The tour exceeded all of our expectations. Ken made the experience even more special by doing things like shutting off his engine so we could hear the spray of the whales and maneuvering his boat as close to the animals as possible, while still maintaining respectful distances. We had five people in our group and we were never fighting each other for a view; we were all able to see everything and move around the boat freely. The small group had an intimate feel and provided us with a once in a lifetime experience.
Ken was overall the best captain we could’ve asked for. He was kind, caring, knowledgeable, and enjoyable to be around. We even heard other tour captains joking over the radio about how incredibly successful Ken had been at finding the whales in recent weeks. I cannot recommend Spirit of Orca enough. Trust me when I say you can book this tour with the peace of mind knowing that it is the best one out there.
This is the absolute best whale tour! My wife, pup and I saw several orcas, seals, and a bald eagle with Mount Baker in the distance. Captain Ken is awesome and very knowledgable. His boat is perfect for a private boat tour around one of the most beautiful areas in the country. Do not waste your time seeing the coolest apex predator on earth with a 100 person group. Spirit of the orca private tours is 1000% worth it. 100/10 stars! We will definitely be back.
Superb vessel and Crew to match! The knowledge, friendliness, and outgoing Captain and Crew provided an outstanding day on the Salish Sea. The vessel is top-notch and well maintained. We will definitely return!
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