Experience Ketchikan As a Local
Ketchikan is full of unique and fascinating things to see. We show you the best of it! Tour an Alaskan Native Totem park and learn about our fascinating cultures. Stop at a picturesque beach and view occasional passing by Orca, seals, or eagles. Make another stop at a beautiful river teeming with salmon while keeping a keen eye out for bears.
Our tours are small and personal with a maximum of 7 Guests per vehicle touring Ketchikan in a comfortable spacious vehicle. We can fill our time with what you are most interested in, or rely on our expert local guidance.
*Ward Cove Arrivals must take the shuttle to downtown Ketchikan's Berth 4.
*Call for tours over 7 people
Note: Please specify your cruise ship for pickup location at booking. For passengers arriving on ships docked at Ward Cove (incl. NCL), pickup is at Berth 4 in downtown Ketchikan where the shuttle drops you off.”
Experience luxury travel in Ketchikan in one of our two top-of-the-line luxury vans. Our spacious and comfortable vehicles offer the perfect transportation solution for your group of up to 7 guests per vehicle. Book your tour now and indulge in the ultimate travel experience.
We never mix and match parties. It’s just you, your family and your local tour guide.
We can easily accommodate groups who are a little less than mobile. Each trip is catered to your interests and limitations. We also have room for collapsible wheelchairs.
I’m Bernie, a 4th generation Alaskan native from the Tshimsian tribe and I’ve lived in Ketchikan all but 7 years of my life. I’ve commercial fished for 35 years and for the past 30 years if I’m not out fishing I’ve been doing sightseeing tours. I’ve grown up here in Ketchikan and boy do I have some great stories to tell! Can’t wait to meet you and show you around my hometown.
AWESOME!!!!🤩 What an amazing tour we had Rick as our guide, he was very friendly and helpful. I traveled with my grandmother of 96 , mom, husband and son. He was so patient with all of us. Also, the van was pretty cool with microphone so we all can hear the tour.
Great experience Jason was knowledgeable and he tried to show us the Most beautiful parts of Ketchikan in 3 hours. We saw salmon, eagles, seals.
Great tour Great tour, small and customizable. Would definitely recommend. Got to see the sights, a few bears, and some history on the area!
Amazing!! The tour was amazing! If Bernie is available you’ll do more than well to book her. We were on an Alaska cruise and had been booking our excursions through the cruise line. Those excursions were good, but the guides were always transplants to the area working summer jobs in Alaska. Bernie was different - she’s a fourth generation local to the area and knows it extremely well! Everyone knows her everywhere and she knows everyone - including the wildlife. She found us a mother bear and her three cubs that had been frequenting an area. It genuinely had to be one of the greatest experiences of our Iives to watch them frolic in a field. She got us close enough to an eagle that I could have literally hit it with a stick (obviously I didn’t). She also knows a group that tracks the local pod of orcas and tells each other where the orcas are headed. Wildlife is wild so there’s no guarantee you’ll see something, but I think Bernie gives you the best chance to see it if it can be seen during your stay. She’s friendly, accommodative, and really just a delight to spend time with. I highly recommend.
Really fun tour Bernie drove us around Ketchikan and showed us the sites while talking about growing up and living in Ketchikan. My daughter and I had a great time on the tour, were so excited to see bears wandering around, and were amazed at one of the beautiful waterfalls Bernie took us to. One of our last stops was at a stand that sold jellies and fudge. My daughter and I both agreed that it was the best fudge we’ve ever had and were saddened that we didn’t buy more. 
The personal touch So special to hear the stories about the totems, see the real Ketchikan away from the tourist shops and see bears in the wild. 
Unforgettable Experience When looking at excursions that best suited our needs, Orca Song Tours checked all of the boxes of what we were looking to do in Ketchikan. I want to note that our main goal was to see bears fishing for salmon, so to give my family the best opportunity, we booked back to back tours with Orca Song, and were with them for six hours instead of three.


Fantastic small group tour Fantastic local guide who did all she could to explain local customs, see beautiful views and even saw a bear, really accommodating and knowledgeable
Great price, great tour guide, and way better than a cruise line excursion! Great tour. We saw bears, humpback whales, salmon, and seals. Rick took us to a stand that sold homemade jam and smoked salmon. He was knowledgeable about the islands history and culture. The totem pole park was very cool. You won’t get to see and do all of that on a normal cruise ship tour. This is the way to go!
Great afternoon getting out of town and seeing wildlife. This is a private tour run by Bernie Angus. She met us at our ship 25 min early, and was ready to go when we got there. She drives a 24 Honda mini van. Plenty of room and very clean. The tour consisted of visiting a local park and dam area our of town. We then went to a Totem Park and Museum where she provided some history and walked us around the park telling stories about the poles. We then drove through town and went south of the down town. The hope was to find wild life. Bernie did not fail us. We saw a black bear, seals, black tail deer, Stellar's (blue) Jay, and humpback whales. Only thing we did not see were Orca. Sounds like we missed them by no more than 5 min. The coolest thing was the pod of humpback whales, we came upon a group of 4 or 5 that bubble fed for almost 45 min. We saw them breach at least 5 times. This was a great afternoon for my wife, daughter and I. If we want a personalized adventure give Bernie a call.


Connaissance locale fantastique et sympathique Bernie possède une mine de connaissances locales, elle est née et a été la quatrième génération de Ketchikan et vous accueille chaleureusement dans la région de Ketchikan. J'ai réservé en privé et j'ai été si heureux, évitant les foules des croisières que vous pouvez voir beaucoup plus de la ville que Bernie adapte à vos besoins familiaux. Merci pour cette belle journée Bernie!
Best Bet in Ketchikan! My wife and I and our close friends from Australia had the pleasure of taking a private tour of Ketchikan with Orca Song Tours. I can't say enough good things about Bernie. She worked with me online to plan the tour and it felt like I was being taken around town by a lifelong friend. We laughed and kibbitzed our way through Ketchikan. I have mobility issues that did not faze Bernie in the least. I participated fully and we all had a blast. Thanks Bernie.
Beautiful Ketchikan and Bears We had an amazing experience! We saw two bears feasting on salmon! Our tour was our own and tailored to just us! We spent most of our time watching the bears. I highly recommend this tour for anybody wanting to see bears in their natural habitat!
Great Tour with Orca Song! We had so much fun with Bernie the owner of Orca Song Tours! She has lived in Ketchikan her whole life and shared so much about growing up here. In addition to tours, she fishes commercially and give us a good background on the industry; showing us the plant that processes her salmon. Our first stop in the morning was at Herring Cove which ended up being one of our favorite spots on our 18-day Alaskan vacation. Being a private tour, Bernie could give us as much time as we wanted here. We watched lots of young eagles (learning to hunt), a harbor seal and salmon hanging out at the mouth of the cove getting close to spawning. She estimated most at 15 pounds. AND WE SAW BEARS! We stood and watched a mama bear and three cubs for such a long time. Those babies were adorable swimming and playing while mama kept a close watch. Because we were docked at Ward Cove (yes, she does pick up and/or drop off from here!), Bernie took us to Potlatch Park last. Here she shared lots of information about the native American totem poles. It was a great tour and Bernie is just so much fun to be around!


Having fun in Ketchikan! We had a blast with Bernie this morning. We saw so many beautiful eagles, a waterfall, totem park, and learned so much about Ketchikan. She showed us so many beautiful sites. I highly suggest letting her take you for a tour. You won’t be disappointed!
Good times We really enjoyed our private tour of Ketchikan with Bernie. She was very good at communicating before our pick up. Our favorite stop was Herring Cove and watching the eagles and bears! My daughter wanted to find a special souvenir and Bernie was able to recommend a great shop with local hand crafted goods. I’d recommend Bernie to anyone I know going to Ketchikan!
Fantastic local tour. Highly recommend Thoroughly enjoyed this tour. Rick was very knowledgeable on Ketchikan, the history, the people and the politics. He narrates the whole tour and it was very interesting, we learnt so much and would highly recommend. He went above and beyond when it came to a bear sighting and this is where local tours and local knowledge wins out. It was only thanks to his dedication that we ended up seeing a mumma bear and her cubs. It was an amazing experience and we can’t thank him enough. We saw eagles and seals as well but of course bear sightings rate above all else. The cafe he recommended for lunch has THE BEST fish and chips. So grateful we chose local.
Unforgettable Experience When looking at excursions that best suited our needs, Orca Song Tours checked all of the boxes of what we were looking to do in Ketchikan. I want to note that our main goal was to see bears fishing for salmon, so to give my family the best opportunity, we booked back to back tours with Orca Song, and were with them for six hours instead of three.


Exceeded expectations Best way to get out of town to see cultural and natural highlights of your choice. Rick took us to the end of the road both north and south of town to visit lakes, waterfalls, pristine rain forest and, best of all, to Totem Bight Historical State Park (not to be missed). He was accommodating, knowledgeable and willing to go above and beyond to get in as many highlights as possible. Quality, well maintained van and professional service all the way.