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.
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.”
*Call for tours over 7 people
*Call for tours over 6 people
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.
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. 
Wonderful Tour for Families! Our private tour of Ketchikan for our family of 6 was perfect! Jason was an excellent tour guide and customized the tour based on our interests. We saw bears, salmon, and eagles; we visited waterfalls and totem poles; we picked salmon berries and stopped at a beach in search of whales. Jason's knowledge of the area is amazing. Thank you, Jason!
The BEST! HIGHLY recommend booking this tour! Bernie was great at communicating with us from when we booked the tour all the way up until the actual day - which was incredibly helpful as our cruise docked at a different location from where it was originally scheduled. The tour itself was fantastic!! In just a few short hours, we got a wonderful overview of beautiful Ketchikan and enjoyed see the totem park, eagles, BEARS (yes BEARS!) and salmon. Bernie went over and above to make our visit as special as possible - avoiding crowds, giving us extra time when needed and showing us places she knew we would appreciate as she got to know us along the way (like showing our teenage boys the local little league field - so cool!). Did I mention we saw BEARS!?!? In the wild!? Trip of a lifetime. So grateful for the memories made on this tour.
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.
Belle journée! Sympa et informatif! Nous avons adoré notre visite à Totem Bight. Grâce à Orca Song, nous avons beaucoup appris et visité un endroit caché de la côte.
Fantastic Experience! Rick did a fantastic job with our tour, going above and beyond our expectations! He was extremely knowledgeable and personable. We were able to see a bear and eagles; he knew all of the secret spots to look for them. He also took us to several very scenic spots. I would definitely recommend this tour!


Exactly the tour we were hoping for We are 3 adults in our 60s who just want to know how things tick. Bernie had the scoop on everything Ketchikan. Although it is early in the season, so the animal food supplies are limited, Bernie made a brave attempt to find some bears. No luck. But we did see a fine tide change, climbed up on some rocks to look at a fantastic waterfall, and had a quick look at some fresh bear scat and paw prints. Being the nosy biddies that we are, we were thrilled to see the local kids playing on their new softball field, the A&P Market where rotisserie chick costs $28, the landslide that took out the old market, the crematorium, the airstrip that is only accessible by ferry, and a great totem park that we had to ourselves. Bernie showed us around to the things that are important to her and her family, which was exactly what we wanted!
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!
Beautiful Day in Ketchikan! We had an awesome day with Denise as our tour guide! We saw bears and eagles! It was awesome! Denise told us so much about Ketchikan and her culture! Such a great day for our family!
Le meilleur voyage de tous les temps Je n'ai jamais réservé d'excursion en dehors de nos excursions en croisière. Nous avions un budget et malheureusement aucune des excursions à bord de notre bateau ne faisait partie de notre budget et mes 16 et 14 ans n’aimaient pas ceux de notre bateau. J'ai décidé de jeter un coup d'œil sur TripAdvisor et j'ai lu d'excellentes critiques pour Orca Song Tours. J'ai envoyé un courriel à Bernie. Bernie est resté en contact avec moi jusqu'à notre arrivée le 13 août.


Ketchikan, great place to visit great tour to take. We had an amazing tour with Art. He was perfect and explaining everything, and making sure that we did not miss seeing a thing in the Ketchikan area. We saw running salmon, bears fishing for salmon, waterfalls, and a fabulous collection of totem poles. This also included arts, authentic local narration in information about his life in the local people of the area.
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!


La faune, le saumon et la culture autochtone ... Exceptionnel! Notre guide touristique Bernie est venu nous chercher juste devant notre bateau de croisière après son amarrage. Bernie s'est avéré être un vrai local à Ketchikan, le premier que nous avons rencontré pendant notre croisière. Pour info, nos autres guides en AK étaient tous originaires du sud, nous avons découvert, permettant ainsi peu de connaissance de AK. Ce n'était pas le cas avec Bernie. Nous avons vu Ketchikan des yeux d'un vrai local et partagé les connaissances exceptionnelles de Bernie sur la culture autochtone, la faune et la vie en Alaska!
Fantastic Experience! Rick did a fantastic job with our tour, going above and beyond our expectations! He was extremely knowledgeable and personable. We were able to see a bear and eagles; he knew all of the secret spots to look for them. He also took us to several very scenic spots. I would definitely recommend this tour!


Excellent service this tour was fantastic value. Jason was prompt and very well equipped with binoculars and water. Very knowled Excellent value. Knowledgeable guide. Couldn't ask for more. Comfortable vehicle. Nothing too much trouble. Delivered everything we asked for and more. We fully recommend them. Would definitely use again. Jason asked what we would like to see bear was a big ask. But he definitely delivered. Fantastic knowledge of the salmon cycle which will stay with us. Seals and sea otters. Fantastic wildlife, waterfalls etc. brilliant pictures and memories from this. Delivered back to ship safely and on time. ⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟
4th generation local Tour guide Magic happens when you learn about a place with a 4th generation local. Bernie (Bernadette) was outstanding: patient, knowledgeable, attentive and super proud of her community/city. With that we learned, enjoyed the city, saw bears, salmos, eagles and learned about the Totem in craftsmanship and story. Ended the day with of where to eat and again a great recommendation! Look no further and experience Ketchikan with a local that lives, breathes and loves what she does!
Wonderful Tour for Families! Our private tour of Ketchikan for our family of 6 was perfect! Jason was an excellent tour guide and customized the tour based on our interests. We saw bears, salmon, and eagles; we visited waterfalls and totem poles; we picked salmon berries and stopped at a beach in search of whales. Jason's knowledge of the area is amazing. Thank you, Jason!