I really wanted to love this tour in Ketchikan Alaska, but the experience didn't quite match what was promised. The tour booked was called the best of Ketchikan and we were on NCL. For those crusing to know NCL docks hella far, so it takes 40 minutes to an hour (after you get through the queue to get on a shuttle, shuttle ride and construction downtown). From where you are dropped off in town it's another 10-15 minute walk to the visitors bureau (where the tour starts) so plan ahead! The itinerary listed stops like a waterfall, Rotary Beach, and watching a totem pole carving but those never happened. Instead, most stops felt rushed. We usually had about 10 to 13 minutes to hop out, snap a photo, and rush back, which made it hard to really enjoy or learn much about each spot. A little more time and storytelling at each stop would have gone a long way. My husband said he felt like we spent a majority of the time chasing salmon. That said, our guide Ken was fantastic. He's super personable, and clearly cares about what he does. If this review were based just on him, it would be five stars. The issue was more with how the tour was planned and executed. The start was a bit chaotic. We met at the Visitor Bureau and almost got on the wrong bus since there wasn't much guidance on where to go. We ended up on a smaller bus and did a quick drive by of Creek Street, where we barely had time to see the salmon run and ladder before moving on. The eagle education center stop had potential, but it was rushed. The presentation on totem poles and local wildlife was over in a flash, though the king salmon tasting was delicious. At Herring Cove, we were told bears are often spotted, but no luck that day. We did see some seals, which was neat. Right after that, we were whisked to a tent selling jams and spreads, a very obvious tourist trap stop. The tour wrapped up at the totem pole park. It was a beautiful site, but again, we had to choose between listening to Ken or walking around to take photos. We opted for the photos and ended up missing most of the context. The rainy weather didn't help and on a sunny day it might have felt different. Overall, Ken deserves all the credit in the world, but the tour itself felt disorganized and cut short on the experiences it advertised. read more

City tour,including stop at the totem pole park. Unfortunately it was pouring rain. The veteran tour guide kept everyone outside with his elongated speech. Could have had everyone take pictures and tell his stories inside the motor coach.fun seeing everything, just not a great tour in my opinion. read more

On our trip to Alaska we arranged a tour of Ketchikan from our AAA travel agent that set us up with Sourdough. We were taken around the city with a local guide who shared the points of interest and were given a fun, informative and entertaining tour. We were given historical information, natural exposure (seeing salmon and trout in the streams), and cultural and artistic information about totem poles and the artistic creation of them. And homemade smoked salmon spread. We had an amazing time seeing the "first" port of Alaska and it was a great opening for the coming 10 days. read more

Sourdough Tours - Totem pole - Tours Near Me

It was a scam! The pricing is faked as others have mentioned. The vans are not easily accessible for the handicapped. The comment about going to a crowded parking lot is spot on. I should have read the reviews. Shame on me. We did see a bear, salmon, totem poles and I probably could not have hired a taxi for $50 to go all those places. read more

This tour was all about our driver/guide Tod (with one D ) - ebullient and a font of information. The totem poles made it all worth it.

Total scam avoid at all costs! Saw taxidermy in their offices and looked at a few totem poles. "Salmon tasting" consisted of warm canned salmon on ritz crackers. Do not give these jokers any of your hard earned money!!! read more

El tour que te venden es un absoluto engaño, las paradas son en basureros y estacionamientos donde no hay nada y te dejan mucho tiempo para cubrir las horas que te ofrecen. Un fraude en su totalidad.no vinos ni por asomo indicios de osos, lobos, águilas y es la forma de enganchar al turista que baja de los barcos totalmente desorientado The tour they sell you is an absolute scam. The stops are at dumps and parking lots where there's nothing to see, and they leave you there for a long time just to fill the hours they promise. A total fraud. We didn't see even the slightest sign of bears, wolves, or eagles -- which is how they lure in tourists who come off the ships completely disoriented. read more

This is the only pre-booked excursion that went well. In the future, I will signup and pay for each package in person. More options and less complication. The Saxman totems and Ketchikan City tour was more than reasonably priced and we got a fifty dollar discount per person with a package through our cruise line...so even better. Next cruise will be a challenge for sure. The tour stops at the park for a photo opportunity, then proceeds to Eagle Point for a riveting presentation on native life and interpreting totem poles. An expert also introduces the tools she made and uses to carve these wonders. You can contribute a few bucks for chips and drinks. If your fortunate, she's made some pink salmon treats. Delicious! Our tour guide was Cindy and she was as knowledgeable as she was friendly. A true Sourdough (born and raised here), she knew everything and was a valuable source for our always expanding thirst for knowledge. She was equally as nice "off the tour". Just a great person. We were blessed to be on her bus. Even though it rained the entire time, this tour was easily the best part of our cruise! 08/23 read more

Ken was our guide. He made all the usual stops, but as we were heading back to Ketchikan, he spotted an eagle in a tree by the inlet. He stopped and asked people to get the cameras ready. He pulled a bag of fish from under his seat and tossed it near the water. Down swooped the eagle and I got several shots. Wow! read more

Sourdough Tours - Bald eagle in flight. Thank you Sourdough Tours - Tours Near Me

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Pitched a great tour with a comical driver by the manager. Told us for $60 each we would be shown the town with all the sights on a coach bus. Tour was in a 40yr old blue painted school bus that was poorly insulated (it was early May and we froze) with a driver who would go on about how he stayed here after getting out of the Marine Corp 50yrs ago. Complained about the streets used to be be lined with a multitude of bars that were open all night and how they all closed down and how mad he was about it. Complained about the job, the tourists, and how he was told to combine a multiple hour tour into just one hour. This is a comical driver? This is the great tour for $60. I was so fuming mad by the carpet bagging lies from the manager I was fit to be tied. If your reading this and considering getting on the blue junker bus don't do it. I hope these liers go out of business, shame on you! read more

What an absolute waste of hard earned money! My husband and I were told by the man in the Kiosk, that this was a $150 dollar tour but he would discount us a good deal at $50 a person. The idea of seeing wildlife prompted us to say yes. Turned out everyone pays $50 Then we had the misfortune of having BRUCE as our tour guide. BRUCE was a crude, condenscending man who cursed at tourists on the street and was rude to the tourists on his shuttle. When someone spotted whales, his comment was..."I am NOT stopping here" . So much for whales. Salmon? We parked in a parking lot. BRUCE threatened all of the passengers that he would NOT tolerate anyone roaming off or being late. We looked over the bridge (mind you in a group because he would yell at you if you roamed anywhere to get a better view) a dozen salmon. Then he barked orders to get back on the shuttle. The totem pole park was full of BRUCE'S stories. The entire back of the bus felt it was a line of BS. In fact, the entire back of the shuttle said things like " That is 2 hours of my life, I will never get back". People were ticked off! When I mentioned that it was a bummer that I couldnt even sit with my husband, he had to sit in the passenger seat while I was squeezed into the back row amongst other guests , BRUCE literally said to me in a very spiteful tone, "LOOK LADY, if this is the worst part of you day, Id say you are doing pretty well!!" No bear, no eagles, no whales, 12 salmon and a very rude tour guide. DO BETTER SOURDOUGH TOURS DO BETTER. BRUCE needs to go back to being being a bar stool thug and tourists need to have a better treatment. read more

It is an absolute scam. Our tour we booked through the cruise ship was canceled so we were left looking for something to do. The price was right much cheaper than what the cruise ship offered which I have found booking at the pier saves you so much and we have had luck in the past. Beautiful brochures talking about seeing wildlife. The only wild life I saw was a bald eagle which of course here is like seeing pigeons back home. The guide rushed through every stop talked about the good ole days before tourists and pretty much solidified the fact that everyone here is out to take your money. It was raining and it offered a chance to get out of the rain ended up in a fogged up bus with a paper towel to wipe the window with which was worthless. Over promised under delivered. Avoid this operator at all costs read more

The driver was not helpful at totem poles as he discussed government stuff and then left us there as we were almost 10 minutes late to our bus He knew we were not there and we had to pay for the ship's umbrella we left on the bus because the driver didn't check the bus between tours. read more

The tour we took was a last minute decision. It was expensive, the schedule is tight and the driver ridiculed us repeatedly when we were a couple of minutes late. Some comments he made were inappropriate for younger audience's. read more

Jun 2024 * Friends ! We went on a tour with Cindy today morning to visit the Saxson village and city tour . We were taken to a hall for a presentation and it was done by a lady who didn't give us much information or history on the town . Spoke of some wild animals and some stuffed animals were shown .A high schooler could have done a better presentation checking Google . It was so lousy ! We were taken to a beach area by cindy and she told us to come back in 20 minutes time . We walked to the beach and went to the bus in 10 minutes as there was nothing to see there when hell broke loose when she started the bus to go on to the Saxson village and leaving behind a few people . A couple came back but two teenagers were not in the bus but the time was still there until we leave, all the people in the bus had to fight to ask her to wait for them . She threatened us that she would not take us to Saxon village if we ask her stay ! But with much yelling at her she stayed for two minutes when the two girls arrived at the stipulated time . It was 9.28 am when they arrived but she wanted to take off at 9.15 without four people ! We were very upset and it was so unpleasant with a bus driver who was so mean and rude to us ! Please don't ever go with them ! She didn't know much stuff to talk about the totem poles too and we had only 10 minutes to see them . We were so worried she would leave us ,everyone was back in the bus in no time ! It was a waste of money to go with SOURDOUGH !!! read more

It's a scam. The dad/owner promised all these stops and activities especially since they own a lot of the places we'd visit. False. The tour guide Bruce was great. Just got scammed. If you're spending more than $50 per person - you're getting double ripped off read more

Our bus driver never told us how long we would be at each stop, we'd just suddenly be told "time to go" and given a minute or so to get back. He didn't want to go to Herring Cove, and when we asked to go we honestly didn't even GO there - we stopped somewhere outside of it, we were given 2 minutes to look around and when we finally see seals in the water suddenly it was "time to go"! (A look at Google Maps later and I could see we didn't stop inside the Cove at all.) For what we were sold as an expectation, it was a sore disappointment and felt like a waste of time and money. Even the stop at the Saxman Totems was rushed. read more

We booked a tour independent of our cruise ship and we were very happy with our outcome! At first our driver/tourguide, David, was hard to read... but although he was slow with his presentation he really was pretty funny with his dry humor. Hard to read at times, but all in all he made it very enjoyable. He is a Native American from the Tlingit tribe and he was born and raised in Ketchikan so he's very familiar with the surroundings and history of the area. My family learned a great deal from him. We learned about the Indians themselves, totem poles and their varieties, wildlife, Ketchikan history and surrounding areas. I think what I liked about it the most was that he was just a dude who lived and loved the area and he told us everything we needed to know... no bling, no fuss, so it was like visiting a buddy and having him show us some places that were cool as well as tell us about it. Very refreshing actually. Reasonable in price and covered about the same area as what we hear the cruise ship excursions did. David also teaches you a bit of the Tlingit language, so pay attention he really does test you later on!! Cool dude, cool tour and glad we did it. We loved tasting berry jellies and treats at one of the stops as well. David told us his favorite and we got to try them. Nice touch. Be sure to bring layers! Ketchikan is a rainy and cool town no matter what time of year you visit! Thanks! CHEERS!! read more

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Cindy was our competent driver/tour guide on the Sourdough Tour. We learned a lot about the history of Ketchican. We stopped to see the salmon swimming upstream in the creek. We learned about totem poles--their meaning, how they're carved, and why they don't need to be signed by the carver. It was inspiring to see the workshop where younger people are learning from the elders. We enjoyed our stop in a remote area. It was so quiet we felt like we should walk on tiptoe. Because it was September, we saw a few seals, a lot of gulls and stellar jays, but no other wildlife. Overall, we appreciated the tour. read more

This tour was recommended by one of the other tour companies that only does flying tours. We were very happy with the results. The native guide imparted a lot of Alaskan and specifically ketchikan history as he drove. We got to see the salmon ladder, a place where bears sometimes hang out although they did not make their appearance for us. Lots of bald eagles. And he shared his own personal family heirlooms and artifacts with us at the totem poles in Saxon village. Honestly I only went to see the totem poles, but was pleasantly surprised with the rest of the tour read more

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Our native Alaskan tour guide showed that wisdom doesn't always come with age. He talked incessantly about stuff no one cares about. The 1st hour was just tooling around town while he pointed out stupid stuff like names of streets/the price of gas/that house that was painted blue. I wanted to jump out the frickin' window, by time the 2 1/2 hours from hell was over. It made me dislike the whole town of Ketchikan. Worst tour ever! read more

What a rip off!!!! They promise a wildlife tour and what you see is stuffed animals. We did the tour April 20th 2024. Our guide was hired the day before to do the tour, he was set up for failure at the beginning. The poor guy only told us stories of where he worked before. He did not have a clue of what to say or places to go. First we were taken to a room with 3 stuffed animals where there was a woman telling us nothing new about Alaska and the tribes, a woman that did not even know how to carve a Totem Pole. The only wildlife that we saw was a seal looking for food at the entrance of the stuffed animal room. Then they took us to a park, normal park and expected us to be there at least 10 minutes to burn time, all the group said to not even bother and off we went to a supposedly hike, where we would see wildlife. Not even 100 yards and of course we did not see any. From there to see from a window in Saxman Village how supposedly they carve a totem pole. We Saw Saxman Village which was nice, no deep information about it. The guide tried to do his best, and was a nice guy, the boss and his wife just want your money. JUST RUN!!!! Do not take this tour even if they say its half off. It is a total joke!!! read more

Dont lie about what is on tour when when driver admits it is to early in season and tell us pod orcas when not even here yet. Liars

Avoid like the plague! They greeted us getting off the ship in Ketchikan and we didn't have any excursions booked. 'Special 1/2 price'- felt lucky. Rodney drove us to a small shop for a rinky dink totem pole carving presentation - all of three whacks with a small axe. Some stuffed animals were there. Then a drive to where we'd supposedly see animals. Along the two lane road was the water and our driver told us to watch for whales because they are visible there sometimes- so a drive-by whale watch and none were seen. Then to a muddy parking lot and short walk to a creek filled with dead or dying salmon where 'we see bears here sometimes, someone said they saw one this morning. No bears. 'Watch for eagles' among hundreds of seagulls eating dead fish- no eagles spotted. Then to the Saxmon Indian village where we could look inside through a window at the totem pole carving shop followed by a talk from our bus driver Rodney about the symbolism and significance of the totem poles. Not even a native person presented! The best part was being dropped off at Creek Street at the end. Horrible even at 1/2 price!!! read more

On August 17th, 2022 I had the great misfortune of booking a last minute tour with Sourdough Tours promising the high possibility of wildlife sightings. While in the visitor information center we spoke to the company sales rep who was very very clear that our intent was to photograph wildlife. We were told we would have a 35 to 40 minute prolonged stop at hearing creek where we would have the greatest likelihood of a bear sighting in a salmon rich creek. The rep told us he would let us have the trip for only $75 per person instead of the $100 per person normal rate. While on the tour, we covered much of the same ground we could have had a very short walk to for free. When we did arrive at the Herring Creek Region, the bus driver only passed the area where most tours take there guest. Instead, we wend to a lot and parked near abandoned vehicles (A Junk Drop Zone). We were allowed to walk out on the bay but only for 10 minutes, Not the 40 minutes promised. No animal sightings. To put my experience succinctly, Sourdough Tours did not only steel my $150 dollars but also stole 2.5 hours of the limited time we had in Ketchikan. If you read this, take is as fact and don't be conned in to anything offered by sourdough tours as any price. read more

Not worth the ridiculous price of $150/person. You get nothing but a bus ride, a very short simple presentation from a lady in a small shop that look like they might at one time learned to carve a totem pole, amongst a few dusty examples of wildlife that may be in Alaska, a bus driver that didn't say much informative, and a view of totem poles (that are everywhere anyway). Probably worth only about $40.00, if that. read more

Avoid at all costs. Tour guide Forrest was not knowledgeable, bigoted, and a terrible guide.

We went on a tour with Cyndy on 8/8/24 to Saxson Village and City tour. It was BAD. Our second stop was to a small hall. The presentations were dry and had little content. Prior to stopping Cyndy gave us all a lecture about being responsible adults and using the restroom before we left because this would be our last restroom to use on this tour. There was ONE stall for the men and ONE stall for the women. A few people from our bus got off and went to the Starbucks at Safeway and NEVER came back. Cyndy called her manager to explain this situation. We did go to a beach after about a 20 minute ride. We were there 15 minutes because she was running out of time and she had to stay on schedule so she could be on time for her other tours. We went to Saxon Village where she walked us in one end of the viewing hall and out the other end while only explaining part of the exhibit. Part of our group walked with another group so they could hear all the information regarding that exhibit. On our way back to the city she offered to let us stop at Creek Street to let us go explore on our own. A LOT of us got off there and continued on our way while complaining about how bad this experience was. Cyndy did not sound happy about doing her job and I WOULD NOT recommend this tour to anyone. As a matter of fact, I want to take another cruise to Ketchikan so I can try a different excursion OR explore the area on my own for less money. read more

My husband and I got off the shuttle in Ketchikan and were just going to explore the town. We got approached from this company to go on a tour where we would see wildlife and eagles. They even said the day before a few groups saw whales. They said it was buy one get one so it would cost us $75. We walked away to talk and decide to do it. What a waste of time and money! They took us to a building where we saw stuffed animals, a lake where we saw dead salmon, and a few other areas with absolutely no wildlife! To top it off, they charged us $150. When I called to complain about being charged double they called me a liar. BEWARE worst company ever and a huge scam. We wasted our whole day in this beautiful town seeing nothing and wasting the day. Best part of the tour is the driver dropped us off downtown so we could spend our last 30 minutes of the day to see something. I am filing a claim with BBB and Ketchikan chamber of commerce these people need to be shut down! Please take my advise run when these people approach you when you get off the shuttle. They also go by Ketchikan discount tours. I should have read the reviews before my biggest mistake. read more

Such a rip off, paid $75 per adult to see bears and wildlife. Didn't see any at a bridge at the side of the road. Then we were told it's not guaranteed. Avoid. It's over priced and NOT WORTH IT. We paid $200 total (for 2 adults and a child). When we came off the ship at Vancouver, we went to Grousse Mountain, got on a tram to the top of the mountain and saw 2 bears up close. That cost a total of $130. When I compare both, value for money Sourdough was definitely a big rip off. read more

For us, our tour experience wasn't as bad as how the other's described. I wouldn't say it was stellar but it was okay. If you don't have an excursion planned out through the cruise, it is probably easier to do the tour through them than doing it yourself. We thought about getting a taxi to drive to saxman native center but ended finding this place. For $45 a person, they took us to this boat dock parking lot where we looked at eagles and salmon caught by the local fisherman. The second stop was next to the hatchery where we looked for bears but instead only saw Eagles. Our last stop was at saxman where our guide told us a little about the totem poles. Our guide was respectful and nice. It was kind of hard discerning what he said on the bus because his voice was muffled and the microphone sucked. It wasn't bad. We saved probably about $20 going on this tour rather than doing the cruise excursion that covered the same thing. read more

Rip off! Don't let them scam you. I walked in the visitor center thinking it would be a safe place to find legitimate tour operators, but clearly I was wrong. This 2.5 hour wildlife tour was a scam. If you like getting crammed in a van (12 people in a small van) and driving around and stopping at some random parking lots, then sign up. It was more like 1.5 hours, but that was fine because at that point I just wanted to be done. The sales guy who I bought it from said that we would go to spots only their company had access to, and that we would be offered a salmon tasting. NONE of that happened. No wildlife seen at all! Be warned don't get scammed by these guys. They are con artists!! read more

When we arrived in Ketchikan, we specifically wanted to find a tour that was likely to see bears and eagles. We wanted a small van instead of a bus tour. The person at the Sourdough booth sold us that this was their specialty, explaining that because of the overcast, our likelihood of seeing a bear is high because they like the cool weather. We then would go to an eagle viewing point. That was such a deception. Once in the van, we drove to a parking area near a river and were told "we'll wait here a while to see if any bears come to the river" while we sat inside the van. As we pulled in the lot, the driver immediately pointed out a deer in the distant field. We question if the deer was a fake set up for the tour because it never moved the entire time we were there. We compared pictures with other passengers and everyone had the same still shot of the deer. Very unusual for a wild animal to stand completely still for at least 10 minutes. Then we drove a few miles down the highway and were told to be heading toward a waterfall, which turned out to be one of those small falls beside the road. It was so insignificant, that no other tour vans even stopped to waste time looking at the falls. We then stopped at the Totem Pole Park for a bit. Next stop was back into town to drive by the City Park which you can walk to from town. On the way, we crossed the river when the driver commented that there was a bear by the river, but he did not slow or stop for anyone to get a good look at. Neither my wife nor I saw a bear, so we were skeptical if there really was one since he did not stop for everyone to have a chance to get a view. We asked about eagle viewing and were told the rest of the stops were in town except for some lady's shop named Eagle something that was like a taxidermy shop. So there was no scheduled eagle viewing stop. When we approached a stop sign back in town, my wife and I, along with another couple, took the opportunity to get out of the van and skip the rest of the tour, which was supposedly shopping stops. This was the worse $200 spent on our entire cruise vacation. Avoid this tour. read more

Terrible tour. The advertised Full 2.5hr Wildlife Tour is a scam. The entire tour was 2 hours, where an hour is spent waiting to fill the bus or at a parking lot doing Q&A. Nothing on their flyers are accurate. The City Tour Highlights on the flyers are just "drive and point" (no actual stopping to explore these city highlights). The "exclusive Eagle Point" was a gift shop ran by them to sell salmon... The so-called "Rain Forest Walk" was apparently just walking in Ketchikan (after which we are told by the vendor that the entire Ketchikan is a Temperate Rain Forest - so technically walking in Ketchikan is the "Rain Forest Walk") I saw 0 wildlife because we were 1) on the bus 2) at parking lots 3) indoor (gift shop/toilets). You do get to go to the Saxman Native Village, their gift shop. Maybe a picture of the clan house? You don't get to go it :( read more

They had a mid-sized bus, very comfortable. The tour was for 2 hours and it was good. The location they showed us was the locale around the port (came in via Princess Cruise Lines). Tammy the driver is also the guide. Between talking and driving, no moving violation or collision. The town is small and cute, and for the budget traveler - it's fun and informative. read more

$60 a person may sound good until you realize you paid to be pulled into a alley and look at a stream from afar. I understand you may not see bears but we didn't even get to look at the observation building. Take any other tour believe me read more

Sourdough Tours - Tours Near Me

This was billed as a wildlife tour yet we spent an hour before we even left town with ridiculous old facts about how the streets were repaved in 1936 and pretty insignificant facts. We spent only 10 minutes at the area where we might see wildlife, fortunately we did see a bear getting a salmon out of the river but we did not even get to walk on the boardwalk across the river that went a little further down. Not at all what we were expecting for a quote "Wildlife tour". A waste of time and money. I wish I had read the Yelp reviews before we went on the tour. read more

The tour we went on in Ketchikan, Alaska was great. The tour driver, Tom, was very informative but in a hilarious way. Please be sure to check out Sourdough Tours if you find yourself in Ketchikan. read more

The tour was good, and Tammy our tour guide was excellent. However we were told we would be back a full hour before our ship sailed. We were lied to by the salesman on the dock. It was actually over a 3 hour tour and we barely made our ship. read more

We took this tour and loved it!! Our guid, Ken was great. He took us to Eagle Point to see all the Eagles. We got within several feet of one. Amazing! Then we went to see Waterfall 2 and to the Saxman Totum Pole Village. Ken, a professional fisherman was very knowledgable. read more

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