Why Choose Us?
First, our business approach differs from others in an important way. Our driving force is the quality of your experience above all other things, and you’ll feel this difference throughout your excursion. On every tour, we take the time to show you the little things that might go unseen. Our tours are very educational, and are about so much more than just kayaking, biking, and hiking.
Second, we run the most intimate tours in town. All of our tours are limited to a 6:1 guide to guest ratio, which ensures a quality experience for everyone. Remember, there can be upwards of 10,000 cruise ship passengers in Ketchikan in a single day. We get you away from virtually all of them. We have a great central meeting point downtown, across the street from the cruise docks and we have our own private transportation to take you north of town to our marina featuring smaller crowds, a local atmosphere and statistically much nicer weather than tours operating out of downtown Ketchikan.
Third, we are experienced, professional, mostly local Alaskans. We only have five employees, myself included! We ‘live it’, and when you book with us you are supporting true locals and our local economy. Why would anybody want a guide that just got up here for their first season?
Lastly, we have the best value in town. When you compare price and actual experience the choice is simple. We maintain this edge by maintaining a quality product and staying small. Nobody knows our tours like we do, and we are here to answer all your questions. Ask your guide anything! Outside of our summer tours, your guides feature experience in Alaskan commercial salmon fishing, commercial winter diving fisheries, guiding sled dog tours, recreational diving Alaskan waters, multi-day excursions kayaking and sailing Alaska’s Inside Passage along with a passion for continually learning about the local geography, history, culture and wildlife native to Southeast Alaska.
Devon Bittner, Owner
In a sea of imitators there are few who actually live it. As a kayak guide in the summer and experience working on commercial dive fishing vessels in the winter, he enjoys being on the ocean in Alaska year round. He’s passionate about living in the moment, providing an authentic Southeast Alaskan experience and making each individual tour the best experience possible for everyone involved. Devon is most excited about a new program that will start getting local kids out on our tours all summer as a part of our new Apprentice Guide Program, helping local youth gain experience working with guests and learning key people skills that will help them as they look to enter the work force in the near future, all while getting to share their unique perspective of growing up in Southeast Alaska.
Mr. Derek Meister
Mr. D is the school counselor for one of our local Elementary schools throughout the school year here in Ketchikan. He’s also an experienced Alaskan salmon seiner. Think big league Alaskan salmon fishing… Crew of 5, massive nets, powerhouse work skiff, 3 day long openers on hardly any sleep all summer to bring you wild caught Alaskan Salmon! He’s a salty one for sure. Lucky for us he’s also newly married and looking forward to spending his summer in town with his beautiful wife and stupid cute dog instead of out on the high seas with Mistress Pacifica. So we are very excited to have him on board again in 2018 for his second season guiding both of our tours. Whether kayaking or biking and hiking with us, trust me, you want to spend your day in Ketchikan with this guy!
Tim Hemme
Tim is a year-round resident of Ketchikan who would love nothing more than to be commercial fishing all year. Lucky for us, even more than the ocean, Tim loves getting lots of quality time in with his beautiful son Noah, so we get to keep him in town again this summer! Having experience on commercial salmon fishing boats and spending this winter out on a commercial diving vessel in Southeast Alaska Tim knows these waters like few others. Any chance he gets Tim has his family out at the beach or hiking through the rain forest. He has a passion for learning and loves the details. So whether he’s guiding out on the water or on the e-bike and hike tour through the forest, you’ll learn some of the coolest details that are so easily missed by most. We’re excited to have Tim running our tours again this year and you’re gonna love having guides who are just as interested in you learning things about our unique eco system as they are about how much fun you’re having out there! Besides, nobody knows how to maintain those E-bikes like Tim.
Ryan Deininger
Ryan is returning for his 5th season as a guide out on the water here in Ketchikan in 2018 and is stepping up to run kayak tour operations this year. I was there to see his introduction to guiding his rookie year, heck, I was there his first day! He was born for this and has a talent for being just as passionate on his 200th tour of the season as he was May 1st! This guy is as pro as they come. When he isn’t out on the water guiding kayak tours in the summer though, you’ll probably still be able to find him out on the water, whether it’s an excursion in a zodiac, a trip to the Hole in the Wall bar in his skiff or out racing sailboats, any chance he gets this guy is out on the water. Ryan loves the intricacies of the sea; the tides, winds, currents, marine life, he knows more about the local area and wildlife than a lot of locals that were born and raised here and is always excited to share that knowledge and his love for our beautiful landscape with anyone who wants to learn.
Tim Kistner
Every team needs an all around ops manager, the guy who can handle everything from transport, to resource management, from guiding to maintenance. Kistner is our guy. Tim is a well seasoned traveler across many continents and has honed the skill of being able to communicate well with people from all walks of life. Some of us have specific skills that we love to exploit on the job, Tim on the other hand is an all around chameleon. Ask him anything, I dare ya. We’re stoked to have Tim back keeping this machine running smooth for his 3rd season this year.