Our Vessel
The Island Explorer 3

2011 Photo Contest Entry

Aft Bullworks

Captain Carl at wing station

Full Walk Around Lower Deck

Bellingham Channel

IE3 from Spotter Plane

Guemes Channel

Lunch on the IE3

Mt. Baker (Photo by Michael Colahan — www.picturepangea.com)

Viewing pulpit

Experience The Island Explorer 3 in our 360° panorama gallery

At 101 feet long with an upper viewing deck and the largest bow pulpit in the industry, The Island Explorer 3 has more than enough space for everyone to have a front row spot at the rail. Both the upper and lower deck are fully walkaround, which allows effortless movement around the boat and great viewing. Because of the new viewing distance requirements, smaller low profile vessels do not have the same great experience as our guests have on The Island Explorer 3. The lower enclosed cabin has four entrance doors making for quick access to the lower outside decks. Her size and stability enables guests to safely move around throughout the trip. The large windows in the lower heated cabin ensure that you will not miss a thing if you choose to escape from the elements into the comfy new interior, or if you step inside to grab some lunch at our snack bar counter. The Island Explorer 3 also has a 42" flat screen panel for slide shows, presentations, videos, whale identification lessons and for the GPS software that shows our day’s route. There are two on board (clean!) restrooms to add more comfort to your tour. Guests will also enjoy the yacht style booth seating inside, plenty of outside seating and over 400 feet of rail viewing space for watching whales and other wildlife. The comfort and quality of The Island Explorer 3 will maximize your whale watching experience!

The Best Viewing Platform and Comfort for Everyone!

Recent Improvements

Quiet exhaust system
Additional heaters in the main cabin
New state of the art sound system
Additional upper deck seating and bag storage

Going Green

On board The Island Explorer 3 we use eco-friendly products for cleaning and route all Gray and Black water into our holding tanks. The floor in the main cabin looks black…but it’s really green because it’s made of recycled tires. Our crew has installed an oil catchment system in the engine room so there’s never a drop of oil or coolant that will get into the sea. We also use low noise propellers and above water exhaust to minimize any noise transferred through the water. When The Island Explorer 3 is engaged in a parallel viewing sequence, she makes less sound in the water than the ambient sound of rain.