So you want to see glaciers? Well, Alaska is the place to do just that! The state of Alaska is home to over 100,000 glaciers. There are many ways to experience these “rivers of ice” which are slowly carving the Alaska landscape. They can be viewed by air, sea and/or land.
Today I will tell you about seeing glaciers by boat. There are 3 main areas close to Anchorage that offer glacier (and wildlife) viewing tours by boat. They are Whittier, Seward and Homer. I feel that each of these destinations will offer you a different experience.
© Copyright: Liane Minster 2014
All Rights Reserved by the author.
© Copyright: Liane Minster 2014
All Rights Reserved by the author
All Rights Reserved by the author
All Rights Reserved by the author
All Rights Reserved by the author
All Rights Reserved by the author
All Rights Reserved by the author
I, personally, prefer to take my guests out to Whittier to enjoy the 5 1/2 hr 26 glacier cruise offered by Phillips Cruises and Tours. You can check out their website here: http://www.phillipscruises.com I prefer and recommend this tour for several reasons:
1) You will view an amazing number of tidewater glaciers (and hopefully see some calving).
2) You will also see numerous types of Alaskan wildlife often including whales, dall’s porpoise, sea otters, harbor seals, eagles, birds, mountain goats and on a really good day, a bear and/or moose.
3) The $149 price includes a small meal.
4) The boat is large, stable, comfortable and everyone has an assigned seat (most with a view).
5) There is plenty of both indoor (which are kept clean) and outdoor viewing areas.
6) It departs out of Whittier which is only an hour from Anchorage by car and there is also a train that can get you there.
I have done this cruise several times and have never been disappointed. If you want to see glaciers, head out of Whittier in Prince William Sound for the best viewing experience by sea. My kids actually call this the “too many glacier cruise” because they are spoiled rotten by the beauty of our state and after a while don’t really appreciate the majesty and awesomeness of our “rivers of ice”. But both my kids and I ALWAYS go with our guests because we LOVE the wildlife viewing, especially the sea animals that we don’t see in Anchorage. Phillips offers 2 different glacier viewing cruises out of Whittier, but I prefer the 5 1/2 hr 26 glacier cruise because it goes much further out into Prince William Sound and includes a one way ride through the stunning Esther Passage.
Major Marine offers cruise tours out of Whittier as well and out of Seward. Out of Whittier, Major Marine has two cruise tours which are very similar to what Phillips offers. They are priced about the same, but do not include meal service (however, it can be purchased separately). You can find their info here: https://www.majormarine.com/pws/ Major Marine DOES offer a number of ways to receive a discount on their cruises. Online (at their website: https://www.majormarine.com/contact/specials-and-packages/) you may find specials including early purchase discounts, and kids free promotions. They also offer transportation options from Anchorage for their guests (for a fee). Major Marine is also big on offering printed discount coupons to sell through their open seats on many of their boats. They are often printed in the Alaska Toursaver Coupon Book and the Northern Lights Coupon Book. However, the coupons are usually only good on selected tours which tend to be their shorter trips. For example, out of Whittier, Major Marine only offers discount coupons on 4 1/2 hr Blackstone Glacier cruise. If it’s in your budget to take the 5 1/2 hr cruise, do it! It’s a better total experience. If not, then look into getting these coupons and take advantage of the discounts.
Next cruise tour place is Seward. Seward is the gateway to the Kenai Fjords. I will have another post specifically about the Kenai Fjords in the future, but for now I am focusing on glaciers cruise tours. There are several companies that depart out of Seward which offer Kenai Fjords tours that make stops at glaciers also. The number of glaciers in this area is far less than what you will see out of Whittier. There are a couple of big tidewater glaciers in the Fjords and some alpine (in the mountain) glaciers.
The main focus of these tours out of Seward is on Alaska wildlife and the beautiful scenery of the Fjords. The Kenai Fjords is home to MANY varieties of birds and the “Puffin”, which is usually the one everyone wants to see. I’ll tell you now that I’m not much of a birder, so this doesn’t excite me. You will probably also see some sea lions (if you stop at Chiswell Island) and possibly some otter. These tours are usually offered in different lengths from 4 1/2 hrs to 9 hrs. I have ridden the shorter tours (in Resurrection Bay) MANY times and the one thing I have NEVER seen is a whale. From what I have heard from others, to have the best opportunity to see whales you really need to take an 8 or 9 hour tour.
The Kenai Fjords tours are wonderful cruise tours (I will get into that more in a future post), but they are not the best option for glacier viewing. However, if glaciers aren’t your priority, the few that you see may be enough and you can focus on the jagged cliffs of the majestic fjords and the wildlife.
The other way to experience glaciers out of Seward by sea is by kayak. There are kayak rentals available and also a few companies which will take you on a guided kayak tour. I’m not as familiar with these kayak tours, but I have always heard people have good experiences. Obviously kayaks can’t go as far out into Resurrection Bay as a bigger cruise tour, but I do know that you can paddle to the foot of a glacier and be up close and personal with the marine wildlife.
Small boat and kayaks are the main vehicles to experience glacier viewing out of Homer, AK. There are two glaciers (Wosnesenski and Doroshin Glacier) that are partially visible from land in Homer. The big tidewater glaciers are viewable from beautiful Katchemak Bay. The three most visible glaciers are close to Halibut Cove. (Grewingk, Portlock and Dixon Glacier). They are easily accessible by water taxi or small boat. You can also get off and hike these glaciers (at your own risk of course) or camp in a nearby area (obviously not in your RV). There are not a lot of bigger glacier cruises that head out of the Homer docks as glaciers are really not the focal point for visitors to Homer. Glacier views are normally a bonus during a fishing trip, visit to Seldovia or outing to Halibut Cove. While Homer offers some lovely reasons to visit (which I will discuss in a future post), it’s not a sea cruise mecca for glacier viewing.
For additional info on glacier viewing tours, check out these websites:
http://www.alaska.org/things-to-do/glacier-tours
RVing Alaska 