Most visitors see Alaska from a ship, along the Inside Passage — a protected waterway running roughly a thousand miles from Vancouver up to Skagway, between the mainland and a wall of forested islands. What you see depends enormously on the size of the vessel.
Large ships versus small
The big cruise lines carry two to four thousand passengers, dock at the same four towns, and offer comfort, price and scale. Small expedition vessels carry twelve to a hundred, can enter narrow fjords the large ships cannot, drop kayaks in the water, and cost several times as much. The wildlife difference is real: a large ship watches a glacier from a mile away, a small one can sit in the ice.
The ports
- Juneau — the state capital, reachable only by sea or air; Mendenhall Glacier is fifteen minutes from town.
- Skagway — the Klondike gold rush town, with the White Pass railway climbing into the mountains.
- Ketchikan — the greatest concentration of standing totem poles anywhere, and salmon.
- Sitka — Russian colonial history, an onion-domed cathedral, and the best small-town feel of the four.
The glaciers
Glacier Bay National Park is the centrepiece, and the number of ships allowed in daily is capped by the Park Service — check that your itinerary actually enters it rather than passing by. Tracy Arm, Endicott Arm and Hubbard Glacier are the alternatives. Calving, when ice breaks off the face, is loudest in warm weather and is what everyone comes for.
The wildlife
Humpback whales feed here from May to September and bubble-net feed cooperatively, which almost nowhere else offers. Orcas, sea otters, Steller sea lions and bald eagles are routine. Brown bears are best seen on shore excursions — Pack Creek on Admiralty Island and Anan Creek near Wrangell are the reliable places, both permit-controlled.
When to go
The season runs mid-May to mid-September. May and early June are driest and coldest, with the fewest people. July and August have the whales at their peak, the most daylight and the most rain. September brings salmon runs, bears feeding hard, and the first autumn colour. Southeast Alaska is temperate rainforest — expect rain whenever you come and bring layers rather than a single warm coat.