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Kenai Fjords Tours

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Virtually There
Virtually There
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4 out of 5
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Editor Pick

Glacier Tour That's Worth Every Penny in Any Weather!

  • August 27, 2009
  • Rated 5 of 5 by stvchin from Tustin, California
Glacier Tour That's Worth Every Penny in Any Weather!

Kenai Fjords Tours is a wildlife and glacier cruise company operating out of Seward, Alaska. It runs tours to Kenai Fjords National Park and surrounding attractions, with the main emphasis on the glaciers in the national park, especially Aialik and Holgate glaciers. We took the 8.5 hour cruise, which departs at 10 AM from their base at Seward. Tickets are normally $159 for adults, but we purchased them at Costco for $129. The tickets include the cruise, onboard light lunch, and visit to Fox Island with an all-you-can eat buffet which includes prime rib and salmon.
On the day of our cruise, we parked at a $5 all day parking lot across the street from the Kenai Fjords Tours office. We checked in the front desk with our names, and were issued boarding passes. We boarded the Tanana, one of Kenai Fjord Tours' fleet of sightseeing vessels. The Tanana is a 95 foot long vessel, I believe they said it was around 1000 tons. The Tanana has 2 levels, a lower level with a galley where you can buy snacks, and an interior upper deck with it’s own complimentary coffee station and upper outside seating near the rear of the vessel. Since the weather was rainy and cold, nobody sat in the upper outside seating area, most opted to stay inside with the coffee machine nearby.

Problem was the weather. It was already windy and raining when we boarded, and our departure was delayed as we awaited a break in the weather. Unfortunately the captain said the weather report was worsening to the point they were offering refunds or free rebooking for passengers that wanted to exit the craft now. We should have taken that as a sign. I downed some Dramamine and hoped for the best. Although the temperature in Seward was in the mid 50’s, it was supposed to get much colder and rougher as we headed out to sea.

We cast off from Seward and headed out to Resurrection Bay. Our course was south out of the protected waters of Resurrection Way, then we would brave the open ocean waters of the Gulf of Alaska for about 45 minutes, then east to Aialik Bay and north to the end of the bay where Aialik Glacier sits. During most of the cruise, the captain provided narration for us of various things to take note of.

One of the interesting things the captain noted on our way out of Seward is Seward itself. Seward is the northernmost major US port that is ice-free all year. Because of this, Seward is the terminus of the Alaska Railroad. Plus, there is an ominously huge structure in Seward Harbor which loads coal brought in from the Alaska Railroad to coal ships bound for South Korea.

As we left Seward, we encountered a otter floating on it’s back, busy trying to crack open something, presumably a clam it had plucked from the sea. The captain was very good about throttling down the engines and doing a complete circle around the otter for photo opportunities. As we continued outbound, we saw a set of wooden pylons sticking out of the water. The captain explained those were remnants of the old Seward boardwalk before it was destroyed by the tsunami created by the 1964 Alaska Earthquake, which registered 9.2 on the Richter scale. Nowadays, there is to be no residential dwellings on the shore in Seward.

Although it’s foggy, rainy, and windy, it’s still very easy to see that it’s absolutely beautiful here in Resurrection Bay. It’s very thick with fir trees, beautiful cliffs of granite that juts up out of the water, plenty of small waterfalls draining into Resurrection Bay. In the same respect, it’s also easy to see how rugged and harsh the landscape is as far as humans go. There is plenty of wildlife to be seen too, from otters, to sea lions, and all sorts of sea birds. There is an odd, yet beautiful feeling observing the gorgeous, untouched scenery. Not only is the land mostly untouched by humans, but the stinging cold against my face reminds me that it’s too harsh for us here, and the land isn’t ours.

We made a mad dash at around 24 knots out on the Gulf of Alaska to Aialik Bay. The Gulf was quite bad, with lots of heavy turbulence due to heavy waves and heavy 25-30 mph winds. During this time, the crew brought out a brown bag lunch of chicken ranch salad wraps, chips, and a granola bar.

Once we reached the calmer waters of Aialik Bay, we eagerly steamed north towards Aialik Glacier. After about 45 minutes, there it was…the glacier. The Aialik Glacier is quite awesome to take in. It’s big, cold, and quite blue. There are lawyers of silt and other materials, resumably from volcanic eruptions in the area hundreds of years ago. The water in front of the glacier is very calm and quite reflective, and very blue. The captain explained the bluish water is from the silt and other nutrients carried by the glacier. The glacier’s color is blue to the fact that it glacier isn’t ice, but compacted snow which keeps the refractive quality of the individual snowflakes. The captain turned off the engine and we drifted closer and closer to the glacier. It was dead quiet, punctuated every minute or two by loud cracks, heaving, and moaning of the glacier as it slowly slides its way down the mountain towards Aialik Bay. The noises were quite loud, some of the glacier’s cracking could be compared to an artillery volley going off nearby. About every 5 to 8 minutes, a section of the glacier calved (break off and fall into the water,) creating a thunderous roar and splash. It's a very interesting effect with the fog in the way, not too much that we can't see, but enough to add some mystique and awe to the scene.

After hanging around the area for about 45 minutes, we headed outbound towards the Gulf of Alaska again. We spotted some humpback whales, but I was unable to capture them on my camera. It was hard to tell where they would come up for air next and they were only on the surface for a few seconds. We also saw some sea lions nesting on a rock, and they are as loud as you’d imagine. We saw seagulls, puffins, and eagles.

We docked on Fox Island, formerly an island with a fox farm on the southern edge of Resurrection Bay. We went to the lodge for a historical lecture given by a US National Park Ranger about Fox Island and Resurrection Bay, and our prime rib dinner.

After a filling meal with some educational facts thrown in, we reboarded our vessel and headed back to Seward. Not much else occurred during the trip, the calm waters, and post meal, semi-vegetative, state of the passengers made for a quiet return. After we docked, I looked around at the different passengers on the boat and realized that despite the biting cold, and heavy, vomit-inducing turbulence in the Gulf of Alaska, it showed on everybody’s face that the glacier cruise was well worth the visit. The rough journey was almost a rite of passage, with a very handsome reward to experience at the end.

From journal Homecoming to Alaska

Kenai Fjords Tours

  • September 9, 2005
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Makai from Savannah
Kenai Fjords Tours

The boat ride to Holgate Glacier is a long one-- it's not keel-over-the-side-and-disperse-stomach-contents rocky, but I would definitely take Bonine if you're super-prone to motion sickness (just in case). You're given a wildlife list to check off along the way-- out of 41 species, I checked off 29, including bald eagles, gulls, ducks, orcas, sea otters, mountains goats, and steller sea lions. Having said that, I would have been content just to wave to passing fishermen emerging from the mist in this surreally fairy-tale-like seascape.

Next to the giant Holgate Glacier, our boat floated among ice chunks as we ate dinner from a glass-enclosed dining room. After dinner, we motored along the fringes of rock outcroppings to view groups of sea lions and thousands of puffins. Just as we were returning, a giant humpback whale fluked not more than 20 yards away. Though a bit steep in price, this tour was worth every cent.

From journal 5 Days in Seward, Alaska

Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise

  • January 21, 2005
  • Rated 4 of 5 by petecg from Stony Point, New York
Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise

I went on both the Kenai and Prince William Sound tours and liked the Kenai one better. There was more wildlife, more scenery, and more options for different tours in the Kenai Fjord.

From journal 10 Days in Alaska

Editor Pick

Kenai Fjords Tours

  • August 25, 2002
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Jack Ventura from Scottsdale, Arizona
Kenai Fjords Tours


Among my friends gathered in the hotel lobby, only Kaz appeared to have perhaps ignored the advice to get a good night's rest, to eat a light breakfast, and to go easy on the coffee. I gave her a Dramamine pill as a precaution. We were scheduled to depart at 8am on "Kenai Fjords National Park Tour", a 120 mile roundtrip cruise, operated by Kenai Fjords Tours. They offer other routes and several departure times, but I sensed from the beautiful morning that we had chosen the right one. The ocean was like glass, reflecting dense, bright clouds. Sea Otters floating on their back appeared to be waving 'bon voyage'.

On open water, the skies cleared, and I familiarized myself with the well designed ship. The interior was spacious with table booths and unobstructed windows. The rear galley sold beverages, snacks, and photo film. Both decks led to outdoor observation areas fore and aft. The craft, at maybe sixty percent capacity with sixty people, was a comfortable ride.

The abundance of life was beyond mine and my friends' conceptions!

There were thousands of sea gulls, gangs of cormorants and murres, thousands of puffins diving in and out of the water. To be sure, beneath the ocean surface was a large school of herring with countless salmon and seals. And this was just one cove. Every cove, every island, of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge was filled with life. Our sharp-eyed and knowledgeable tour escort was the boat captain.

We passed Three Hole Point and continued toward the unmistakable white slope of a glacier. The water became shallow, and as ice floated by, the boat slowed to a drift. We crept up on a wall of ice.

Aialik Glacier was huge. And, an unworldly experience. Time and space entered a different dimension. Size, distance and perspective became difficult to gauge. Everyone aboard watched the glacier calving in awe, perhaps once every 5 seconds, perhaps 50, the interval was difficult to tell. Typically, a shower of snow would cascade down the glacier’s face in slow motion, upwelling a large plume when it finally hit the water. A second or two later came the dull sonic boom, like a distant lightning bolt.

We snapped out of our reverie with the announcement of lunch over the loudspeaker. I wasn't looking forward to the 'deli style lunch' advertised for this cruise, but couldn't ask for a better picnic spot. Surprisingly, it was good - crispy fried halibut from the fryer in the galley, in my case. Lunch finished and everyone satiated, we started our full throttle return to Seward.

Two final notes: First, I recommend binoculars, not too strong in magnification; and second, you’ll have rubbery knees for a while after you disembark around 2pm.

Without exaggeration, I would catalog Kenai Fjords National Park and the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge as one of the world's great natural wonders. I’ll have to visit again for orcas...

From journal The Edge of Sea and Summer

Editor Pick

Kenai Fjords Tours

Kenai Fjords Tours

Guided tour through Kenai Fjords Natoinal Park. I highly recommend both the Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise (6 hours - $109pp including lunch) and the Northwestern Fjord Cruise (9.5 hours - $139pp includig lunch). I did the Park Cruise in 1999 and the Fjord Cruise in 2000. Both these cruises afforded me the opportunity to experience some of the most awesome scenery in the world. Definitely one of the most memorable experiences in all my travels. If you like nature you need to come here at a least once in your life.

From journal Weekend Getaway to Alaska

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