Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Alaska Port Reviews

Whales Wildlife and Brown Bear Search - we loved the whale watching, saw one bear; were hoping for more, but it's a search, not a guarantee..

It was nice off the ship, just for the cruise guests, we walked to Hoonah, about 35 minutes, it was not worth it.

Loved this port. Pleasantly surprised. Saw whales and sea lions. Had a great lunch. Great atmosphere.

Icy Strait is a small, quiet little port that the Cruise Ships added after the Skagway Port was temp closed due to rock slide activity had damaged the Pier. There is a small cannery museum, gift shop, coffee house, restaurants and a short walk to the Tlinglit Village of Hoonah. We decided to explore the Alaska Wilderness and pre-booked a shore excursion through our Holland America Cruise Ship. $110 Per Person. After you disembark, there is a green Gondola which is complimentary and will take you to the next "level". From there, we gathered our tickets for the next super steep ride up the mountain on the Red Gondola. WooHoo! What an amazing ride. If you are skittish of heights, DO NOT look down! It's a spectacular view of the Port and all of the surrounding water and Islands. Once on top of the mountain, we were warmly greeted by several Tour Guides and were told to wait for the next Tram. There are bathrooms and a concession stand but, this is the wilderness so, not much else.

The whale watching excursion was amazing. The number of whales you could see from the ship was also great. The port itself has little to offer. If you don’t do an excursion, I would recommend staying on the ship and watching the whales, seals and otters.

There isn't much to do in Hoonah if you don't book an excursion. There are some walking paths along the beach that are nice. Don't bother going into town- there really isn't a town to go into.

Visited: May 13, 2011

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Loved being able to get off boat and take a nature hike. THe whale watching was really "whale listening" in the fog-- huge waste of money but then, the supplier doesn't control the weather or the whales.

Visited: Sep 09, 2006

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This is much closer to real Alaska than tourist Alaska. For us, that is exactly what we wanted. We enjoied the Kayaking and historical narration by our guide. Many enjoied the 90 second zipline ride.

Visited: Jul 18, 2008

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I took the whale watching excursion from this port. Amazing. We had at least 40 Humpback sitings along with porpoises and one goofy seal. From what I heard from others that they saw less on their same trips taken at other ports.

Visited: May 14, 2010

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I realize it's the luck of the draw but the whale watch was spectacular.

Visited: Jun 24, 2006

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