Things to do in Icy strait

[gottagoacruzn]

Hi guys, what are some things to do, without taking a tour, can one just wander about the town and explore?

[sc2011]

We're planning our first cruise to Alaska right now. In Icy Strait we're booked to go whale watching through Glacier Wind Charters. Teresa has been very helpful with information. Also, if you search this forum for "Icy Strait", you should see some great tips and details for this port.

[gottagoacruzn]

Hi, thanks for the info will look into that.

[lovetotraveltx]

In June, 2015 we are doing whale watching with FISHES. Then plan to explore hoonah.

[Alder]

Hi there,

 

We were in ISP during summer on a fantastic 14 day HAL cruise.

 

Landing is by tender to the pier serving the old cannery. The whole area has been beautifully renovated, with the wooden cannery at the top of the pier now a series of small local owned shops, local food outlets and displays about the history of the area.

 

Off to the left of the cannery there's a nice easy self-guide nature walk through the woodland and along the coast - about a 20 minute loop.

 

The other way is the road into town - a turning circle at the entrance to ISP (where you meet independent tours - see later) very, very little traffic, but a paved walkway next to the road anyway. About a half hour easy walk into town, past the ferry terminal (nice toilets - next ferry in two days) then past a few small local stores to the dock area - all very quite. Interesting seeing the local houses and the laid back way of life. Watched lots and lots of bald eagles across the bay, then back to the terminal. We were there in June and ICP were using local school buses for trips along logging roads looking for bears - none seen and folk didn't seem to have enjoyed the trip much.

 

In the afternoon we'd pre-booked a whale watching trip with Hoonah Travel Adventure (see Trip Advisor for our review). Fantastic!

 

Note there seemed no-one selling trips for anything on the day, apart from things arranged by ISP - so if you want to do anything not via the ship or ISP then you must pre-book.

 

In summary - interesting small town, very nice terminal, but half day at most. You do need to book a whale watching trip to make the most of your visit - expensive but Point Adolphus has a number of currents meaning humpback whales are very likely and we also had the bonus of watching a young brown bear searching for food along the shore...

 

Hope that helps!

[Northern Aurora]

Alder has provided an excellent description of ISP/Hoonah.

 

When my geologist husband first saw Hoonah his reaction was that it was essentially a clone of what Ketchikan was in the early 1970s when he spent a summer working there. Folks who come to Alaska looking for yet another Diamonds International store don't like ISP/Hoonah. Folks who want to see an authentic Alaskan fishing community find it refreshing.

[donaldsc]

We did not take a tour there. We just wandered around and explored. Once you get away from the fake stuff in the cruise ship terminal and get to town, you get to see what the real non-big-city AK is like.

 

DON

[ikirumata]

There are a lot of harbor seals, bald eagles, and if you are lucky, a whale or two to watch from the shore. If it weren't for the whizzing of the zip line, ISP would be the perfect quiet escape! Totally different than the other touristy ports. No tshirts, no lumberjack shows, and no diamond shops...just lots of trees and beach.

 

If you don't want to schedule a tour, you can probably spend an hour or two exploring and then head back to the ship and spend your time on deck enjoying the scenery (and looking for wildlife). ISP is a nice refuge from the other touristy destinations.