Help with Icy Strait Point please!!

[Tljcruiser]

9 hours ago, Anita Latte said:

 

ISP is one of the easiest ports...so I wouldn't be too worried about exact plans. With your free afternoon...I highly recommend allowing your mood of the moment to dictate what you do here. That and the weather...

 

Coming from a viewpoint of absolute admiration for ISP, the feeling of the ISP port area is like an Alaska-themed day park. There's an eatery or two...a shop or two...items of interest along the boardwalk path along the water front. You can go to the more "natural" area walking along the Nature Trail which takes you along the beach directly across from the one pier and into an area of the rainforest where the trees tower above you. This singular highly developed but comparatively small area is absolutely surrounded by the brilliance of the Alaskan landscape with little other evidence of civilization.

 

The town of Hoonah is very small. The local high school usually has a graduating class in the single digits. 

 

Of all the ports you are likely to be at...this is the one where your 9-year old can really "run free" so to speak as if she were at your local park. If you are prepared, you can play in the ocean water a bit...there is a bit of a beach, like a strip...suitable for beach combing and possible rock skipping...the mountains in the distance absolutely picturesque. My point is that you can have a more unstructured afternoon here without the FOMO that might be what contributes to the overwhelming feeling that planning an Alaska vacation is.

 

It's likely that you will be in Hoonah itself, where the local marina is, for your whale watching. I'm not aware of dining opportunities in the town...but if you go back to the port area, you could easily just get back on board the ship for lunch and head out again. Nothing is far away here. Not really.

That sounds like great advice!  I think a lot of what we do will depend on the weather.  We are not cold/rainy weather fans but we will dress in layers and take rain gear and survive I am sure.  Enjoyed your reading your review by the way.😀 

[misguy]

I am interviewing Murray Lundberg, who wrote a book on the South Klondike Highway, and has been a guest speaker on numerous cruise lines and is an expert on Alaskan ports of call.  The live show is at 9:00 PM EDT on Monday 4.29.19.  We will be taking questions on the show. 

 

[NEWLKAT]

Tljcruiser- we went out with Hoonah Whale Tours last June you will not be disappointed, they work closely with Glacier Wind and we had an awesome time. I cannot recommend them enough.  We had a whale turn towards our boat, then dove right under us, came up on the other side and a few minutes later started breaching. 

We also did a bear search before our whale tour with Hoonah Travel Adventures and saw 2 sets of mom's with cubs.  May not be peak season but we did see both bears and whales on that trip. Here are just a few pics from our day.

[Tljcruiser]

On 4/29/2019 at 10:55 PM, NEWLKAT said:

Tljcruiser- we went out with Hoonah Whale Tours last June you will not be disappointed, they work closely with Glacier Wind and we had an awesome time. I cannot recommend them enough.  We had a whale turn towards our boat, then dove right under us, came up on the other side and a few minutes later started breaching. 

We also did a bear search before our whale tour with Hoonah Travel Adventures and saw 2 sets of mom's with cubs.  May not be peak season but we did see both bears and whales on that trip. Here are just a few pics from our day.

That is awesome!  Thank you for sharing!

[masterdrago]

Our whale watch excursion is with Glacier Winds at 10:30. I was looking for something to do prior to the tour since our ship docks at 6:30. Teresa @ GW said we could tour Hoonah and she would pick us up there b4 tour. Here's the deal. I was looking at the path/road between Icy Strait Point and Hoonah on Google. Looks like ~1mi+. When DW looked at it she said she might be scared a bear would run out of the woods and attack us during the walk. I told her that many people will be doing the same thing so no worries. I cannot get her to agree to a bit of foot exploring off the transit bus in Denali either😟 Is there any reason to be afraid on the walk to Hoonah?

[Budget Queen]

7 hours ago, masterdrago said:

Our whale watch excursion is with Glacier Winds at 10:30. I was looking for something to do prior to the tour since our ship docks at 6:30. Teresa @ GW said we could tour Hoonah and she would pick us up there b4 tour. Here's the deal. I was looking at the path/road between Icy Strait Point and Hoonah on Google. Looks like ~1mi+. When DW looked at it she said she might be scared a bear would run out of the woods and attack us during the walk. I told her that many people will be doing the same thing so no worries. I cannot get her to agree to a bit of foot exploring off the transit bus in Denali either😟 Is there any reason to be afraid on the walk to Hoonah?

It's smart to always be mindful of potential bear encounters.   I do the Coastal walk every time I am there.    I simply pick up the whale watch by walking to the dock.   Glacier Wind,  in the past used the dock,  next to the Liquor Store.  Blue Building.    I've gone all the way to the far docks with another vendor I've used.     When I'm in bear country,  especially on  trails,   I always  have an empty soda can,  filled with a few pebbles  with me.   Noise is a good deterrent.  .  

[verobay]

12 hours ago, masterdrago said:

Our whale watch excursion is with Glacier Winds at 10:30. I was looking for something to do prior to the tour since our ship docks at 6:30. Teresa @ GW said we could tour Hoonah and she would pick us up there b4 tour. Here's the deal. I was looking at the path/road between Icy Strait Point and Hoonah on Google. Looks like ~1mi+. When DW looked at it she said she might be scared a bear would run out of the woods and attack us during the walk. I told her that many people will be doing the same thing so no worries. I cannot get her to agree to a bit of foot exploring off the transit bus in Denali either😟 Is there any reason to be afraid on the walk to Hoonah?

A bear would have to be rabid or crazy with starvation to rush out of the woods and attack a group of 2 humans. Bears mostly want to eat their berries and fish alone in the woods and not interact with people at all. Bear attacks are extremely rare but they are nearly unheard of with multiple people around in relatively developed areas. You will definitely be fine on a paved, well-traveled trail near town.