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Icy Strait Point - free hikes, walks, viewpoints w/out a car

Veetravels

By Veetravels,
in Alaska

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Northern Aurora

Northern Aurora

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Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

As someone who actually lives in Alaska I am not aware of car rentals in ISP/Hoonah.  This is a very small community and, as typical in Alaska, most folks have their own vehicles and know how to drive.

 

The gondola to the top of the hilltop/mountain is lovely.  The flat walk from the ISP compound to the community of Hoonah is nice on a good weather day.  The displays in the old cannery are interesting but you will not spend 12 hours looking at them.

 

ISP is an excellent port for whale watching.  Our OP may want to reconsider and book a whale watching tour there.

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Anita Latte

Anita Latte

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A second welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Icy Strait Point is like a resort port, meaning...it's like the ship pulls up to the dock and basically functions like a high rise hotel building with lodging by the common grounds of a typical resort, THAT's ISP. And like any typical, well appointed and somewhat sprawling but highly walkable resort, where you would never, ever think to rent a vehicle to walk from your hotel room to the main building...if you decide to power walk, you can get from one end to the other in a matter of minutes. Here's a map:

 

https://icystraitpoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Icy-Strait-Point-Map.pdf

 

Notice the map says 1.5 miles to the town of Hoonah. It's a trail that is along the coastline, following the one and only road that connects ISP to town. The town of Hoonah has a population of under 1000 people...when we went there and spoke with our local tour provider for whale watching, IIRC we're talking about something like a graduating class of 11 from the local high school? If you go to the tourism website for Hoonah, you will see that many things are "coming soon" because quite frankly there's just not much there that is aimed at tourists...what is there is very much geared toward local needs. It's one of the reasons why ISP is so very charming to go to, because it is the LEAST touristy town on most cruise itineraries. 

 

http://visithoonah.com

https://www.alaska.org/destination/hoonah-icy-strait

 

If you frame your ISP day more as the Alaska equivalent of going to a private Caribbean Island, where you can choose to do any number of additional add on activities, then you will have a better approach to ISP.

 

As Northern Aurora brings up, whale watching is an extremely popular tour in ISP. The resort is waterfront with gorgeous mountain views all around and the ease of smaller boat excursions is second to no other port, first because the port is so small, getting to your small boat involves little time or effort, and second, the waters where you will be touring are also RIGHT THERE...you are not having much, if any, tour time on the boat traveling to where you really want to be for the majority of your excursion time.

 

However, that said, you can have a completely leisurely day in ISP. It's not necessarily a beach where you can more easily be at your leisure to just hang out, find a lounge chair, and soak up the atmosphere and relax...but that attitude is the kind of day that you could easily have in ISP. Though some will argue that that approach to ISP, without getting out on the water or deeper into the wilderness on the island, is something of a missed opportunity.

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Veetravels

Veetravels

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20 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

As someone who actually lives in Alaska I am not aware of car rentals in ISP/Hoonah.  This is a very small community and, as typical in Alaska, most folks have their own vehicles and know how to drive.

 

The gondola to the top of the hilltop/mountain is lovely.  The flat walk from the ISP compound to the community of Hoonah is nice on a good weather day.  The displays in the old cannery are interesting but you will not spend 12 hours looking at them.

 

ISP is an excellent port for whale watching.  Our OP may want to reconsider and book a whale watching tour there.

Thank you! I was a bit clueless about this. Thanks for all the information. 

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Veetravels

Veetravels

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14 hours ago, Anita Latte said:

A second welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Icy Strait Point is like a resort port, meaning...it's like the ship pulls up to the dock and basically functions like a high rise hotel building with lodging by the common grounds of a typical resort, THAT's ISP. And like any typical, well appointed and somewhat sprawling but highly walkable resort, where you would never, ever think to rent a vehicle to walk from your hotel room to the main building...if you decide to power walk, you can get from one end to the other in a matter of minutes. Here's a map:

 

https://icystraitpoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Icy-Strait-Point-Map.pdf

 

Notice the map says 1.5 miles to the town of Hoonah. It's a trail that is along the coastline, following the one and only road that connects ISP to town. The town of Hoonah has a population of under 1000 people...when we went there and spoke with our local tour provider for whale watching, IIRC we're talking about something like a graduating class of 11 from the local high school? If you go to the tourism website for Hoonah, you will see that many things are "coming soon" because quite frankly there's just not much there that is aimed at tourists...what is there is very much geared toward local needs. It's one of the reasons why ISP is so very charming to go to, because it is the LEAST touristy town on most cruise itineraries. 

 

http://visithoonah.com

https://www.alaska.org/destination/hoonah-icy-strait

 

If you frame your ISP day more as the Alaska equivalent of going to a private Caribbean Island, where you can choose to do any number of additional add on activities, then you will have a better approach to ISP.

 

As Northern Aurora brings up, whale watching is an extremely popular tour in ISP. The resort is waterfront with gorgeous mountain views all around and the ease of smaller boat excursions is second to no other port, first because the port is so small, getting to your small boat involves little time or effort, and second, the waters where you will be touring are also RIGHT THERE...you are not having much, if any, tour time on the boat traveling to where you really want to be for the majority of your excursion time.

 

However, that said, you can have a completely leisurely day in ISP. It's not necessarily a beach where you can more easily be at your leisure to just hang out, find a lounge chair, and soak up the atmosphere and relax...but that attitude is the kind of day that you could easily have in ISP. Though some will argue that that approach to ISP, without getting out on the water or deeper into the wilderness on the island, is something of a missed opportunity.

Thank you for all the info. I have a better picture of what to expect. 

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