Hoonah/Icy Straight Point without a tour.

[olya1972]

Can someone recommend how to structure a day in Icy Straight Point without booking any tours. Visiting in second half of May latter this year ( a group of two couples in their 70’s, not athletic, but in decent physical shape, walkers). Time in port- full day, 8am-6pm. Thank You.

[olya1972]

I need to clarify “ walkers”. I mean these people prefer to walk. They don’t use any assistive devices .

[gliles]

I'm curious as well. We also will be there late May. I'm gonna do some looking and see what I can find. I'll let you know. 

[ImperialLady]

We were at Icy Point Strait last year..it was a cold and misty day...we didn't do much research so we spent an  hour or so walking around...then we walked to Hoonah, wish we had more time to spend there...we saw master totem carvers creating a HUGE totem, talked to a fisherman who told us the dock was a great place to see whales and about a fisherman's life, we stopped at a little shop with a variety of unique items, spoke to a resident about her container garden...we are going back in September to do a bear excursion....here's a link that is very informative....  https://cruisemaven.com/best-things-to-do-icy-strait-point-alaska/

[olya1972]

This is great information. Thank You.

[ImperialLady]

1 hour ago, olya1972 said:

This is great information. Thank You.

you are welcome and FYI my husband and I are both in our LATE 70's😉

[CruisinCadie]

There's plenty to see in Hoonah without a tour.  The old salmon cannery was very interesting to walk through, with lots of signage to explain the exhibits.  This is also a good place to get authentic Alaskan crafts.  

Kathy

[olya1972]

I went through the link ImperialLady posted and I realized there is a lot to see and do without a tour. We were in Icy Straight once about seven years ago on one of Holland America ships and we did a combination tour of whale watching and bear viewing. Of course it being mid May- we didn’t see bears ( one skinny bear very far away who must have just awaken from hibernation, still seemed half asleep), but whale watching was very good. We are scheduled to be in ISP this May, the very end of the month and are planning to do the same tour. The information I am seeking is actually for my parents who will be sailing to ISP a week before us and they are not interested in whale watching. Now that I went through the link I myself is second guessing whether I should repeat a whale watch with bear viewing or just do a whale watch portion and spend the rest of the time just exploring all the areas of interest near the port and in Hoonah. Thank You all for great information.

[cruisingrob21]

Icy Straight Point and Hoonah are connected by a 2 mile road with a separated sidewalk.  So you can certainly get a nice, very scenic, relatively long and flat walk in.  Once in Hoonah however, I don't recall there being much to "see".  It's a small Alaskan village that appears to direct its tourism amenities to Icy Straight Point.

 

360 Photo along the sidewalk 

https://www.google.com/maps/@58.124767,-135.4638088,3a,75y,28.97h,92.26t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMI5zz22PbvsUYrWZs4MGCna99CfFxV7ZCTmHzV!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMI5zz22PbvsUYrWZs4MGCna99CfFxV7ZCTmHzV%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya334.2096-ro0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

 

[Kathscof]

I would suggest SOME sort of tour.  I did a kayaking tour EARLY and had about 4-5 hours available after that and we filled it by getting some Salvation Army mini donuts, walking to Hoonah (Fisherman's Daughter lunch SO GOOD), popping in a shop or two, saw the pole carver, and hightailed it back to ISP to see the tribal dance show (not without a stop at the Korean bbq trailer and got DOLE WHIP YUM).  We did a bit of shopping and looked around the cannery and made it back to the ship about an hour before the ship left.  I don't think I would be terribly excited about this port without some sort of official activity (besides lunch at the Fisherman's Daughter).  Our ship has a cooking lesson too, even that is something interesting, but not a big "to do".  

 

The town is "neat" but I don't like going to a place and ONLY "walking around" for my activity, so that might not match your parents.  I like filling my days with museums, activities, tours, points of interest.  My dad will LOVE the totem carver, and I will INSIST on the Fisherman's Daughter for lunch, but my brain doesn't scream "let's walk to Hoonah!" just for those things to claim a successful visit to the area.  

Edited March 8, 2023 by Kathscof

[eyern1]

Following but not thinking much more info will be available.  Seems pretty limited for a 10 hour stop.

[misguy]

We did several things in Icy Strait Point last year, we did the whale watching, the zip line, and the cannery tour and loved all of them.  

 

[suzzek]

We would love to do the zip line in ISP but I’m not sure how to prebook this. I don’t see tickets available from our ship. Is it possible to get tickets the day we arrive?

 

[cw2go]

12 hours ago, suzzek said:

We would love to do the zip line in ISP but I’m not sure how to prebook this. I don’t see tickets available from our ship. Is it possible to get tickets the day we arrive?

 

When is your sailing and what cruise line? I am surprised this isn't offered? It's a ton of fun! 

 

Patty 

[suzzek]

We are sailing June 4, 2023 on Celebrity. We will be in ISP  6/6 from 1:30-10:00p.m.

[ImperialLady]

16 hours ago, suzzek said:

We would love to do the zip line in ISP but I’m not sure how to prebook this. I don’t see tickets available from our ship. Is it possible to get tickets the day we arrive?

 

https://icystraitpoint.com/tour/worlds-largest-ziprider-and-scenic-mountain-ascent/  you can contact them and ask or possible even book

[cw2go]

4 hours ago, suzzek said:

We are sailing June 4, 2023 on Celebrity. We will be in ISP  6/6 from 1:30-10:00p.m.

That is very odd. Celebrity usually has multiple times throughout the day during port stops. I have 2 available in my cruise planner for July 18th 7:30 and 12:30 

Make sure you're looking for zip rider and gondola combo? 

In years past there were many more options so maybe it's a staffing issue since you port later? 

 

Patty 

[suzzek]

Thanks Patty!

I called the zip line folks in Alaska but they advised me to call Celebrity. There was a link on Celebrity’s website but I couldn’t complete the reservation on line. I was afraid it was sold out. I finally called Celebrity and was given a choice of quite a few times. I made reservations for 4:30. I hope I made a good choice, considering the weather and everything.

[Brian V]

@suzzek, you will love it!

 

First few seconds is like a free fall😲, then a tree top blitz to the bottom 👍

[suzzek]

2 hours ago, Brian V said:

@suzzek, you will love it!

 

First few seconds is like a free fall😲, then a tree top blitz to the bottom 👍

I’m excited, a zip line is something I’ve always considered trying in other ports but made other plans. I think it’s now or never b/c my husband and I will be will be 74 and 69 the end of May, healthy and fit ages for us, but, just saying!😊😛😉

 

[cw2go]

14 hours ago, suzzek said:

Thanks Patty!

I called the zip line folks in Alaska but they advised me to call Celebrity. There was a link on Celebrity’s website but I couldn’t complete the reservation on line. I was afraid it was sold out. I finally called Celebrity and was given a choice of quite a few times. I made reservations for 4:30. I hope I made a good choice, considering the weather and everything.

Glad it worked out! You will have a blast, just accept Alaska weather as part of the adventure! 

 

Another tour that you may find fun is the ocean raft, I've done it in Skagway and have it booked for this year in ISP. They will gear you up so no worries of being too cold. 

 

Patty 

[suzzek]

46 minutes ago, cw2go said:

Glad it worked out! You will have a blast, just accept Alaska weather as part of the adventure! 

 

Another tour that you may find fun is the ocean raft, I've done it in Skagway and have it booked for this year in ISP. They will gear you up so no worries of being too cold. 

 

Patty 

The Ocean Raft tour sounds fun. I will add it to my to do list and decide once we get closer to our sailing date. So many things to see and do! 😃

[Gradelady]

On 4/2/2023 at 2:40 PM, suzzek said:

We are sailing June 4, 2023 on Celebrity. We will be in ISP  6/6 from 1:30-10:00p.m.

We are on the same ship, same time! Just booked early morning whale watching! We have a 'roll call' for the trip and would love to see more people join in and share ideas!

 

[Kiwi Dreamer]

On 3/5/2023 at 5:29 AM, ImperialLady said:

We were at Icy Point Strait last year..it was a cold and misty day...we didn't do much research so we spent an  hour or so walking around...then we walked to Hoonah, wish we had more time to spend there...we saw master totem carvers creating a HUGE totem, talked to a fisherman who told us the dock was a great place to see whales and about a fisherman's life, we stopped at a little shop with a variety of unique items, spoke to a resident about her container garden...we are going back in September to do a bear excursion....here's a link that is very informative....  https://cruisemaven.com/best-things-to-do-icy-strait-point-alaska/

Sounds a lot like what we did except we hired a couple of bikes and biked down to Hoonah.  Spoke to the master totem carver who told us all about his carving, spoke to local ladies, stopped at the little shop and generally just explored and got to know the little village.   You should have plenty of time  

[Guyc]

On 4/1/2023 at 11:09 PM, suzzek said:

We would love to do the zip line in ISP but I’m not sure how to prebook this. I don’t see tickets available from our ship. Is it possible to get tickets the day we arrive?

 

I had the same issue, I had to call my cruise line (NCL) and have them manually add it to my itinerary.