Kodiak??

We are on the Westerdam in October and both tour operators that I’ve contacted are either finished for the season or booked. Seems like it might be too late to make taking a flight tour worth it in terms of seeing bears. Anyway have a really great day in Kodiak? Please share what you did.

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October is very, very late in the visitor season... Actually it's after the traditional visitor season.

And it's also hunting season... A lot of air charter outfits will be tied up with hunting charters.

Still, have you contacted either of these: https://www.andrewairways.com/ & http://seahawkair.com/ . Both outfits are ran by guys that I would (and have) trust my life to.

Otherwise, you could rent a car for the day and explore the road system on the island. The drive out to Pasagshak is nice.

Get in touch with Dake from Memory Makers in Kodiak. He can help you with activities for a day in port.

A number of years ago I spent a week in Kodiak in conjunction with the Alaska Historical Society/Museums Alaska annual conference. My husband and I returned the summer of 2016 to spend a few days prior to taking one of the Alaska state ferries out to Dutch Harbor. The town hadn't changed much during the intervening years.

The Kodiak Visitor's Bureau website (http://www.kodiak.org) will provide some help. The Alutiiq Museum and the Baranov Museum try to be open during port calls. St. Herman's Orthodox Church may not be. Ft. Abercrombie State Historical Park has lovely trails on a nice day.

While most of the car rental companies are located at the airport, one of the national car rental companies does have a secondary location at one of the old downtown area gift shops. We picked up the car from the gift shop when we were there in 2016 as we only wanted the car for one day to go out to Ft. Abercrombie.

Northern Aurora, how was the trip on the Alaska state ferry to Dutch Harbor? We are thinking about the same trip. What time of year did you go? Was it a rough trip? How long did it take? Lots of questions but your help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

October is fall storms season. It can be sunny and beautiful or pouring rain and howling winds. I would personally not do the ferry out to Dutch that time of year. I'm not a wuss.... I've been out in the Gulf of Alaska in 30 foot seas. It's just not my idea of a good time. You should also note that flights into and out of Kodiak are not guaranteed. The plane takes off in Anchorage, flies to Kodiak, circles for a while looking for a break in the clouds. If it looks ok, the plane lands, everyone gets off, the people in the airport get on and the plane takes off. If it doesn't look good, the plane goes back to Anchorage and you wait for another flight.

October is fall storms season. It can be sunny and beautiful or pouring rain and howling winds. I would personally not do the ferry out to Dutch that time of year. ....

I suspect Wolfie had October on his/her mind as the OP had asked about a port call in Kodiak in October, but just so we are all on the same wave length the Alaska Marine Highway system doesn't attempt to take a ferry out to Dutch Harbor/Unalaska in October. The final run on that route will be in September, and then at times that run is cancelled.

Northern Aurora, how was the trip on the Alaska state ferry to Dutch Harbor? We are thinking about the same trip. What time of year did you go? Was it a rough trip? How long did it take? Lots of questions but your help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

I generally don't re-check threads, but since Kodiak isn't one of the frequent Alaska port calls I did, so am just reading your question.

We flew to Kodiak and then boarded the Tustamena for the run out to Unalaska in mid-July. We were on the ferry for three nights and the first night we were really rolling. We have cruised to Antarctica, around Cape Horn twice and were in a Nor'easter off of New England a number of years ago, but that first night was fairly rough. I suspect we had some folks onboard with motion sickness, but after that first night it was smooth sailing.

If you have any questions you may consider starting a new thread titled Unalaska. But their Visitor's Bureau does have a nice guide (http://www.unalaska.info) which you may find helpful.

I haven’t been to Kodiak but our cruise will be stopping there in May. I thought nearby Ft Abercrombie looked like a great place to hike and explore for the amount of time we will be there. Pictures I have found on line show great views and nice trails. We are hoping to grab a taxi to take us there and pick us up rather than going with a tour. If anyone reading this has been there I would love to hear your thoughts and if taking a taxi out there sounds like a reasonable thing to do.

I haven’t been to Kodiak but our cruise will be stopping there in May. I thought nearby Ft Abercrombie looked like a great place to hike and explore for the amount of time we will be there. Pictures I have found on line show great views and nice trails. We are hoping to grab a taxi to take us there and pick us up rather than going with a tour. If anyone reading this has been there I would love to hear your thoughts and if taking a taxi out there sounds like a reasonable thing to do.

Kodiak is beautiful on a clear day, and Ft. Abercrombie has lovely trails and views. We've always driven out in a rental vehicle, but Ft. Abercrombie is essentially on the edge of Kodiak so isn't that far from where the ship will be docked. Just make sure you have a cell phone with you so if the taxi isn't where you expect to be picked up you can call. Also, there are maps of the trails on our Department of Natural Resources website (dnr.alaska.gov/parks).

Thank you all. I have contacted the companies messaged and 2 of them are committed our day with hunting/fishing tours. One of the flight tours is operating but they say it’s too late to see the bears so it would basically just a flight to see views.

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