What to Do in Icy Strait Point?

[mtnbikechick73]

I am looking at the ship excursions offered in Icy Strait Point, and most of them seem rather expensive when you think of paying for two people! If we didn't book anything through the ship, what is there to do in Icy Strait Point on your own? I know this is a much smaller community that is geared toward the ship excursions when a cruise ship is docked, so there may not be as much to do here.

 

Thanks for any ideas!

 

PS - I am GOING to ride the ZipRider. If my husband doesn't want to pay for himself to ride it, fine - but there is no way I'm leaving that port without riding it. I'm a zipline junkie. :D

[bqkali]

I am looking at the ship excursions offered in Icy Strait Point, and most of them seem rather expensive when you think of paying for two people! If we didn't book anything through the ship, what is there to do in Icy Strait Point on your own? I know this is a much smaller community that is geared toward the ship excursions when a cruise ship is docked, so there may not be as much to do here.

 

Wildlife Viewing is a big one - either bears or whales (or both!)

Check out F.I.S.H.E.S. http://www.visithoonah.com/fishes/

Teckk Outfitters http://www.teckkoutfitters.com/

Glacier Wind http://www.g-wind.com/

 

There are others I'm sure but those are the ones I'm constantly reading good reviews for :)

 

I'm not sure the prices are any cheaper, but you will get much more individualized service (groups less than 10) and probably longer time doing the excursion.

[GranMona]

There is a nice mile long walk along the water into Hoonah. There is usually eagles flying around and sometimes you can see whales there. There is a place called The Office Bar that has fresh dungeness crab. You can stop in and get halibut pizza at the Galley. And you can get a snack or ice cream cone at Grandma Nina's. ISP is probably the best port for seeing whales. We use TECKK http://www.teckkoutfittersicystrait.com/ for the bear searches and for whale watches. Hoonah is a small fishing village and you can get a real taste of Alaska there. We loved it. It was a nice break from the overly touristy other Alaska ports we visited.

[larry the lobster]

Not a very big town, if I were you I would try and book with F.I.S.H.E.S for whale watching. They are great!

[monkeyinthemiddle]

After Skagway, Hoonah was a breath of fresh air.

Earlier this month we went bear watching with Keith of Teckk Outfitters. When Keith found out we were more into seeing the island and flowers, he quickly turned the van around and went off across the island in another direction. As there were only 3 of us, he catered to what we wanted, not just a routine tour. He knows and loves the area, and loved showing it off. If I saw some small flower along the road side, we would stop, get out and take a look. I loved bumpen down a dirt road, seeing what was beyond the next curve. We still got to see a bear, a tiny Sitka dear new born, and a mature one. The island is beautiful and this was one of the highlights of our trip!:D

BTW the naturalist from our ship went out on the Teckk whale watching boat. Seemed like it was something he did regularly.

 

And ditto on the crab at The Office. Low key, good food, cold beer. What's not to love?

[the2006Junket]

Hi, the whale watching appears to be THE thing to do in ISP. If $ is tight, I'd skip the zipline (you can do that other places, you can't see these whales anyplace but Alaska) and go whale watching.

 

Enjoy,

 

Lynne

[MercedMike]

Hi, the whale watching appears to be THE thing to do in ISP. If $ is tight, I'd skip the zipline (you can do that other places, you can't see these whales anyplace but Alaska) and go whale watching.

 

While whale watching in ISP is great, you CAN do it in other Alaska ports. Juneau has good whale watching.

 

THE thing to do in ISP, IMHO, is the bear watching. That is harder to find at other ports.

 

We went with Keith of Teckk tours as others report above.

 

Check out our review and pics at http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/volendam.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[akb5k]

Can anyone add some FREE things to do in ISP? We're already spending a ton of $$$ on excursions in other places (Zipline in Ketchikan, whale watching in Juneau, renting a car in Skagway, ice climbing and white water rafting and a rental car for Denali) not to mention all the hotels and plane tickets- and were hoping to make this port a cheap stop. It kind of seems like just a place for the cruise line to make money.

We like to bike and kayak, but $150- $200 for 2 people for 3 hours is a bit much. Anywhere in town rent bikes by the hour, or anywhere to hike or just wander around? Otherwise maybe we'll just spend the day on the ship catching up on sleep!

[jlijny]

We are going whale watching with FISHES. My son and I also would like to try the zipline (I don't think my husband wants to). Does anyone know who we can book this with in Icy Strait Point, or do we need to book through the ship?

[frugaltravel]

Can anyone add some FREE things to do in ISP? We're already spending a ton of $$$ on excursions in other places (Zipline in Ketchikan, whale watching in Juneau, renting a car in Skagway, ice climbing and white water rafting and a rental car for Denali) not to mention all the hotels and plane tickets- and were hoping to make this port a cheap stop. It kind of seems like just a place for the cruise line to make money.

We like to bike and kayak, but $150- $200 for 2 people for 3 hours is a bit much. Anywhere in town rent bikes by the hour, or anywhere to hike or just wander around? Otherwise maybe we'll just spend the day on the ship catching up on sleep!

 

Last I heard, no place to rent bikes. Just wander into town (less than a mile from where the tender lets you off). You can wander around quite a bit but no "highlights" to really see. But some really good photo ops if you like photography. The further off the main drag you wander, the more interesting the photo ops get.

 

If it were me, I would skip the rafting at Denali (and something else if need be) and book a whale watch in ISP with FISHES.

[Budget Queen]

Can anyone add some FREE things to do in ISP? We're already spending a ton of $$$ on excursions in other places (Zipline in Ketchikan, whale watching in Juneau, renting a car in Skagway, ice climbing and white water rafting and a rental car for Denali) not to mention all the hotels and plane tickets- and were hoping to make this port a cheap stop. It kind of seems like just a place for the cruise line to make money.

We like to bike and kayak, but $150- $200 for 2 people for 3 hours is a bit much. Anywhere in town rent bikes by the hour, or anywhere to hike or just wander around? Otherwise maybe we'll just spend the day on the ship catching up on sleep!

 

This port has a small loop walking trail, and a museum, that is OK. I would suggest you switch your whale watching to this port and cancel Juneau's. Since you apparently have maxed out your budget, there is FAR more to do, low cost/free in Juneau. Since you have to compromise, per your post, I would still make the most of your trip and at the least, do lower cost stuff where it is best available. Even a walking tour of Juneau is excellent, and plenty to see and do. There isn't even anywhere much to "bike" to in Hoonah, if even available?

[tetleytea]

Since I saw akb5k was from Portland, I will say that I have seen this once: a guy brought his own bike into his stateroom. No rule against it. Beyond that, I only speculate what it was like in his stateroom. I can imagine with a balcony it would work out just fine.

[SeattleCruiselover]

Since I saw akb5k was from Portland, I will say that I have seen this once: a guy brought his own bike into his stateroom. No rule against it. Beyond that, I only speculate what it was like in his stateroom. I can imagine with a balcony it would work out just fine.

 

I'm pretty sure I saw at least one person with a bike on our cruise last month on Golden Princess, as well.

[countrygal52]

As previous posters have suggested - try to do more inexpensive things in Juneau (Mendenhall Glacier only costs a small fee for the bus ride!) or some other ports. ISP is THE place for better whale watching! We highly recommend FISHES and book your excursions yourself (NOT thru the cruiseline - much cheaper (they have to get their "cut"!).

 

The Fish Cannery is at the dock where the tenders let you off, it is a mini museum on salmon fishing and processing. It also has some smaller gift shops, You can even buy canned salmon to send/take home.

 

There is a very nice walk along the road to and from Hoonah. The Office Bar in Hoonah has WONDERFUL fresh crab cooked ONLY after you order it.

Yummmmm!:D

 

ISP and Hoonah were my favorites on our cruise, more "real" town, not touristy

[jbcoop]

The highlight of our cruise was booking a fishing charter on the Icy Lady with Captain Chris Erickson of Tok River Outfitters. We went Halibut fishing and had a great time. Caught 41 fish, had a bear sighting, eagles, etc. Well worth the time and would recommend this adventure to anyone. www.tokriver.com. You wont be disappointed.

[Mrs007]

Can anyone add some FREE things to do in ISP? We're already spending a ton of $$$ on excursions in other places (Zipline in Ketchikan, whale watching in Juneau, renting a car in Skagway, ice climbing and white water rafting and a rental car for Denali) not to mention all the hotels and plane tickets- and were hoping to make this port a cheap stop. It kind of seems like just a place for the cruise line to make money.

We like to bike and kayak, but $150- $200 for 2 people for 3 hours is a bit much. Anywhere in town rent bikes by the hour, or anywhere to hike or just wander around? Otherwise maybe we'll just spend the day on the ship catching up on sleep!

 

My suggestion would be to cancel your Juneau whale watch and do the whale watch in Icy Point Straight. There are a lot of options for a cheaper day in Juneau. Catch the MGT bus out to Mendenhall and take a hike around there or hike one of the many other trails. http://www.juneau-guide.com/juneau-alaska-hiking.htm

[tee_harbor]

Can anyone add some FREE things to do in ISP? We're already spending a ton of $$$ on excursions in other places (Zipline in Ketchikan, whale watching in Juneau, renting a car in Skagway, ice climbing and white water rafting and a rental car for Denali) not to mention all the hotels and plane tickets- and were hoping to make this port a cheap stop. It kind of seems like just a place for the cruise line to make money.

We like to bike and kayak, but $150- $200 for 2 people for 3 hours is a bit much. Anywhere in town rent bikes by the hour, or anywhere to hike or just wander around? Otherwise maybe we'll just spend the day on the ship catching up on sleep!

 

I'll agree with everyone about flipping the days somewhere. In either Juneau or Ketchikan, you can rent kayaks independently and go out. In Juneau, it's $60 to rent a double, and if you take the pubic bus out to Auke Bay, it's $3 each. Or you can go to Mendenhall Lake for $100 per person, which I'd rank higher. Not sure about Ketchikan, but I swear I've seen independent rentals mentioned.

 

Hoonah has only had ships for a couple of years, and the cruisers are mostly routed to cruise industry controlled activities, so there just isn't the tourist infastructure that would lead to competative prices.

[sandytoes03]

As others have said, book a whale watching tour with FISHES. Absolute highlight of my trip.

[bigtoeswim'n]

I agree with most posters here. DH and I were in ISP in Sep09. We did the RCI's whale watching excursion. That time of year the ship was not crowded at all. The excursion provided binoculars which were marine ones and better than mine. After the excursion, we walked to Hoonah. It was very nice. Had crab at The Office and enjoyed it very much. There is a state store just down the road, but it was closed due to Labor Day. There were lovely flowers here and there. The locals seemed very nice to me. Oh, almost forgot to say, we were bushed after all that and the walk back, but somehow we discovered that a local Alaskan native was giving a talk near the fire, so I twisted tired DH's arm and we went to that. It was fantastic and FREE. He turned out to be born and raised there and gave quite a bit of history about the cannery. It was later in the day, though. Most on the tour wondered why the tour wasn't offered earlier in the day, but maybe the guy had to work?? I dunno. We all gave him a tip for his time. He walked us thru the cannery. He was very proud about what the tribe had done to restore the place. I would highly recommend this tour. What fond memories you have brought up. Hope this helps.

[sg1phileshipper]

I used TECKK Outfitters for a bear search and it was my favorite excursion. It's so exciting to drive to the woods and go looking for bears. Keith can tell you a lot of stories and I think you're almost guaranteed of seeing a bear (I think he knows where they're hiding). We saw two bear that day and the short hikes in the rainforest (and I did rain that day) were great.

People who did the Zipline said it was amazing

 

Cindy

[fallingsnow]

I loved ISP, in fact it was one of my favorite ports, and we didnt do ANY paid excursions.

 

If I were to go back, the only thing I'd change would be to take others advice and do a whale watching tour. We were actually able to see pods of whales bubble feeding just from the cruiseship...but it would have been so much more wonderful to be able to see them up close.

 

Having said that, the short loop hike others have mentioned was beautiful, and on the way back, the tide was low and we spent more than an hour just combing the beach and enjoying the incredible tide pools...all shapes and sizes of starfish, anemones, sea urchins, nautilus, and a variety of other sea life. Very very cool, and 100% free. (Just be careful not to disturb or harm any of these creatures while you're enjoying your time there.) Highly recommended!

[akb5k]

Thanks for the tips! The short hike sounds nice- we always plan too much on cruises and end up exhausted by the end, so a nice relaxing day in the middle sounds good. I had to laugh at the comments about bringing your bike onboard- that's totally something someone from Portland would do.

[fleckle]

Another thing we like to do there is sit on a bench beside the campfire near the water and chat with the native Alaskans who tell interesting stories about their lives in Hoonah. We enjoy learning about different customs and lifestyles. They are very friendly people, easy to engage in conversation. If you are lucky sometimes you can see whales or seals there close to the beach, even occasionally right beside the cruise ship.

 

It is a peaceful, laid-back scenic location with a totally different vibe from the busy, crowded ports at Juneau, Skagway or Ketchikan. A big plus is that your cruise ship is the only one there because Icy Strait Point allows only one cruise ship per day.