Magpies

Hi everyone,
we are interested in visiting both Kodiak and Katami National Park ( not sure of the spelling )and are wondering what is the best way to visit? ( is there a ferry / boat or perhaps plane ??)
By looking at the maps, both Seward and Homer seem the closest places.
We are just starting to plan our next US trip for June next year.
For your info we have driven from Anchorage to Seward before and have a bit of an idea of the area.
We have also done an Inside Passage cruise driven to Denali and spent two weeks on Vancouver Island.
We really enjoyed some of these places and are looking at visiting some again.
Thanks in advance
Donna
Australia

sludick

Yes - the Alaska Marine Highway. Here is a link that will give you ferry schedules and rates: http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/

For Katmai, you might consider floatplane. Here is a link with info on this park: http://www.nps.gov/katm/planyourvisit/directions.htm

Magpies

Thanks so much sludick.
Are you aware of the accommodation options for each place or is it just a day trip visit?
Donna

sludick

I'll need to leave it to others to weigh in on how long to stay, but here are a couple of links for lodging in each place:

http://www.kodiak.org/where_to_stay


http://www.nps.gov/katm/planyourvisit/lodging.htm

Magpies

Thanks again.
These web sites are so helpful and informative for us.
Yes would be interested to hear about recommendations of where to stay.
I would assume July would be a busy time?

Magpies

Hi again sludick,
I am just wondering when is the best time to see the Northern Lights? I am assuming Winter time but can you be more specific?
Thanks again for your help

sludick

Magpies, I'm afraid there's not much more I can help with, but hopefully some others will be able to chime in. Sounds like a great trip, though, so will be looking forward to hearing about it as you plan and experience it.

Magpies

Any ideas????

Gardyloo

Kodiak is served by ferry from Homer, so if you have a rental car but don't want to pay the (extreme) expense of putting it on the ferry (around 12-14 hours crossing if I recall) you'd have to leave it in Homer and pay the rental cost while it sits there.

In my view both Kodiak and Katmai are best visited by air from Anchorage, and you're really looking at two separate round trips - there's virtually no commercial travel between Kodiak and the Katmai area, and a charter flight would be very expensive.

Kodiak is an interesting town, and there are some roads leading out of Kodiak into bush and rural areas, but frankly unless you have some specific destination (fishing lodge, bear viewing site, etc.) you want to visit, I'm not sure you'd find it the best use of your limited time and resources. Your call.

https://www.kodiak.org/sightseeing_and_tours

Katmai is a very large national park - lots of geothermal sites, lots of wildlife, but it's not the sort of place where you drive up and look at something. It's much more a place where you fly on a bush plane to see some sight or feature, or go on fishing expeditions, or hiking trips where you're dropped off and picked up later, or stay in one of the relatively few bush lodges where the lodge arranges your activities. Again, it can be spectacular, but DO NOT underestimate the time and expense involved.

I would do some searching on "Katmai tours" or some such which will bring up your lodging options, and if you see something you like and can afford, then it's best to contact those places to see about transportation. They're all aware of how hard it is to get into the deep bush, so they know the answers to any questions you'd have.

You can go bear watching in Katmai as a day or overnight excursion from Anchorage. See for example http://www.flyrusts.com/bear-viewing...onal-park.html

Regarding the northern lights, this is the wrong time of year - it barely gets dark at all in midsummer. Better you should be asking about the midnight sun.

Magpies

Thanks Gardyloo you have given me a lot of info to think about.
We were in Anchorage in June / July last time and enjoyed the long hours of day light.
We like to escape the Australian Winter and can't quite time it right for a lot of the natural sights.
We have had a white Christmas in the US too but are just thinking of other places we have not been to in our travels.
We really enjoyed Seward and stayed their for a few days last time.
I do realise the bear excursions are quite expensive.
We did Vancouver Island and went to a lot of great places to see the bears too.
Thanks again will check out the web sites and suggestions

HappyTrvlr

We took a float plane from Homer to Katmai NP for the day. There were cabins in the park. Watching the bears catching salmon in the waterfalls was an amazing sight to see. It was a very expensive trip but we felt it was worth the cost.

Magpies

Thanks HappyTrvir
Seeing the bears again would definitely be on my list.
Sounds great.
What is there to do in Homer?
Where did you stay.

HappyTrvlr

On Homer, you can take a ferry across the bay to Halibut Cove. Many artists there, nice outing.

Magpies

Thanks for your suggestions.
I will continue to check them out.

LindainOhio

We loved Homer. It is beautifully sited on Kachemak Bay. You can go halibut fishing, take a water taxi over to hike or the Danny G over to Halibut Cove, walk the beach.....

I took a ride on the water taxi while my husband fished. We dropped a couple off in Halibut Cove. They were staying at the Alaska Ridgewood Wilderness Lodge. Look at their website. Staying there is now on my dream vacation list. It is out of our price range but if you check it out and by any chance happen to stay there, please report back.

We did do a one day bear trip when we were in Homer. We booked standby the day before, for half price.

Magpies

Lindainohio I will check out the lodge you mentioned.
Did you have to fly anywhere to do the bear tour?
That was good getting it for half price.
Homer sounds like a lovely place to see.
We stayed at Seward so were quite close last time. ( It was about 12 - 13 years ago )
we really loved visiting this area and seeing the lovely scenery.
Thanks