Does anyone have any input about the boat tours going into Kenai Fjords National Park? I was thinking about taking the Northwestern Fjord tour, which is 9 hrs long . What is the difference between this tour, and the shorter tours as far as the wildlife viewing? Is it necessary to take the longer tour, or just as good to take a shorter one? Appreciate any info anyone might have.
Tours into Kenai Fjords National Park
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The general opinion is the longer the better for Kenai Fjords. We did the 8 hour tour and wished it had been longer!!
Definately do the all day tour. You will not be bored. If I ever go again I am going to do it in a much smaller boat. Probably even in a kayak around the glacier. They shuttle you to the glacier via a larger boat.
The shorter tours don't go all the way to the glaciers. I think the wildlife viewing would be similar on both tours, but you will not see as much and you will miss the calving glaciers(which is truly awesome)if you go with the short tour. The food on board is just ok, you might want to take along a couple of snacks. We saw several humpback whales up close, porpoise, sealions, puffins, many birds, and more. When they spot a whale, they usually stay with it for 30 minutes or so. They go to a couple of different glaciers and you are about 1/2 mile away from it(for safety). When the glacier calves it sounds like thunder or professional fireworks, then a big splash depending on the size of the piece of ice that falls.
We took the longest trip. Although the glacier didn't calve while we were there, the boat engines were shut down so we could hear all the creaking and groaning. The massive amount of ice is spectacular.
There are various spots where they stop for specific birds. We saw quite a few orcas and stopped to watch. Got some great video. We were lucky the ocean was perfectly calm the day we went so the captain took us into a lagoon that had a very narrow inlet. She said it was only possible to get thru a few days each summer.
We probably did the last hour at faster speed with less wildlife sighting as we headed back to Kenai. Being out on the water is so different, that I recommend as many hours as possible.