Explore the ice-strewn amphitheater of Icy Bay, edging safely toward the dramatic faces of Guyot, Yahtse and Tyndall Glaciers. From our nimble boats, feel the chill off the bergs and watch for sea lions hauled out on ice pans. The stillness breaks with the thunder of ice shearing into the sea.

Carved by ancient ice and opened to the Gulf of Alaska, Icy Bay is a living classroom in rapid glacial change. Orcas patrol the channels, sea otters raft in sheltered pockets, and seabirds wheel above cliffs streaked by waterfalls.

Venture by expedition boat among the islets of Icy Strait, where rocky shorelines, kelp forests, and sea caves create rich habitat. Conditions permitting, make a guided landing to explore mossy forest trails and tidepools alive with anemones and shore crabs. Keep binoculars ready for sea otters and puffing Steller sea lions.

As the ship transits Point Adolphus, nutrient-rich upwellings draw humpback whales to feed. Watch for flukes lifting clean from the water, tail slaps, and, if luck allows, explosive breaches against a backdrop of distant, glacier-capped ranges.

Discover Haines’ creative spirit in galleries showcasing silverwork, totem carving, and the distinctive textiles of Chilkat weaving. Meet local artists and learn how mountain goat wool and cedar bark are transformed into bold, undulating patterns tied to clan stories of the Lingít people.

Set beside the mile-wide Lynn Canal, Haines blends mountain drama with a small-town frontier feel. Between studio visits, stroll the waterfront, watch for eagles riding thermals, and browse for meaningful, locally made pieces to take home.

Skirt the tree-fringed coves of William Henry Bay in our expedition boats, pausing to scan beaches and sedge meadows for browsing black bears. Overhead, Bald Eagles spiral above the canopy while mergansers stitch V-wakes across mirror-still water.

When conditions allow, step ashore for a naturalist-led walk beneath old-growth temperate rainforest. Feel the spring of moss underfoot, trace the lichen-draped trunks of Sitka spruce and hemlock, and look for prints of Sitka black-tailed deer pressed into the soft forest duff.

Navigate jade-green channels toward Tracy Arm or Endicott Arm, where sheer granite walls rise from iceberg-dotted waters. The ship noses carefully through bergy bits to admire the blue ramparts of Dawes or Sawyer Glacier, listening for the sharp report of calving icebergs echoing along the cliffs.

Part of Holkham Bay’s glacial system, these fjords are nurseries for harbor seals with pups resting on floes. Waterfalls thread down polished rock, and mountain goats pick their way along improbable ledges high above the waterline.

Scan the broad reaches of Frederick Sound and the forested corridors of Chatham Strait for the blows, tail flukes, and pectoral slaps of humpback whales. Our expedition boats position quietly for viewing while respecting wildlife distances and behaviors.

Along the shoreline, floating kelp forests shelter sea otters and schooling fish. Bald Eagles perch sentinel-still on driftwood snags, and ravens wheel over pebbled coves as the tide breathes life into intertidal pools.

Visit Klawock Totem Park to see one of Alaska’s finest collections of standing poles. Your guide interprets crest figures, formline design, and carving techniques that continue to anchor Tlingit culture on Prince of Wales Island.

Many poles here are careful replicas of originals from the winter village of Tuxecan, preserving clan histories carved in cedar. Hear how potlatches, story cycles, and canoe routes tie this coastal community to the sea and surrounding rainforest.

Venture beneath the towering, mist-veiled cliffs of Misty Fjords National Monument, a realm of narrow inlets, mirror lakes, and lacework waterfalls. Our small boats thread close to granite buttresses while paddlers, when conditions allow, glide along cliff bases for a different perspective.

Part of the immense Tongass National Forest, this landscape reveals glacially carved U-shaped valleys draped in spruce and cedar. Watch for black bears working salmon streams, moose in backwater marshes, and Bald Eagles tracing arcs over glassy water.

Sail the forest-lined waterways of the Canadian Inside Passage, where mist clings to hemlock ridges and waterfalls ribbon into green fjords. In the narrower Princess Royal Channel, watch the shoreline attentively—this is prime habitat for the elusive Kermode ‘spirit’ bear.

Keep cameras ready for dolphins riding the bow wave and whales surfacing in steel-blue light—humpback, fin, minke, and, at times, orca. The route reveals coastal British Columbia’s mosaic of islands, tidal rapids, and cedar-fragrant air.

Receive a warm community welcome in Alert Bay and visit the renowned U’mista Cultural Centre. Learn from the Kwakwaka’wakw about living traditions, viewing intricately carved masks, bentwood boxes, and potlatch regalia returned from afar.

Stroll the waterfront past totem poles and cedar-shake houses as ravens call from the treetops. Orcas and humpbacks sometimes pass close to shore here—keep watch from the boardwalk for a flash of dorsal fin cutting through the channel.

Paddle with Expedition Guides through ice-studded waters for a quiet, low-angle view of fjord country. Glide past bergy bits, trace sculpted shorelines, and feel the hush of quiet, low-impact exploration as seabirds wheel overhead and harbor seals surface nearby.

Offered in select areas such as Prince William Sound, Icy Bay, or Misty Fjords, this small-group activity is weather dependent and at additional cost. It can be booked on tour, with all equipment provided and basic instruction before launching.

Cruise deep into Prince William Sound and thread between the tidewater giants of College Fjord. Board our small expedition boats for an up-close vantage on cobalt ice, listening for the crack and roar of calving icebergs. Keep an eye on the brash-ice floes where harbor seals rest and scan the water for the telltale blows of humpback whales.

Named for East Coast universities, the fjord’s walls showcase the crevassed faces of Harvard and Yale Glaciers. Bald Eagles patrol the spruce-lined shores, and otters tumble in the swells—an evocative portrait of Alaska’s glacial seascapes shaped over millennia.