Embark on a Zodiac cruise through the drowned glacial valleys of Misty Fjords National Monument, where glacier-carved cliffs and veiling waterfalls rise from mirror-still, forested inlets. The quiet hum of the outboard and the scent of cedar and spruce set an intimate, wilderness tone.

Hear your guides interpret the geology and ecology of the surrounding Tongass National Forest. Keep watch for bald eagles on shoreline snags, harbor seals porpoising in tannin-dark waters, and mountain goats ghosting along improbable, lichen-slick ledges.

Visit Klawock Totem Park to stand among towering carved cedar poles that embody clan histories, crests, and origin stories. Culture bearers share the meanings behind crests and figures, connecting artistry with land, sea, and community.

Explore how Tlingit clan stories are preserved through carving, song, and ceremony, and learn respectful cultural protocols that guide the care and renewal of these monumental works. The setting—hemmed by rainforest and tide—deepens the sense of place.

Explore Sitka’s compact historic core, stepping inside St. Michael’s Cathedral and ascending Castle Hill for harbor views framed by volcanic peaks. The walk blends Tlingit homeland, Russian frontier town, and American era in one captivating circuit.

Continue to Sitka National Historical Park, where totem-lined trails thread old-growth spruce and hemlock. Guides trace the region’s layered past—from Tlingit resilience and Russian America to the 1867 transfer—while pointing out ravens overhead and salmon-rich streams below.

Join the Expedition Team to join naturalist lectures on wildlife, geology, and glaciology, and take part in hands-on citizen science projects. These sessions enrich your understanding of the marine ecosystem you’re traversing.

From open decks, scan for albatrosses arcing over cold, productive waters—often Laysan and Black-footed—with shearwaters, storm petrels, and the occasional whale blow rising beyond the bow. Guidance from spotters helps turn fleeting silhouettes into clear identifications.

Come ashore to meet residents and hear stories of Sugpiaq (Alutiiq) heritage—from seafaring lifeways to contemporary culture—before a coastal wildlife search by ship or small boats in protected bays and channels.

Naturalists watch for humpbacks, harbor seals, and sea otters rafting in kelp, with the rain-dappled flanks of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge beyond. Learn about the famed Kodiak brown bear, a unique island subspecies shaped by this rich maritime environment.

Visit Old Harbor, a small fishing community framed by emerald headlands and a surf-laced shoreline. Conversations with culture bearers illuminate language, song, and the close relationship between ocean harvests and village life.

Hear how residents rebuilt following the 1964 earthquake and tsunami, and how subsistence traditions continue to guide stewardship of salmon streams and berry grounds. The harbor’s working boats, drying racks, and church spire lend a strong sense of place.

Explore Unalaska’s cultural heart at the Museum of the Aleutians and step into the onion-domed Russian Orthodox Cathedral, where icons and incense evoke centuries of faith at the edge of the North Pacific.

Walk sites tied to the 1942 Battle of Dutch Harbor and learn how conflict reshaped these islands and the Unangan people. All the while, the silhouette of Mount Makushin anchors the skyline—an active reminder of the Aleutian arc’s fiery geology.

Circle the Islands of Four Mountains on a scenic cruising day that brings you beneath the perfect cone of Mount Cleveland. When conditions allow, watch for wisps of steam and fresh ash staining snowfields.

Guides unpack the Aleutians’ Ring of Fire tectonics, from subduction zones to island-building eruptions. Kittiwakes and fulmars skim the swell, their flight lines tracing lava headlands scoured by wind and sea.

Approach the brooding, near-vertical coast of Chagulak on a Zodiac approach, where basalt faces detonate surf and wind. Look up to sheer seabird cliffs alive with puffins and murres, their wingbeats drumming the air in dense, circling flocks.

Naturalists explain nesting ledges, upwelling currents, and the seasonal pulse that draws predators and plankton here. The chorus of calls, the tang of salt spray, and the dark volcanic stone create a raw, pelagic theater.

Walk among the weathered homes of the ghost village of Unga, where collapsed roofs and drifted boards sit in seas of fireweed wildflowers. The silence is broken only by wind, surf, and distant seabirds.

Beachcomb for petrified wood and hear how a 19th-century gold-rush settlement slowly emptied, its stories now scattered among wild grasses and bleached timbers. The island’s tundra slopes and lonely coves add a haunting, beautiful dimension.

Enter Katmai’s fjord-cut coast by small boat for Zodiac exploration along tidal flats in Geographic Harbor, Kinak Bay, or Kukak Bay. With patient, quiet observation, watch brown bears digging for clams or wading after schooling fish.

Your guides interpret Katmai National Park’s volcanic landscape—calderas, ash layers, and steaming peaks—while explaining bear behavior, feeding rhythms, and safe viewing ethics. The low light, kelp-fringed shores, and breathy exhalations leave a lasting impression.

Sail into Prince William Sound, a maze of islands and granite-walled inlets where tidewater glaciers calve blue ice into steel-gray seas and waterfalls cascading down sheer rock seam the cliffs in silver threads.

Scan for sea otters rolling in kelp beds and for humpbacks surfacing in calm, protected channels. Naturalist commentary brings the Sound’s geology and wildlife into focus as mountains rise sharply from the ocean’s edge.

Slip into tandem kayaks for Sea kayaking beneath the towering walls of Misty Fjords National Monument. Paddle past dripping moss gardens, listening for waterfalls and the wingbeats of passing eagles while your guide sets an easy, steady pace.

This active experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to weather, sea conditions, and availability. It’s a quiet, human-powered perspective that rewards with close-up textures, mirrored reflections, and the scent of rainforest on the breeze.

Scan the horizon with Expedition Team naturalists as you cross Queen Charlotte Sound and Hecate Strait, watching for humpback and fin whales, orcas, minke whales, and Pacific white-sided dolphins. The long Pacific swells and wide skies create superb conditions for spotting marine life and ocean-going seabirds.

Learn how nutrient-rich currents along the edge of the Inside Passage attract life in staggering numbers. With Haida Gwaii lying to the west, this productive corridor often hosts shearwaters, storm petrels, and other pelagic species tracing the ship’s wake.