Snorkel Alaska

[frostypenguin]

Hi, has anyone done the Snorkel excursion in Alaska? We are going on Princess and were looking for photos/reviews.

 

Thanks

[Capt_BJ]

:D

sorry - couldn't resist

 

must have been all those days in Dutch Harbor and Adak.....

[bruce-r]

If you haven't already, you might try a search in the Alaska section of the Ports of Call area. I know I have read a couple of reviews about Alaska snorkeling. They were quite positive. If you are at all interested in doing a unique excursion, it is definitely worth looking at. While I haven't been as far north as Alaska, I have been to British Columbia for scuba diving. It is just fabulous.

Here is a Photo Gallery of the rest of the photos I took.

 

I do have a couple of dive buddies that have been diving in Alaska and they also give it a positive review.

[halbo49]

We were not able to snorkle in Ketchikan June 8 due to "high tide"

Make sure you check with your outfitters in advance to find out if this will be a factor

[billyzmtn]

I don't know who told you that you couldn't snorkel in Ketchikan because of high tide on the 8th of June but you received some bad information. Snorkel Alaska, which operates through the cruise lines, will not cancel because of high tides. I went with them at a high tide last year, and while it does make it deeper of course, it didn't affect the quality of the tour in the least. We had a wonderful time and still were able to see all the marine life. If somebody told you they couldn't take you, it must have been a local dive shop who just didn't want to be bothered on that day. Snorkel Alaska works with all the major cruise lines except for NCL. Don't worry about the cold water...it's not that cold and the wetsuits work great. It is truly world-class snorkeling up there.

[Jujuju2]

We just finished two back to back cruises on Holland America Zaandam and visited Ketchikan twice. Only found out about this excursion the day before we sailed and talked ourselves into it by the second sailing. It was a wonderful and exhilarating excursion, particularly for anybody who has already been to Alaska to do something different. I usually don't even look at ship's shore excursions, preferring to line up our own, but for some reason I happened across this offering in Holland America's shore excursions, and had to look twice to make sure I was looking at the right trip and that it was really offering snorkeling in Alaska. Seems there is this warm current that comes up off the coast of Japan and lands in Ketchikan.

 

The excursion was around three hours, with about one hour actually in the water, which is just about the right amount of time, and the other time spent on getting there and back, getting safety lectures, and suiting up. The company supplies everything you will need except a towel to dry off later.

 

I am a very tall woman with very long and skinny legs and was worried they would not have a wet suit that would have long enough legs to keep the cold water out. They had me covered! They also covered everybody else, from tiny to XXL. If I recall, there might have been a weight limit of 260.

 

Anyway, the water is not at all cold once you get into it in that thick wet suit, and it is a very fun experience. I wish I could do it again tomorrow.

[redlef]

Hi, has anyone done the Snorkel excursion in Alaska? We are going on Princess and were looking for photos/reviews.

 

Thanks

 

I did it on Carnival a while back. It was great. We traveled in early july. They gave us 7mm wetsuits and I was toasty warm. I asked for a weight belt so I could dive down to the bottom, but I was one of the few snorkelers to do that.

 

Not as colorful as a reef dive in Belieze, but lots of life in those waters. I would definitely do it again.

[Grand Lux]

I am snorkeling in Ketchikan this August, I'm glad the hear good things about this excursion.

[odblnt]

:D

sorry - couldn't resist

 

must have been all those days in Dutch Harbor and Adak.....

 

 

I know this is a long time since your reply, but I just thought I'd mention one of my instructors during PADI rescue class who asked where I had been certified. I told him that my first cert was on Adak (I was a school teacher prior to being drafted) and he shuddered and said that he never had any desire to dive when he was stationed there. :eek:

[Gloria Mundi]

I know this is an old thread but I'd like to bump it to add my experience. Background: my open water/wet suit experience up to now has been the swim portion of 2 sprint triathlons (1/2 mile of it swimming) in Kansas City in May. I thought of bringing my own wet suit to Alaska. Ha. Fortunately, someone on the Alaska board pointed out that it was a very bad dea and when I consulted the cruise line they said it would be "useless". It was sleeveless. What was I thinking?

 

The expedition off our ship was well worth it- I was suited up like Jacques Cousteau, with a double layer from my neck to my knees because a second piece with the sleeves zipped on over the lower layer. We were in the water about 50 minutes. Frankly, I never quite got rid of the awareness that I was cold and wet. The water was about 42 degrees and although your body tries to heat the layer in the wet suit, it's hard work and the water does circulate so cold air is always coming in. (A lovely, earthy Australian woman confided, "If you wee in your wet suit, it'll warm you up.")

 

But I saw beautiful sea grasses, a few small fish, some starfish, a small crab or two, a magnificent green sea anemone (the Australian lady grabbed my hand and pulled me over to see it), and jellyfish, which are so graceful when they swim. We're planning on doing a similar cruise in 2014 and I'm definitely signing up for another snorkel trip. It's a view you'll never experience unless you get out there. Getting cold is worth it!