Early May Alaska hiking and scuba diving

[1JockeyGirl]

Hello:

 

My DH and I are booked on the May 8 NCL Pearl with the usual stops plus Sitka and Icy Point Straight. This is his first cruise and a surprise that he will finally find out about this Friday!

 

Any tips for do it yourself hikes greatly appreciated!

 

I would also love to be able to scuba dive one day but have not found anything on the web. (My research abilities have been hampered by trying to keep this a secret!) I saw wet and dry suit snorkeling - anyone know of a dive outfit at any of our ports?

 

We do plan to kayak one day - any suggestions for best wild-life viewing are welcome!

 

Airplanes, helicopters, and dog-sledding all sound enticing but are outside of our budget. Will the train in Skagway be a good splurge or is it likely to be too early in the season?

 

Thanks so much!

[huskyguy]

All the hiking trails more than a few feet off the alley floors are still going to be deep in snow, but Yakutania Point and Smugglers Cove at Skagway are good.

 

It appears that the shops that offered scuba trips in both Juneau and Ketchikan have shut down, so no luck there.

 

The WP&YR train rides in early May, however, are awesome, especially if the weather we have forecast for later this week holds for you ( http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/99840 ).

Edited April 28, 2014 by huskyguy

[geoherb]

We did a snorkeling excursion in Ketchikan on our first cruise to Alaska. It was great. I did not see scuba diving offered.

[1JockeyGirl]

Thanks for the info! Will keep those trails in mind as well as the train. I have heard that the snorkeling is excellent so might end up doing that if no diving is available...

 

Fingers crossed for a good forecast!

[RoxnDox]

Thanks for the info! Will keep those trails in mind as well as the train. I have heard that the snorkeling is excellent so might end up doing that if no diving is available...

 

Fingers crossed for a good forecast!

 

There's a dive shop in Juneau that does offer rentals, though no organized trips as such. They could probably help you get set up with a local dive buddy though. http://www.thescubatank.com/, there is also the Juneau Dive Club at http://www.alaskadive.com/juneaudiveclub.html.

 

Here's another full-service dive shop in Ketchikan, http://www.wind-water.org/. It appears this is the same shop that does the snorkeling, but shore diving for those with experience in cold water also available.

 

Jim

[Budget Queen]

Hello:

 

My DH and I are booked on the May 8 NCL Pearl with the usual stops plus Sitka and Icy Point Straight. This is his first cruise and a surprise that he will finally find out about this Friday!

 

Any tips for do it yourself hikes greatly appreciated!

 

I would also love to be able to scuba dive one day but have not found anything on the web. (My research abilities have been hampered by trying to keep this a secret!) I saw wet and dry suit snorkeling - anyone know of a dive outfit at any of our ports?

 

We do plan to kayak one day - any suggestions for best wild-life viewing are welcome!

 

Airplanes, helicopters, and dog-sledding all sound enticing but are outside of our budget. Will the train in Skagway be a good splurge or is it likely to be too early in the season?

 

Thanks so much!

 

Wildlife viewing is 100% sightings of humpbacks on whale watches. In your timeframe, with a rental car, there are chances of brown bears on the Klondike Highway out of Skagway.

 

Are you interested in trains, history?? This would be the reason to take the White Pass RR.

[Stormsam]

We are leaving on May 10th and have booked a car rental for Skagway to do the drive to Emerald lake. Price wise it is very reasonable and from everyone that I have talked to it is supposed to be amazing. It is one of the things I am looking forward to most of all.

Have a great trip no matter what you decide to do!

[1JockeyGirl]

Thanks so much for the replies! I emailed both dive shops but never heard back so I think we are leaning towards the dry suit snorkel at Sitka. (Well worth another $20 vs the other wetsuit snorkel offered!)

I think we will do the Yukon to Emerald lake trip in Skagway.

[Glaciers]

Any tips for do it yourself hikes greatly appreciated!

 

We've had an unusually warm spring and most of the trails are snow free unless you are at a very high elevation. I spoke to someone in Juneau yesterday who said it had been raining and the trails were still pretty muddy but no snow. One of our favorite hikes in Juneau is the West Glacier trail. It takes you to where you can see the tour helicopters landing on the glacier from above it.

 

Takes a rental or cab as its on the opposite side of the glacier as the visitor center. Rentals are cheap in Juneau.

[1JockeyGirl]

Thanks so much for the info on trail conditions!

Here's hoping that Emerald Lake is green!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[huskyguy]

I spoke to someone in Juneau yesterday who said it had been raining and the trails were still pretty muddy but no snow.

 

Raining in Skagway today but the snow is still very low - snowing heavily through the White Pass.

[azevedan]

Our first trip to Alaska was an early May cruise a few years back. One of our 'hikes' turned out to be a snowshoe hike - it was one of the highlights of our trip! Neither of us had snowshoed before, btw.