Icy Point Strait Advice

[cleobella]

We will dock in Icy Point Strait in June from 1:30 pm to 10 pm.  I understand this is a small, quiet port, owned by the local indigenous people.  We'll probably plan to be out in the afternoon, right after docking.  I would like to avoid a booked excursion if possible.  We like short nature walks and local/cultural sights and activities.  If you have any good ideas on how to spend a few relaxing, educational hours here please share! From what I've searched so far, it seems that we might be able to walk one way to town and take a shuttle back home.  There is a renovated Cannery there too?  Does anyone know what we could see in town other then shopping (though that is always good), and is the Cannery in walking distance from the ship?  Where is the best place here to see wildlife?  Thanks!

[CCJack]

right at the port you can walk through the cannery / shopping / museum type  building.  Looks to be build for cruise passengers so it is not a historic building or anything, but it is very nice, clean and worth a walk through.    Also the nature hike just in back of the building is very pretty with giant trees and a good view of the ship from the rocky beach.    You can spend a couple hours just in the port area.

 

ISP has excellent whale watching if you change your mind on an excursion....

 

[Jeeden]

I would suggest getting off the ship, taking the free gondola all the way to the end of the port (where the zipline gondola station is). You can then walk back up the nature trail, walk past the zipline landing zone, walk up the beach and check out the shore and starfish, then when you get to the cannery walk through that. Then you can stop and get lunch/snack at the smokehouse, crab restaurant, or donut stand and continue on to town. Look around town, then take the shuttle all the way back to the pier and get back on the ship. 

[SomewhereGirl]

On 8/13/2023 at 11:27 AM, cleobella said:

Does anyone know what we could see in town other then shopping (though that is always good), and is the Cannery in walking distance from the ship?  

 

If you mean Hoonah, there really isn't much there.  It's tiny.

[AJSkarbo]

The town is a decent distance. It's walk-able, just give yourself enough time. There is a shuttle, I believe it was $5 round trip per person. But the walk is lovely along the water. We had narration on the shuttle which was worth the $5 in my opinion. I would start by taking the shuttle to the town, then walking back along the water, then exploring the cannery area. There is at least 1 sit down restaurant option near the cannery and there is also a food truck option near the gondola entrance. We ate there and it was fantastic. The nature trail was very nice as well between the 2 port areas. 

[harry0]

Hoonah-is my favorite stop-it is a quiet town with great indigenous Americans-Do a tour with them and learn some of their culture. We used Gee Sta Hun for our land based wilderness tour-everyone calls it "a bear tour". We did see bear but the town and people are my highlights-the walk to town is great too-at least do it one way.

 

[Kat915]

What's the nature trail that people keep mentioning? I only know of the short one where you hear people screaming on the zipline. Didn't care for that. 

[ABQrobin]

I would recommend a tour there.  We did 2... whale watching then the bear viewing.  Both were great tours and would recommend them.  The town is tiny, no fancy stores, only 1 restaurant as I recall.  We had hoped to have lunch there but didn't happen as we were so rushed getting between excursions.  To me, this is the one port that feels very "Alaska".

 

I did a video:

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by ABQrobin

[surgie]

We did a "bear" tour in ISP in 2015. It was by far our worst excursion in Alaska. Probably because it was early June, but there was not a bear in sight anywhere (of course I didn't expect a guarantee). In between stopping to roll his window down to talk to people along the road he knew, the guide/driver excitedly pointed out bear scat and we stopped to take pictures of squirrels - maybe a novelty for some in the very cramped van but we see them daily in the Midwest. I should have researched this more carefully but by the time I planned ISP I was "researched out". So I would say choose your bear tour carefully! When we go with the family in July 2024, we are looking to make different plans which I will look into more thoroughly lol. 

[edinburgher]

On 8/13/2023 at 7:27 PM, cleobella said:

Where is the best place here to see wildlife? 

  ISP is one of the best locations for whale watching trips and we did one and saw a number of them.   If super lucky you may see a bear or two on the shoreline from your whale boat tour although we did not.   Sometimes whales can be seen from your ship or from the shore so keep an eye on the water surface when walking slong the road between the cannery/museum and "town" or from an open deck once back onboard.

Edited August 30, 2023 by edinburgher

[Sai1]

A related question on excursions in ISP - for our cruise next summer (planning ahead!!!!) - Royal lists a 3.5 hour bird watching opportunity, but the pricing sounds excessive (about $225 US for 3.5 hours, per person for birds and a walk/hike .... a group of 8 would rake in almost $2K). I can't imagine this being worth it at that price point... but perhaps it is an absolutely incredible experience? (We are quite familiar with eagles, and their fishing habits and such, so that is not a big draw itself). Are there any private tour guides at a more reasonable price, or is it all controlled by the tourist group there? (I have emailed them and Royal, but so far haven't heard anything further.) Thanks.