Makenna Kenai Fjords National Park
Kenai Fjords National Park is one of Alaska’s 8 National Parks. Located on the border of the charming port town of Seward, it is not as hard to access as many of Alaska’s other National Parks. Seward is a short, very scenic 2-hour drive from Anchorage. Despite being relatively easy to get to Kenai Fjords, there is only one road that allows access to the park (more on this in a later post!). The majority of the park is accessed by boat or plane, and the easiest way to see the most of the park is to take a Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise tour. The park is full of gorgeous fjords, and towering glaciers, and teeming with exotic wildlife.
Several tour operators offer cruises out of Seward. In this post, I discuss three of the major tour operators out of Seward and give you a play-by-play of our experience sailing through the majestic Kenai Fjords National Park.
Kenai Fjords National Park Cruises
The easiest and most affordable way to visit Kenai Fjords National Park is through a glacier and wildlife cruise. There are a handful of tour operators out of Seward offering varying tour lengths and experiences. Below I’ve outlined the top 3 tour operators, followed by our own experience.
Kenai Fjords Tours
Kenai Fjords Tours has been in the glacier and wildlife viewing business since 1974. They operate several large catamaran-style boats that accommodate up to 150 passengers. Their catamarans have spacious indoor seating areas that are heated, as well as large open decks on both levels of their boats. On each of their tour options, they include a meal service and have a bar onboard as well. There are several tour options that Kenai Fjords Tours offers, outlined below. For more information on specific tours, visit their website here!
| Tour | 4 hour Spring Resurrection Bay Tour | 5 hour Resurrection Bay Tour with Fox Island | 5.5 hour Glacier Dinner Cruise | 6 hour Kenai Fjords National Park Tour | 8 hour Northwestern Fjord Tour | 8.5 hour National Park Tour with Fox Island |
| Cost* | * | $130-$169 | $189-$209 | $195-$239 | $238-$266 | $245-$269 |
| Dates** | March 14 – May 16 (Thu – Sun only) | May 17 – September 6 | June 11 – August 17 (Tue – Sat only) | May 4 – September 29 | May 25 – August 25 | May 18 – August 25 |
* Kenai Fjords Tours uses dynamic pricing – these are the price ranges as of July 2024 when I searched. As it was July when writing this, the spring tour was not being offered so I cannot list their price ranges.
** Dates subject to change
Major Marine Tours
Major Marine Tours is similar to Kenai Fjords Tours, in that they offer larger group tours with catamaran-style vessels with capacities ranging from approximately 150 to 190 guests. They also have large indoor and outdoor spaces for wildlife viewing. Lunch is included on their 6-hour, 7.5-hour, and 8-hour tours. Find below a summary of their tour options:
| Tour | Spring Wildlife Cruise | Orca Quest Cruise | 4 hour Kenai Fjords Wildlife Cruise | 6 hour Kenai Fjords National Park Tour | 8.5 hour Northwestern Fjord Tour | 7.5 hour National Park Tour |
| Cost | Adult: $115Child: $57.50 | Adult: $145Child: $72.50 | Adult: $139Child: $69.50 | Adult: $219Child: $109.50 | Adult: $289 | Adult: $239Child: $119.50 |
| Dates* | March 8 – May 11 | May 12 – June 15 | June 17 – October 13 | May 4 – September 22 | May 31 – September 2 | May 24 – September 8 |
*Dates are approximate and subject to change
Seward Ocean Excursions
Seward Ocean Excursions is a small, privately owned tour company. The experience you will receive if booking with them will be a bit different than the two previously mentioned companies. This is because their vessels are much smaller in size, which gives you a more personal experience. Their boats hold up to a maximum of 6 guests per tour. However, being that this is a more personalized experience, it does cost a bit more and their times are shorter than the larger companies. A 3.5-hour tour will run you $189/person, their 6-hour tour is $309/person, and they do offer a full-day tour, however, this must be booked for a private party for $2,455 for 6 people.
Our Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise Experience
I chose to sail with Kenai Fjords Tours for our National Park cruise. I had followed all three companies on social media for a while, and I saw that they were having a Cyber Monday sale last fall for 40% off ticket prices. Being me, I did the math, and this was going to give us two tickets for less than the cost of one. Needless to say, we had the 6-hour National Park tour booked!
The Boat
Upon arrival at the office, we got checked in and received our tickets. When they called our tour number, we proceeded down to the dock to board the boat. The boat was extremely comfortable with an upper and lower deck with tons of seating and tables. The entire boat is surrounded by windows so you really can’t pick a bad seat, plus you’ll be spending most of your time on the deck anyways.
I loved that tons of open deck space wrapped around the entire boat so there was plenty of space for everyone. We went towards the beginning of their summer season, so our tour was not full – something I loved! There were four marine heads at the back of the boat and a full galley and bar on board.
Included in our ticket price was a hot lunch. I did not have high expectations of this, but wow were we surprised! It was SO good! We each enjoyed a southwest chicken burrito that was piping hot, served with a side of salsa and sour cream, chips, and salsa, and our choice of soda or water. At the end of the tour, they came around serving WARM chocolate chip cookies. These cookies were good, people. All in all, we were very impressed with the food on this trip!
Glaciers
On the 6-hour tour, there are two glaciers that you might get the privilege of visiting – Aialik and Holgate glaciers. Typically they will only take you to one, and it is dependent on the weather and other factors the captain takes into consideration. On our tour, they took us to the largest of the two glaciers, Aialik Glacier.
Aialik Glacier is phenomenal. The captain takes you quite close to the face of the glacier while remaining far enough back for safety in the case of calvings. As we approached the glacier we could feel the air getting colder, because you are quite literally in an ice box! I loved watching the icebergs float by. The blue color is indescribable. The captain kept a running commentary full of facts about the glacier and we learned a ton. I won’t bore you with the facts now and let you experience them on your tour!
We got very lucky to witness a large calving off the face of the glacier. You listen for the thunder-like sound and then scan the face of the glacier looking for the ice to fall. A massive piece fell off into the water, creating a massive wave in its wake. It was incredible to see, and at the same time very sad, because all the glaciers continue to recede.
Something very fun that the tour offers is while at the glacier, the crew pulls on board some of the ice floating in the water. Then after departing the glacier, they make “glacier-itas” with that ice! I of course had to get one because how cool is that?? How many people can say that they drank a margarita made with 200+ year-old ice?
Wildlife
We saw quite a bit of wildlife on our 6-hour Kenai Fjords National Park cruise. It can drastically vary from day to day or even tour to tour because as we all know, wildlife is unpredictable. Below is a list of the wildlife we were fortunate enough to see:
- Stellar sea lions
- The size of the males is astounding, and the noises they make are hilarious!
- Sea otters
- I mean does it get any cuter?
- Harbor seals
- We got to see some of these guys floating on the icebergs near the glacier, and even saw a few little pups!
- Humpback whales
- Not too many of these guys were out on the day we went, but we did get to see one of them playing and slapping his pectoral fins which was awesome!
- Mountain goats
- I feel like I can barely count these because they are so high up on the mountainside that they just look like tiny white dots
- Orca whales
- My FAVORITE!
My favorite animal on the planet is an orca whale (did you know that they are not actually whales, but the largest species of dolphin?), so this was the highlight for me. We had thought we weren’t going to get to see them. The tour was coming to an end and we were heading back to the marina; I was feeling very disheartened that we hadn’t seen any Orca. Then all of a sudden the captain comes on the loudspeaker and says, “Well folks, we are nearing the end of the tour, so I thought I would end it by showing you some Orca!”
I have never moved so fast in my life. My husband said it was like a cartoon, leaving a cloud of dust in my wake. I rushed out onto the deck so fast, that I left behind all of my cold-weather gear but I didn’t care. We got to see a pod of killer whales, with a large male whose dorsal fin was over 6 feet tall, and they had a newborn with them! It was so magical, I still get goosebumps thinking about it. I could talk all day about orcas, but I’ll spare you all the endless facts I know. I hope everyone gets to see these magnificent apex predators in the wild!
Tips
Money Saving
We were able to save a lot of money on our excursion by taking advantage of a sale. It is one of my top tips when planning a trip somewhere, to follow some of the local accounts on social media. That is the first and best place they will list their sales. Essentially we were able to get two tickets for less than the cost of one.
For Alaska specifically, look at getting the Alaska TourSaver coupon book. They are extremely transparent on their website about all the offers they have included, and Major Marine Tours was included in this year’s book, offering 4 of their tour options with discounts.
Clothing
My number one tip for this excursion is to pack many many layers. I was freezing most of the time on the deck, and I had 5 layers on my torso and 2 layers of pants. There is plenty of space in the cabin to leave your bags while you are out on deck, so pack plenty of layers and make sure you have a waterproof layer! Don’t forget the hat, gloves, and scarf too. The weather can be very unpredictable in Alaska and you want to be prepared!
Gadgets
Invest in a good pair of binoculars. We had some cheaper ones and I wished we had higher-power ones to be able to see better. I also recommend if you have a professional-level camera either purchase or rent a long telephoto lens. I had a 300mm lens with me and it still was not enough for some of the wildlife photos.
Set Your Expectations
Lastly, don’t let anything ruin your Kenai Fjords National Park cruise. Weather is unpredictable, wildlife is unpredictable. I found I kept comparing my experience to others I was seeing on social media. We didn’t get to see any super close-up wildlife encounters or have a whale breach right next to us. But we still were so lucky to see as much as we did and had an amazing experience all the same! Just go into it knowing that no matter what, you will have a fantatstic time!
Final Thoughts
We had an incredible experience visiting Kenai Fjords National Park with Kenai Fjords Tours. I hope we will get to go back one day (soon!) because it is truly a magical place. I don’t think you could go wrong with any of the tour operators I have mentioned here. They are all the best in the biz in their own ways! Sailing through the fjords is something that deserves to be on everyone’s bucket list. Book that trip and enjoy the amazing beauty Alaska has to offer!
Want to know more about our Alaska trip? Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to get all the updates! For more information about Seward, you can read my articles about our camping experience here, and more about Kenai Fjords National Park here.
Have you been to Kenai Fjords National Park? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below!
