Icy Strait Point and Hoonah Guide

How the port is laid out

The port has two cruise landings, a little apart along the shore. The cannery buildings, with the shops, restaurants, restrooms and free museum, sit by one of them. A free green transfer gondola links the two landings, and a nature trail along the shore does the same on foot. Take2Travel suggest riding one way and walking back if the weather’s kind.

There are two gondolas, and it’s easy to mix them up. The green transfer cabins run between the landings and cost nothing. The Mountain Top Gondola climbs to the start of the ZipRider and needs a ticket.

Ships that can’t get a berth anchor offshore and tender passengers in, which Adventures Are Out There describe on a day with three ships. Hoonah town is a separate walk or shuttle ride beyond the port gate.

The cannery was built by the Hoonah Packing Company in 1912. Huna Totem Corporation, the Alaska Native village corporation for Hoonah, bought and restored it, and Live a Little were told that about 85 percent of the port’s staff live in Hoonah.

How this list is ordered: from what nearly every visitor does on a port day, starting with the free things by the cannery, through to the excursions that need a booking and a longer call. Where a paid tour adds something you can’t get alone, we link to the page that compares the options. Every tour card here passes the review and rating filters we publish.

Things to do at Icy Strait Point

1. Walk the shoreline and watch the water

Start here, because the wildlife doesn’t wait for an excursion. Take2Travel saw orcas from the ship’s buffet window before they had even gone ashore, then seals playing off the beach once they had. Every one of the four traveler videos we compared from this port saw wildlife without a tour: whales, seals, eagles or starfish. The whale-trip videos found the same from the ship: Leggs Outdoors watched humpbacks breaching off the bow in the afternoon, and Travel Life With Lucy saw whales at sail-away. The paths around the port run past benches and lookouts facing Icy Strait, and the walk between the two landings follows the shore through forest. Take it slowly and keep looking out. Humpbacks feed in this water all season, and a blow on the horizon is often the first sign. Binoculars make the difference between a dot and a whale.

2. The 1912 cannery and its free museum

The Hoonah Packing Company built the cannery in 1912, and it stopped canning salmon in 1953, according to the display that Adventures Are Out There filmed. Today the long wooden buildings hold about a dozen shops, several Alaska Native-owned, plus restaurants and a free museum. The museum is a short walk-through. PedrozaTravel filmed the old salmon-cleaning machines and a case on Alaska bingles, the token coins canneries once paid workers in. Take2Travel’s verdict: it doesn’t take long, but it’s worth doing. Go early or late in your day, since everyone off the ship passes through.

3. Ride the free transfer gondola

The green cabins between the two landings are free and take about 4 minutes, according to the operator listings that use them to send people to the Excursion Hub. It saves the walk between landings, which PedrozaTravel judged farther than it looks. Three of the four traveler videos used it. Pair it with the trail, gondola one way and walk the other, for a free hour that shows you most of the port.

4. Whale watching from Hoonah

For whales up close rather than on the horizon, take a boat. Trips run about 3 hours from the Excursion Hub, with a short van ride to the boats, and groups on the Viator boats run from 6 to 49. All 8 whale trip videos we compared saw humpbacks; orcas turned up on 2 and brown bears on the shoreline on 2. Ship-sold boats can be far bigger: KenTravels360 rode one for up to 154 that was packed, while Live the Life Media, on a 14-passenger boat, was close enough to hear the whales breathe. We compare all seven worthwhile boats, by group size, inclusions and refund rules, on our page about how the whale boats from Hoonah compare.

5. The ZipRider

The port’s own ZipRider is the reason many people choose this stop. The port describes six side-by-side lines running 5,495 feet down the mountain, from 1,330 feet above sea level to the shore, at up to 60 mph. Allow 1.5 hours including the gondola ride up. Riders must weigh 75 to 275 lb; anyone 16 or under rides with a parent or guardian, and it isn’t suitable in pregnancy or with back or neck injuries. It’s sold by the port and cruise lines, not on Viator; see the port’s ZipRider page for booking.

All 5 riders whose videos we watched loved it, Chef Dice Eats included, and he’s afraid of heights. The routine they filmed: sign a waiver, get weighed and take a wristband, then leave bags in the lockers at the base, because there are none at the top. The gondola up took Chef Dice about 7 minutes and the ride about 90 seconds. Then comes the part nobody advertises. In 3 of 5 videos the quarter-mile walk from the gondola to the launch is steep and rocky, and Where’s Walter Travel, a travel advisor, found it slick in rain; staff drove guests with mobility issues up in a cart. Keep your feet up until you clear the cliff, lean back for the hard brake at the bottom, and let staff unstrap you. Phones go only on a tether. Staff told Chef Dice the GoPro filming is free, with 30 days to decide whether to buy the clip.

6. The Mountain Top Gondola

If the ZipRider is too much, the paid gondola still takes you up the mountain the ZipRider starts from, and the port runs a Mountain Top Forest excursion from the top. A cruise line sells the ride as the Sky Peak Gondola, and riders in the videos call it the SkyGlider, so check all three names. Harr Travel, another travel advisor, and Where’s Walter Travel both note you can ride up for the view and come back down without zipping. Up top, Travel Life With Lucy found a shop, seating, snacks and toilets, and Harr Travel walked a 1-mile loop trail past bear warning signs, so stay in a group. The cabins climb steeply and stop several times on the way up, which 2 of the 5 riders flag for anyone nervous of heights. Lines vary: Live a Little saw none, Travel Life With Lucy saw a bigger queue by late morning, and KenTravels360 skipped it for a long line and poor weather. On a cloudy day the top can be in the clouds, though in 2 of the 3 foggy ZipRider videos it cleared higher up.

7. Kayak along the Hoonah shore

The Kayak Tours trip runs 2 to 3 hours for up to 20 people, past an old logging camp to an area locals call Long Island, with kayaks, paddles, spray skirts and ponchos supplied. It has 368 reviews averaging close to 4.9. You’ll get wet, and one reviewer felt it suits older children who can help paddle rather than little ones. It meets at the port; see kayaking and the other excursions at Icy Strait Point.

8. Look for brown bears on Chichagof Island

Chichagof Island has one of the densest brown bear populations anywhere, according to Travel Alaska, and that makes bear searches popular. They’re also the least reliable thing here. The most reviewed, a van tour with a local Native guide, averages 3.9 across 215 reviews, and its operator says sightings can’t be guaranteed. Adventures Are Out There waited at a viewing platform on another bear trip and saw eagles and a deer but no bears. If you go, go for the forest and the guide, and count a bear as a bonus.

9. Eat local seafood

The cannery restaurants serve halibut, crab and salmon by the water. Adventures Are Out There called the Cookhouse halibut and chips “amazing”. Live a Little, on the other hand, found the bill high and weren’t sure it was worth it. For a sit-down meal in town instead, the Icy Strait Village Tour and Crab Feast ends with Dungeness crab at a family beach house in Hoonah, 75 reviews and close to 5.

10. Halibut and river fishing

Two small charters take six people each. The Halibut Fishing Charter is catch and release, with the license sold on board for cash. River Fishing and Bear Watching puts you in waders on a wild river for 4 hours, license included, with a strong fitness level asked for. Both meet at the port. Neither suits a short call.

Hoonah town and Chichagof Island

Hoonah is the reason the port exists, and it’s the part most visitors skip. It sits about 1.5 miles from the port: Take2Travel measured the walk at 30 to 45 minutes, and Live a Little at 1.6 miles. Travel Alaska describes it as the largest Tlingit village in the state. The Tlingit name the town’s visitors are usually told translates as the place where the north wind doesn’t blow.

Getting there. Walk the road from the port, or take the town shuttle. Two travelers timed the shuttle at every 20 to 25 minutes and every 20 to 30 minutes; the fare they paid differed, so check it at the stop. PedrozaTravel passed bear warning signs on the walk. Stay on the road, stay in a group, and don’t walk at dusk on a late call.

What you’ll find. Keep expectations modest. Take2Travel’s advice was to be realistic; PedrozaTravel found only a couple of gift shops. What both Live a Little and PedrozaTravel filmed, though, was a totem carver at work. Live a Little were told one pole had taken four people six months by hand, working 6 to 8 hours a day. You’ll also pass the harbor, an eagle’s nest PedrozaTravel spotted from the road, and houses rebuilt after the fire of 1944, which destroyed much of the town and many Tlingit cultural objects.

Live a Little called walking back in the rain the most memorable part of their day. That’s the case for Hoonah in one sentence. It isn’t a sight, it’s a working town.

Chichagof Island. Icy Strait Point and Hoonah sit on the north shore of Chichagof, the fifth-largest island in the United States. Almost all of it is forest, and the only way into it on a port day is a guided bear search, a driving tour or the river fishing trip. All three leave from the port; compare them on our page of bear searches, kayaks, fishing and village tours.

Free things to do

A whole port day here can cost nothing beyond lunch. PedrozaTravel did exactly that, a self-guided day with three ships in.

• The cannery museum. Free, in the restored cannery buildings by the landing.
• The green transfer gondola. Free between the two landings, about 4 minutes each way.
• The shoreline and forest trail between the landings, with benches facing the strait.
• Tide pools. PedrozaTravel found green and purple starfish on the beach by the landing at low tide. Hoonah’s tides swing as much as 24 feet, according to a sign they filmed, so the beach looks very different by the hour.
• Whale and eagle spotting from shore. Bring binoculars.
• The walk into Hoonah, 30 to 45 minutes each way, with totem carvers at work if you’re lucky.
• The cannery shops, to browse rather than buy.

The only things that cost money are the shuttle into town, food, the paid gondola, the ZipRider and the excursions. Our page on things to do at Icy Strait Point sets the paid ones side by side.

Icy Strait Point with kids

The port works well with children because the free things are clustered around the cannery landing. The cannery museum, the beach, the starfish and the gondola fill a morning for small children at no cost.

The ZipRider takes riders from 75 lb, with anyone 16 or under riding with a parent or guardian; check the port’s rules for minimum age before you promise it. Hold small hands on the walk to the launch, too: staff told Chef Dice Eats they have seen adults and children fall on it. On the water, ages vary by boat. Catch of the Day won’t take children under 5, Wonderful Whales and Wildlife sets 9 as its minimum, and the Chichagof bear search takes no one under 8.

Three hours is a long time on a boat for young kids. MH Family Adventures, on a Hoonah whale trip, said their younger children were restless well before the end, and they also warned about the steep ramps. A boat with a heated cabin helps. Kayaking suits older children who can paddle, by one reviewer’s account.

Pack snacks and a dry change of clothes. Rain is likely and the beach is wet underfoot.

On a rainy day

Plan on rain and you won’t be disappointed. Two of the four traveler videos from this port were filmed in it, and Hoonah’s wettest cruise month, September, averages more than 7 inches.

Rain doesn’t cancel much. Whale boats run in rain and turn back only for small craft advisories, and several have heated cabins. We set out the weather and refund rule for each Hoonah boat side by side. The van-based bear search and driving tour keep you dry between stops. The ZipRider is the activity most exposed to weather; ask the port what happens to a booking in heavy rain or wind.

Indoors, the cannery is your shelter, with the shops, the museum and the restaurants inside the old buildings.

The walk to Hoonah in rain is wet and long, but Live a Little, soaked, called it the highlight of their day. A poncho over a warm layer does the job. Adventures Are Out There said to bring a poncho or umbrella. The ZipRider runs in the wet as well; Where’s Walter Travel said the rain felt like sleet on the way down, so take the free goggles.

Weather, when to go and getting around

Icy Strait Point weather by month. Expect cool, damp and changeable. Hoonah averages about 66 inches of rain a year, and over the cruise season the rain builds steadily from June to September.

June and July are the safest bets: warmest, driest and with the longest days. Mornings are cool in every month; MH Family Adventures set off on a whale trip at 54°F. September is the wettest month by far, and late in the month Hoonah’s businesses start closing for the year, as Live a Little found.

For the day itself, the National Weather Service’s Juneau office issues the marine forecast for Southeast Alaska, which covers Icy Strait and is what decides whether boats go out. A generic phone forecast for “Hoonah” is fine for deciding on a jacket.

When to go. You don’t choose the date, your ship does. What you can control is the number of ships: the port’s ship calendar shows who else is in. On PedrozaTravel’s three-ship day, about 12,000 passengers came ashore in a town of around 900, and on another three-ship day Griff & Alyssa (partnered with Shore Excursions Group) met long lines for food and drinks at the Crab House.

Getting around. On foot, mostly. The free green gondola links the two landings; the nature trail does the same if you’d like the walk. Into Hoonah you walk about 1.5 miles or ride the town shuttle. Tours collect you at the Excursion Hub or the port gate. By several operators’ accounts there’s no cell signal at the port, so agree a meeting time with your group before you split up. Listen for announcements as well: KenTravels360’s ship gave up its pier slot at midday, and passengers had to come back by tender.

How long you need. Three hours covers the cannery, the museum, the gondola and the shoreline. Five or six hours lets you add one excursion or the walk to Hoonah. Doing both an excursion and Hoonah needs a long call of 8 hours or more.

If you only have one port day

An eight-hour call with one excursion, times from docking. Shift everything if your ship arrives later.

• 8:00. Ashore. Walk the shoreline toward the cannery and watch the water while the paths are quiet.
• 8:30. The cannery museum and shops, before the tour groups come back.
• 9:15. Check in at the Excursion Hub, 15 minutes before a 9:30 whale boat.
• 9:30 to 12:30. Whale watching out of Hoonah. Bring the rain jacket even if it’s dry now.
• 12:45. Lunch at the cannery. Halibut is the local order.
• 13:45. Walk into Hoonah, about 40 minutes, or take the shuttle. Look for the totem carvers.
• 15:00. Shuttle or walk back.
• 15:45. The free green gondola to the other landing and the trail back, if you have time.
• 16:30. Back aboard, an hour before a typical all aboard.

On a six-hour call, drop Hoonah or the excursion. Both don’t fit.

Booking the excursion yourself rather than through the ship? Our page on how booking works explains who takes the payment and how cancellation works.

Icy Strait Point is rarely the only stop. For Juneau and Sitka, often on the same itinerary, start from our Inside Passage port overview.

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