A sample hosted journey. Aboard a perfectly sized and classically comfortable private vessel, the Safari Explorer, we will explore Alaska’s secluded inlets and coves to intimately visit with wildlife and nature in up-close settings. This group itinerary has plenty of built-in adventure to explore at your leisure, including kayaks, paddle boards, skiff rides, hiking, yoga and more.
- Depart on your flight to Juneau, Alaska.
- Arrive in Juneau where your driver will transfer the group to our hotel, Westmark Baranoff (or similar).
- Check-in and settle in before choosing optional activities to explore independently, like a helicopter to Mendenhall Glacier for a scenic hike or a shopping excursion in pursuit of unique items and souvenirs from local artists.
- For a memorable dinner, we will head to Tracy’s Crab Shack, the most popular restaurant in Juneau serving up the best crab legs in town. Order a la carte and leave the bill with us.
Available upgrades:
Enjoy private individual transfers
- Enjoy breakfast at the hotel.
- Depart for local sightseeing in Juneau, possibly including the Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute
- Return to hotel and enjoy lunch at leisure before embarking on our cruise and settling in.
- Enjoy breakfast and lunch onboard.
- Lynn Canal or Chatham Strait? Your captain makes the call. Either choice, we will go with the flow—the water is fine. Trusted guides will help you gear up and lead your adventure along the rocky outcroppings. By kayak or paddle board, take in the size of this wilderness. Bald eagles dot the treetops. Harbor seals bob up and under. Pods of orcas—the largest in the dolphin family—skim along the water’s surface.
- Stay overnight on the Safari Explorer and enjoy dinner onboard.
- Enjoy breakfast and lunch onboard.
- What a privilege. At 3.3 million acres—this UNESCO World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve is massive. At Bartlett Cove, a park ranger joins in on your day’s exploration and shares the park’s history. Orange-beaked puffins, guillemots, marbled murrelets are just a few possible sightings. Keep a tally—the list will grow. Arriving at South Marble Island, you can hear and smell ‘em before you see ‘em—it’s a haul out for sea lions. Perched above around the bend, watch for mountain goats, and lower along shore, foraging bears.
- Up bay, glacial silt turns the water a milky white. Margerie and Grand Pacific Glaciers—one holding steady, the other retreating. Lounging harbor seals laze on bits of bergs. And if time allows, tuck up in Tidal Inlet.
- End this very full day with your feet up for the sail into Icy Strait.
- Stay overnight on the Safari Explorer and dinner onboard.
- Enjoy breakfast and lunch onboard.
- Nearly to the Pacific Ocean, Icy Strait is remote and wild. The plan? Whales and marine mammals. Spouts and fin slaps are certain giveaways. More rollicking sea lions and birds. But don’t forget to look straight down. Porpoises and dolphins may hitch a ride on the bow wave. And don’t worry about missing any wildlife; it’s a favorite mission of the crew to point out any creatures they spot. Make a break for it and head for a quiet pocket along the rugged coastline. A different sort of wild than the open strait, muskeg leads to forest bushwhacks. Skiff the shore and down along kelp-threaded channels.
- Stay overnight on the Safari Explorer and enjoy dinner onboard.
- Enjoy breakfast and lunch onboard.
- Kick off the morning with on-deck yoga stretches (your guides love it when you join them).
- Meander through glacier-carved fjords along the Chichagof coast. Then stop. It’s a prime time to lower the kayaks and skiffs. Camera in hand, set off on land and sea explorations. Closer inspection by skiff, moss-dripping trees run right down to the water. Any bears in there? With one of the world’s largest populations of bears, it’s possible.
- Go searching for giant trees and tidal pools. Hiking in the Tongass, it won’t take long to find them. Your eagle-eyed guides lead the pack—and pull up the rear.
- Later, wend along a twisting channel known for dramatic currents. Peril Strait runs 50 miles to Salisbury Sound.
- Stay overnight on the Safari Explorer and enjoy lunch and dinner onboard.
- Enjoy breakfast and lunch onboard.
- There’s an eerie, enigmatic feeling in these woods. Morning fog catches like cotton balls on trees. The aptly named narrows squeezes to only 300 feet wide in one spot and a shallow 24 feet deep. The shorelines are close and it’s good territory for play. Skiff ashore and hike into the backcountry. Otters back float working to crack snacks resting on their bellies. Opening at Hoonah Sound, the squeeze is back on. Wind into Neva Strait.
- Watch the scenery change in the late fading light—from the hot tub of course.
- Stay overnight on the Safari Explorer and enjoy breakfast, lunch, dinner onboard.
- Enjoy breakfast and lunch onboard.
- There aren’t many straight lines along Baranof Island. Its western side is spattered with remote, uninhabited islands. These features mean endless opportunities for adventure. Secluded coves. Tree-covered islets.
- Drop anchor, pick your modus operandi, and get going. Kayak, paddle board, or skiff—you’re on the level with curious sea lions and possibly whales. Rocky intertidal zones make good beach combing. Turn a stone or two to see what’s underneath. There are no groomed trails here—get out on a guided hike John Muir would approve of.
- Toast your voyage with a festive Farewell Dinner and enjoy our last overnight on the Safari Explorer.
- Cruise into Sitka this morning over breakfast onboard.
- Disembark and join the group transfer to the airport for your flights home.
Available upgrades:
Enjoy private individual transfers
Due to disembarkation timing, it is highly recommended that you book your departure flight from Sitka no earlier than 11:30 a.m.
