Glacier Kayaking Tours in Seward

Choosing the Best Glacier Kayaking Experience in Seward

When visiting Seward, the two most popular things to do are boat tours and kayak tours. Most boat tours are on large vessels and involve observing, but not actively engaging with, the landscape of the fjords. On our Aialik Glacier Day Trip, we provide each group of 6 guests with their own knowledgeable guide and travel out to Aialik Bay on a 24-passenger water taxi. This wildlife-viewing boat tour tends to be a highlight of the trip for our guests.

Although all of Kenai Fjords National Park is rugged and enchanting, one of the most important factors in your choice of paddling trips should be location and travel time. Aialik Glacier is the largest and most actively calving tidewater glacier in the park, so its expansiveness is matched only by its gregarious rumbling as giant chunks of ice sheer from its face. 

What about Holgate or Northwestern?

Guests may see discounted trips to Holgate Glacier and Holgate Arm because they are closer to Seward and cheaper to access. However, Holgate Glacier is much smaller than Aialik Glacier and calves less often, so it doesn’t offer the same experience. If you’re visiting Kenai Fjords National Park, we recommend Aialik Glacier for the most awe-inspiring and memorable trip.

We don’t run day trips to Northwestern Fjord because the 6-hour round-trip water taxi ride is too long for most people. If you’ve come to Alaska to kayak, we’d rather spend the time paddling. We do offer multi-day trips there since it takes significant effort to reach.

Holgate Arm and Northwestern Fjord are also smaller and narrower than Aialik, leaving less space to explore. Aialik Glacier, over a mile wide at its face, is truly on another scale.

After 40 years of guiding, we’ve consistently received the best feedback from our Aialik Glacier Day Trip. That’s why we focus our energy there and look forward to sharing it with you.