Sea Kayaking Trips In Alaska

A two-hour kayak ride up Mitchell Bay toward Has­sel­borg Lake takes you through a serene, pris­tine wilder­ness. You’ll share the area with water birds, eagles, salmon and of course, brown bear. Portage at a U.S. For­est Ser­vice cab­ins to stay awhile and take in more of the incred­i­ble Ton­gass Nation­al Forest.

Although this can be a busy spot, it is a lot less con­gest­ed than the Homer Spit. Things to do here include: tak­ing small day hikes, pad­dling in the lagoon, camp­ing, stay­ing at one of the three near­by pub­lic use cab­ins, and the most pop­u­lar, fish­ing for Kings dur­ing the month of June.

A pop­u­lar place for cruis­es and kayak­ing. You can stop along the shore, pitch a tent and enjoy the soli­tude and scenic views for a day or two.

The 125-mile water trail is intend­ed to inspire explo­ration, under­stand­ing and stew­ard­ship of the nat­ur­al trea­sure that is Kachemak Bay. Peo­ple will take their own boats, kayaks, skiffs, or canoes on a mapped route which high­lights the stops and the views along the way. On the web­site, you will find sug­gest­ed itineraries.

This is a pop­u­lar area for kayak­ing, and there are a series of flat beach­es-which are actu­al­ly allu­vial fans formed by glacial out­wash along the east shore of Black­stone Bay, where kayak­ers get dropped off.

As you cruise through it, this spec­tac­u­lar pas­sage necks down nar­row­er and nar­row­er until you are look­ing straight up at lush green walls that seem to enclose the boat on both sides. You’ll rarely see anoth­er boat in here.

Pad­dle around a qui­et lagoon with the impres­sive Shoup Glac­i­er at one end and ice­bergs that have calved from the glac­i­er, mar­vel at the live­ly black-legged Kit­ti­wake Rook­ery, and take in the feel­ing of being some­where remote — even if you’re only 5 miles from town.

From Car­ry Inlet pad­dle north out of the entrance of Car­ry Inlet along the east­ern shore­line to Car­shan Pt. Go around the point and pad­dle SE along the shore­line into Shangin Bay. Pad­dle approx­i­mate­ly ²⁄₃ of the length of Shangin Bay, then pad­dle west into the large arm of the bay. At the far NW end of this arm there is a marked portage trail lead­ing into Car­ry Inlet. This is a short portage at high tide, but is not rec­om­mend­ed at low tide. If…  ...more

From Big Bay pad­dle to the far end of the NE arm of Big Bay. Fol­low the riv­er-like water­way into Mid­dle Lagoon, pad­dle across the lagoon, and fol­low the pas­sage out. Skiff Pas­sage goes com­plete­ly dry at low tide and can only be kayaked at a high tide of 12 ft.* or more. Water floods into Skiff Pass from two direc­tions; It flows north from Big Bay into Mid­dle Lagoon and south from the out­er coast into Mid­dle Lagoon. When the tide turns, the…  ...more

Nes­tled in the south end of Dan­ger­ous Pas­sage, Jack­pot is remote, pro­tect­ed, and is in an area close to the glac­i­ers in Icy Bay. With a vast lake sys­tem to the North of Jacpot Bay, there is plen­ty of fresh­wa­ter flow­ing into the pro­tect­ed lagoons. Whales are com­mon in the area. 

From Big Bay pad­dle to the long beach between the NW and NE arms of Big Bay. There is a portage trail, marked on both sides with buoys, lead­ing from Big Bay into West­ern Inlet. Portage this ¹⁄₈ mile trail, then pad­dle along the shore­line to Dead Bird Beach. A Short, unmarked portage through the rye grass leads to the back lagoon of the NW arm of Big Bay. The many islands at the entrance to the West­ern Inlet are fun to explore in a kayak. Relax…  ...more

Hump­back whales, sea otters and har­bor seals are scat­tered through­out the Beard­slees, with whales and otters most like­ly to be seen on the west­ern side of the islands — near­est to open water. Watch the shore for black bears and moose. Black oys­ter­catch­ers – black shore­birds with bright red-orange bills – nest on the islands. Look for har­le­quin ducks, pigeon guille­mots, pelag­ic cor­morants, arc­tic terns, mar­bled mur­relets and large flocks of  ...more

From Big Bay pad­dle out the west entrance of the bay along the north­ern shore­line. Head north at the entrance and fol­low the shore­line to North Cape. Pad­dle east to Dead Bird Beach. A short, unmarked portage through the rye grass brings you into the back lagoon of the NW arm of Big Bay. This portage is short at high tide; it is longer and mud­di­er at low tide. This loop can be done in either direc­tion and takes 3 to 5 hours. Be cau­tious when…  ...more

Shuyak Island offers sea kayak­ing for both the novice and the expe­ri­enced kayak­er. The inner bays (Neke­ta Bay, Big Bay, West­ern Inlet, Car­ry Inlet, and Shangin Bay) are well pro­tect­ed from weath­er and gen­er­al­ly remain calm enough for novice kayak­ers. The out­er coast is exposed, and large swells, rough seas, high winds, and heavy surf are com­mon there. Only skilled kayak­ers should pad­dle the out­side waters. Under all cir­cum­stances, be alert…  ...more