Ships call from late April to late September at a Native-owned port near Point Adolphus, a humpback feeding area. Independent whale watching costs $185, with a $100 credit if no whale is seen.
Put in your ship's arrival and all-aboard times from your cruise planner. Each tour is checked against the time you have, minus the buffer you choose for getting off the ship and back to the pier.
Example times are filled in. Your cruise line's daily planner has the real ones, and a tender port needs more buffer.
| Operator | What you get | From | Length | Group | Min age | Back-to-ship | Cancellation | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wilderness Tour and Brown Bear SearchIncludes Local guide, Return to Ship Anytime Shuttle Pass, Round-trip transfers from the Port of Icy Strait |
$120 per person |
3 hours |
up to 10 |
8+ (younger only on private tours) | 'Back to Ship on Time Guaranteed' | Full refund 24+ hours out; none within 24 hours; 100% refund if the ship does not arrive or operator cancels. | Check dates | |
Guided Kayak Tour |
$180 per person |
3 hours |
up to 12 |
12+ | Not stated | Check dates | ||
Guaranteed Whale WatchingIncludes Local guide, Return to Ship Anytime Pass, Round-trip shared transfer from the Port of Icy Strait to Hoonah City Harbor |
$185 per person |
3 hours |
up to 30 |
All ages | 'Back to Ship on Time Guaranteed'; shuttle back from Hoonah about every 30 minutes | Full refund 24+ hours out; none within 24 hours; 100% refund if the ship does not arrive or operator cancels. | Check dates | |
Humpback Whale Watching and Brown Bear Search TourIncludes Whale viewing, Shoreline brown bear search |
$200 per person |
3 hours (5.5-hour option) |
4 to 6 guests |
Not stated | Check dates | |||
Fishing Charters |
$320 per person |
3 hours (5.5-hour option) |
4 to 6 guests |
Not stated | Check dates |
From each operator's own website, checked October 22, 2026. How we compare.
Huna Totem Corporation, an Alaska Native corporation whose roughly 1,350 shareholders have ties to Hoonah and the Glacier Bay area, bought the site in 1996 and opened it to cruise ships in 2004. Passengers came ashore by tender until a 400-foot floating dock opened in 2016. A second dock for megaships, built with Norwegian Cruise Line about half a mile away, was finished by 2022. Tenders still run: the 2026 schedule from Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska lists 129 calls at the Ocean Landing Dock, 116 at the Wilderness Landing Dock and 44 tendering to Wilderness Landing.
Hoonah Travel Adventures and Wooshkeetaan Tours meet guests at the Icy Strait Point Excursions Hub, which Wooshkeetaan calls about a 5-minute walk from the ship. From what Hoonah Travel Adventures calls the Adventure Dock, the walk takes 6 to 8 minutes, through the Adventure Center and out door 2. From the Wilderness Dock, the free Green Transporter Gondola rides about 4 minutes to Adventure Landing, and a gravel path leads 3 or 4 minutes on to the hub. Seatrade Cruise News described the Transporter in 2019 as a Doppelmayr gondola with eight-person cabins that take wheelchairs and scooters.
Hoonah is about a mile's walk from the port by Wikipedia's count, and about 1.5 miles by Hoonah Travel Adventures'. That company's guests who walk to town check in at The Shops by HTA, in front of the harbormaster's office, for a wristband. Its whale boats board at Hoonah City Harbor after a drive along Shaman Point. Fairweather Kayak Tours is based at 335 Harbor Drive in Hoonah and gives no meeting point on its site.
Most 2026 calls on the Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska schedule ran 8 to 10 hours, often from 6:00 or 7:00 am. Norwegian Bliss, for one, was listed at the Wilderness Landing Dock from 6:00 am to 3:00 pm on April 29, May 6 and May 13. Eurodam's Tuesday evening calls, 5:30 pm to 10:00 pm, opened the season on April 28 and closed it on September 29. The shortest calls lasted about 4 hours, and the longest 13, such as Norwegian Joy's 7:00 am to 8:00 pm visit on September 26.
Three ships called on May 12. Grand Princess held the Ocean Landing Dock from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm and Eurodam took it over at 5:30 pm, while Celebrity Solstice was at Wilderness Landing from 1:30 pm to 10:00 pm. Hoonah keeps Alaska time, one hour behind Pacific time, and the schedule itself does not name a time zone.
Hoonah Travel Adventures asks guests to check in 15 minutes early and says its tours leave on time. It promises to have guests back aboard in time but publishes no further terms, and its fares include a Return to Ship Anytime pass, with shuttles from its Hoonah transportation hub about every 30 minutes. Wooshkeetaan Tours says it times its tours to cruise ship schedules. Fairweather Kayak Tours' site says nothing about return times.
Humpbacks feed off Point Adolphus, near the port, and in Icy Strait, according to Hoonah Travel Adventures, which says they are usually present from May through September. Its 3-hour trip costs $185 on fast aluminum boats with heated cabins, for up to 30 guests, and orcas, sea lions, sea otters and porpoises sometimes appear. Wooshkeetaan Tours, which reports daily sightings in the same months, pairs whales with a shoreline search for brown bears at $200 plus tax per guest for 4 to 6, or $400 each for two.
Icy Strait Point's FAQ ranks Chichagof Island's brown bear population among Alaska's densest. Hoonah Travel Adventures' 3-hour Wilderness Tour and Brown Bear Search costs $120 plus a $7 Forest Service entrance fee and runs May to September for up to 10 guests aged 8 or older. It travels mostly by van in the Tongass National Forest, letting guests out to watch when it is safe, and promises no sightings. The company says bears graze in June and fish the salmon rivers from July through September.
Fairweather Kayak Tours runs a 3-hour guided paddle near Hoonah for $180, ages 12 and up. Wooshkeetaan's 3-hour halibut and salmon charters cost $320 per guest for 4 to 6, and are catch and release only until further notice because the local fish processing plant closed. Icy Strait Point's own excursions, more than 20 by its FAQ's count, are booked mostly through cruise lines, often at the ship's price. They include the ZipRider, six side-by-side lines running 5,495 feet from a launch 1,330 feet above sea level at up to 60 mph.
Hoonah Travel Adventures refunds in full 24 hours or more ahead, and also when the ship misses Hoonah or the company or the weather cancels. Inside 24 hours it keeps the fare, as it does for a wrong port or date, and the online booking fee comes back only on a full cancellation. Tours need at least 8 passengers; below that, it offers another departure or, with permission, another operator. Its whale guarantee is a $100 credit if no whale is sighted.
Icy Strait Point's FAQ says it guarantees sightings on every whale watch tour it runs, though it publishes no prices. Wooshkeetaan Tours takes 4 to 6 guests on the Silver Spoon, a custom aluminum catamaran built by Munson, and charges $3,000 plus tax for a 5.5-hour charter for up to six. Hoonah Travel Adventures' whale boats take up to 30 and its bear tours 10, and it lists Fairweather's kayak trip for up to 12. Its whale trip takes $10 off each fare when four or more book on one card.
Wooshkeetaan and Fairweather publish no cancellation, missed-port or return-to-ship terms on their sites. Hoonah Travel Adventures cannot take walkers, wheelchairs, scooters or strollers. Its whale guests climb three tall steps onto the bus and three onto the boat, and depending on the tide the ramp down to the dock can be as steep as about 35 degrees. Gratuities, drinks and snacks cost extra on its tours.
from $120 per person
Wilderness Tour and Brown Bear Search and 1 more option
Back to ship: 'Back to Ship on Time Guaranteed'; shuttle back from Hoonah about every 30 minutes
$100 credit if no whale is sighted
from $180 per person
Guided Kayak Tour
No back-to-ship policy stated
Based at 335 Harbor Drive, Hoonah
from $200 per person
Humpback Whale Watching and Brown Bear Search Tour and 1 more option
No back-to-ship policy stated
Custom aluminum catamaran 'Silver Spoon'
Prices and policies come from each operator's own pages, read on October 22, 2026. Seasons, rules and local details come from the pages below.