Seward tour operators offer Kenai Fjords tours involving helicopter rides to glaciers, half-day and full day cruises, sea kayaking, and glacier hikes. Visitors to the national park can see marine wildlife including whales, and sweeping glaciers flowing down from Harding Icefield with the Kenai Mountains as the backdrop.
Since only a small portion of Kenai Fjords National Park is accessible by car, helicopter tours and boat cruises are the primary ways that visitors reach other sections of the park (beyond the Exit Glacier area).
Because Seward is a popular place to begin and end a cruise, as well as a stop for shore excursions for many other cruises, there are a number of full and half day options to explore the park and the surrounding area.
Exit Glacier Tours
In addition to the ranger guided hikes that are offered daily during the summer, there are also private guided hikes available on the trails as well as more advanced excursions such as ice climbing and glacier hikes on Exit Glacier facilitated by a helicopter ride or another mechanism.
Resurrection Bay Tours
These boat cruises and day trips (and those of the surrounding area such as Aialik Bay) offer some of the best bird watching and wildlife spotting in the United States. A popular Resurrection Bay cruise involves travel past Bear Glacier on the way to Fox Island (aka Renard Island, pictured above), which is a 3.4 mile long island in the heart of the bay 12 miles from Seward.
Bear Glacier Tours
Bear Glacier is a popular destination for helicopter tours and iceberg kayaking. It can be reached by either helicopter or boat, and is a relatively short trip from Seward – leaving plenty of time for enjoying the glacier and lagoon when you get there. Make it an overnight trip in late summer by camping overnight near Bear Glacier Lake after taking a water taxi with your kayak.
Aialik Bay, Aialik Glacier and Holgate Glacier Tours
Aialik Glacier and the surrounding area is a popular destination for wildlife watching and sea kayaking. If you want to see whales or glacier calving, Aialik Bay is the spot! Wildlife cruises and boat tours take about two hours to reach Aialik Bay since it requires travel through Resurrection Bay before rounding Cape Aialik to enter Aialik Bay. It can also be visited by scenic tour by helicopter along with Bear Glacier (which is on the way).