Alaskan Inside Passage Sea Kayak

Southeast Alaska, USA · United States

Challenging7 daysNorth America~£2,800 est.

Save ✓ I did this

Overview

Southeast Alaska's Inside Passage is a drowned mountain range — a maze of fjords and forested islands where you paddle beneath granite walls with humpbacks blowing in the channel beside you. The classic week runs out of Juneau into Tracy Arm, where the fjord narrows between 1,000-metre cliffs and you thread brash ice to watch South Sawyer Glacier calve: the crack arrives a beat after the ice falls, the swell a minute later. Bald eagles are constant company; orcas, sea otters and brown bears working the tideline are regular. The seriousness is real. Water temperature sits around 5°C, tidal ranges reach seven metres, and currents in the narrows run faster than you can paddle. Open crossings need a dawn start and a weather window — the forecast changes by the hour, and being windbound for a day is part of the plan, not a failure of it. A drysuit, VHF radio and bear-safe food storage are non-negotiable. Guided expeditions from Juneau or Petersburg run around £2,500–3,000 for a week including gear and floatplane or ferry drop-offs; competent parties can hire kayaks and go self-supported for half that. June to August gives eighteen-hour days and the calmest water.