Kenai Fjords is in the town of Seward, AK. Seward is a small fishing village in Alaska and is a place that you can enjoy for a few days to visit the park or take a trip on the water. Fishing is a bit industry here in Seward both commercial (for others) or personal (take a charter) or personal with your own boat. I was able to walk from one end of town to the other in less than 1 hour at a slow leisurely pace.
City of Seward campground – being I was here once before I knew the city of Seward operates a few campgrounds on the bay in town. The campgrounds are paved with crushed gravel and about 1/4 of the spots are right on the water. They offer water and electric but now sewage at your site, but a dump station is available for those who need. I timed it on my lesurely walk in town that the campsite of mine is about right in the middle of town so 30 minutes to either side of town. The dock side has the NPS office and a few other shops and a couple of hotels. The “other” side of town has Alaska SeaLife Center. That side of town has many more bars, restaurants and shops all trying to get your dollars. The city campground does offer a pay shower and toilets but there was only 1 that I noticed for all the sites. Near my site there was some spot a pots and that was much more convenient to use. The showers have signs that say limit your shower to 15 minutes to allow hot water for others, I would be upset if I paid for a shower and got a cold one.
Major Marine Tours – 7.5 hour Kenai Fjords – The tour was my 3rd with Major Marine and they again did not disappoint. My captain, Marcelle, was wonderful from the start of the journey when we were boarding. She greeted each of the passengers and gave them instructions on boarding the boat all with a smile both on her face and in her voice. The crew took your groups photo before boarding then you were assigned to your table. My table was number 9 and I was seated with 3 young ladies. Two of the ladies were sisters from Utah and their friend is from Alaska. It was one of the girls from Utah’s birthday and if I had known before the end of the trip I would have had Marcelle say happy birthday over the PA system. Marcelle was getting us out of the harbor and three seals were spotted on the breakwater rocks. She was going slow allowing everyone to get a glimpse of these three animals. Into the bay Marcelle did a great job of communicating what was happening, what we were seeing and where we were going. The cruise even offered to the passengers for purchase some margaritas on the rocks with the rocks being glacial ice! We passed an iceberg, over 1 mile away, that was as large as a Costco or Walmart Supercenter! Marcelle found us the usual Puffin, Stellar Sea Lions, and Otters along the way. She was able to put us onto a pod of Orca whales that enjoyed themselves some showing off others just swimming. We watched for 30 minutes then had to move on since it is a custom to not stay near the whales for more than 30 minutes so they don’t get used to the boats. The orca pod was very cool and was something that made the trip. When we moved on seeing glaciers with boats, planes and helicopters in front of them give you a perspective of just how large the glaciers are compared to these things. We did see a few small calving and calving is something everyone wants to view. The way back from the glacier is just a long ride with many sleeping after a hard day of viewing the wildlife. While coming home we did see a couple of humpback whales. Overall the day with Major Marine and Captain Marcelle was a wonderful experience. I would suggest that if you are in Seward you take a journey with Major Marine, I have had three journeys with them over the years and never do they disappoint.
Fun facts –
Alaska has more coastline than the rest of the United States combined!
Bald Eagle pair in Alaska are 1 per mile of coastline
Otter’s don’t have blubber to keep them warm but have dense fur. They have over 1,000,000 hairs per square inch! A German Shepard has 1,000,000 on their entire body.
Incredible photos and loved the write up! Love following your travels! Be safe and continue to enjoy your adventures!