The bay
Resurrection Bay cruise: sheltered water, rookeries and no tidewater ice
The bay is the sheltered fjord Seward sits at the head of, and the four-hour cruises never leave it. That makes them calm, cheap and good for children — and it is also why they do not reach a glacier. This page is what a Resurrection Bay cruise actually contains, and when it is the right booking.
Quick answer
A Resurrection Bay cruise costs from $116 and runs about four hours on sheltered water. It covers the Steller sea lion rookeries off Caines Head, sea otters, bald eagles, puffins from late May and humpbacks when they are in the bay. It does not reach a tidewater glacier, because there is not one in the bay — the faces are an hour of open water further on.
Resurrection Bay, at a glance
- What it is
- A deep fjordabout 20 miles long, open to the Gulf at the south end
- The town
- Sewardat the head of it, and the only port
- Cruise length
- 4 hourson both of the bay sailings here
- Price
- $116–$156per person
- The water
- Sheltered throughoutthe swell starts past Caines Head
- Tidewater glacier
- None in the baythis is the key fact about these trips
- Sea lions
- Year-round rookerieson exposed rock near the headland
- Sea otters
- Near certainon every sailing, in every month
- Ice-free
- All winterwhich is why the port exists at all
- Cancellation
- Free to 24 has everywhere here
What the bay is
Twenty miles of deep water that never freezes
Sheltered, deep and ice-free — and the glaciers are on the other side of the headland.
Resurrection Bay is a glacially carved fjord running roughly north to south, with Seward at the closed end and the Gulf of Alaska at the open one. The mountains on either side rise steeply out of deep water, which is the reason the scenery works from a boat and does not really work from the road.
Its most useful property is that it is ice-free all year. That is why the Alaska Railroad was built to Seward rather than somewhere else, and why the town is still a working port today. It is also why the bay sailings are so much calmer than the park ones: the water is sheltered by the land on three sides until you get to the headland.
Around Caines Head, about twelve miles down, the bay begins to open. This is where the sea lion rookeries are, on exposed rock that gets the swell first, and it is also the boundary of the four-hour trips. Past it there is nothing between you and open ocean.
What the bay has no part of is a tidewater glacier. The ice on this coast reaches the sea in the fjords west of here, inside the national park. A Resurrection Bay cruise is not a shortened glacier cruise; it is a different route entirely.
What you will see
Six things on a Resurrection Bay sailing
In roughly the order the boat reaches them.
- Bald eagles on the channel markers
Within minutes of leaving the harbour. They perch on the navigation markers and the pilings, and nobody on the boat has stopped photographing them by the time you reach the headland.
- Sea otters, more or less continuously
Rafts of them in the calmer water along the shore, usually on their backs with their paws out. The one animal here you are almost guaranteed to see.
- Steller sea lion rookeries
On exposed rock off Caines Head. Bulls reach a tonne, the noise carries a long way, and these are the largest sea lions in the world.
- Puffins, from late May
Horned and tufted puffins nest on cliffs in the bay and off the headland. They flush off the water in front of the bow in small groups, which is how most people first see them.
- Humpback whales, when they are in
They come into the bay to feed and are seen regularly through the summer, though the open water outside is where they concentrate.
- Mountains and hanging glaciers
The bay walls carry alpine glaciers high up. They are glaciers and they are spectacular, and they are not tidewater faces — they do not reach the sea.
If a glacier at the water is what you came for, six hours is the minimum and the boat has to leave the bay.
Half day or full day→When a bay cruise is the right booking
Four situations where four hours beats six
Calm water, small children, a short day, or the middle of May. Otherwise book six hours.
When swell is a problem. This is the big one. Resurrection Bay stays sheltered and the four-hour trips never round the headland. If open water has gone badly for you before, this is the sailing that works — or the Prince William Sound cruise out of Whittier, which is sheltered and still reaches ice.
When you have children under about eight. Six hours is a long time on a boat once the novelty of the deck has worn off, and the least forgiving part is the hour of open water in the middle. Four hours ends before that becomes a problem.
When the day is already full. A morning bay cruise leaves the afternoon for the SeaLife Center or the road to Exit Glacier, and gets you back to Anchorage at a reasonable hour.
When it is the middle of May. The spring wildlife cruise runs early in the season when the snow is still low on the mountains and the boats are half empty, and it is the cheapest thing on this page. For that fortnight it is genuinely lovely.
Common questions
Resurrection Bay cruises, answered
Is there a glacier in Resurrection Bay?
There are alpine glaciers high on the bay walls, but no tidewater glacier — none of them reach the sea. The tidewater faces are inside Kenai Fjords National Park, past the headland, about an hour of open-water running from the bay.
How much is a Resurrection Bay cruise?
From $116 for the spring wildlife sailing and $156 for the half-day wildlife cruise that runs through the season.
How long is it?
About four hours on both of the bay sailings here, leaving from the small boat harbour in Seward with check-in an hour before.
Is it good for children?
It is the best option here for younger children: sheltered water, four hours rather than six, and a constant supply of sea otters and eagles. The six-hour park cruises are a long day for a small child.
Will I see whales?
Humpbacks come into the bay to feed and are seen regularly through the summer. Sea otters and Steller sea lions are near certain on every sailing.
Is it worth it if I cannot do a full day?
Yes, as a half day. It is a bestseller with 302 reviews at 4.7 and it is honest about what it is. Just do not book it expecting ice.
Go deeper
More on cruising to a glacier in Alaska
What an Alaska glacier cruise costs
Fifteen departures priced per person and per hour, from $116 to $1,334.
Kenai FjordsThe Kenai Fjords glacier cruise
Aialik, Holgate and Northwestern — which boat reaches which face, and for how long.
VerdictThe best Alaska glacier cruise
Fifteen departures ranked for one decision, with a straight answer at the end.
WhalesWhale watching on an Alaska cruise
Humpbacks feed here rather than pass through — what that means for your odds.
SewardGlacier cruises from Seward
Every sailing out of the small boat harbour, and how to get there from Anchorage.
WhittierThe 26 Glacier Cruise
Prince William Sound, twenty-six named glaciers, and the tunnel you have to time.
