Getting Here and Around

Boat and Ferry Travel

With its glaciers, mountains, fjords, and sea mammals, the coast is great to experience by ferry. The ferries between Valdez and Whittier run by way of Columbia Glacier in summer, where it is not unusual to witness giant fragments of ice calving from the face of the glacier into Prince William Sound.

The Alaska Marine Highway, the state-run ferry operator, has scheduled service to Valdez, Cordova, Whittier, Homer, and Seldovia on the mainland; to Kodiak and Port Lions on Kodiak Island; and to the port of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. These connect to the ferries that operate in Southeast Alaska, but the two systems connect only on once-a-month sailings. Ferries operate on two schedules; summer (May through September) sailings are considerably more frequent than winter (October through April) service. Check your schedules carefully: ferries do not stop at all ports every day. Reservations are required on all routes and should be made as far in advance as possible.

Many major cruise lines also use Whittier as a port of embarkation/disembarkation for cruises through Alaska's Southeastern Peninsula.

Alaska Marine Highway. 800/642–0066; www.ferryalaska.com.