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What to do in Icy Strait Point on a cruise stop
Hoonah, United States · A cruise-stop guide built around the typical 10-hour port day: 7 things to do, two ready-made day plans, plus the crowd and weather context that decides how the day actually feels.
Photo: PhilipRJ 89 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
What to do in Icy Strait Point on a cruise stop
Quick answer
Icy Strait Point is unlike any other port in this guide set: a purpose-built cruise destination beside Hoonah, Alaska's largest Tlingit village, where the attractions — the world's largest ZipRider, gondolas, whale watching at Point Adolphus — are ticketed and run from the site itself. A typical call is about 10 hours, plenty for two excursions plus the restored 1912 cannery. If you book one thing, make it the whale watching: the strait outside the dock is one of Alaska's most reliable humpback feeding grounds.
Don't miss: Whale Watching at Point Adolphus
Your port day, in numbers
Median of 6 scheduled calls with published times in our combined official + itinerary schedules (2027-05-11 to 2027-05-20). Small sample: our four tracked lines are a minority of this port's traffic, so treat the window as indicative, not exact.
Source: PortCrowds schedule data (official port schedules + published cruise-line itineraries), checked Nov 6, 2026
How busy does it get?
Our data is thin here — just six scheduled calls from the four lines we track, all in May 2027, landing a median of about 2,850 passengers per ship day. Treat that as a floor, not a picture: the big Alaska lines (Princess, Holland America, Norwegian) are not in this dataset yet, and in season the port commonly hosts one or two large ships a day.
Your own day can land anywhere in that range — check your date on the Icy Strait Point crowd calendar before you plan around the crowds.
Source: PortCrowds schedule data (official port schedules + published cruise-line itineraries), checked Nov 6, 2026
Weather, in visitor terms
Ships only call in the May–September season. Expect highs of about 52°F in May rising to 61°F in July — cool, maritime and changeable — and rain on roughly half of days in every month of the season. Layers plus a waterproof shell beat one heavy coat, and the light in midsummer lasts nearly all day.
Derived from the port's 2015–2024 climate typicals in PortCrowds' weather dataset (Open-Meteo ERA5). Rain % = share of days with measurable rain.
Source: PortCrowds weather typicals (Open-Meteo ERA5, 2015–2024), checked Nov 6, 2026
Things to do on a cruise stop
World's Largest ZipRider
Billed by Icy Strait Point as the world's largest ZipRider: from 1,330 feet above sea level you soar 5,495 feet down the mountain on six side-by-side cables at speeds up to 60 mph, after a scenic Mountain Top Gondola ride up. A 1.5-hour ticketed excursion (75-275 lb weight limits apply); book through the site or your cruise line.
At the site; ride begins with the Mountain Top Gondola from within Icy Strait Point and lands at a Drop Zone at sea level in the heart of the site · $$$ · $75+ approx.
Source: https://icystraitpoint.com/excursions/worlds-largest-ziprider/, checked Nov 6, 2026
Sky Peak (Mountain Top) Gondola & Mountaintop Forest Tram
Icy Strait Point describes this as the only mountaintop gondola and tram tour in Southeast Alaska: ride the gondola up Hoonah Mountain for views over Icy Strait and Port Frederick, then continue on a mountaintop forest tram. Ticketed excursion; it is also the access ride used for the ZipRider.
Gondola base within the site at Wilderness Landing · $$ · ~$25–75 approx.
Source: https://icystraitpoint.com/excursions/, checked Nov 6, 2026
Whale Watching at Point Adolphus
Whale-watching cruises set out directly from the Icy Strait Point dock into the rich feeding grounds of Point Adolphus, described by Icy Strait Point as one of Alaska's premier spots for humpback whales and other marine life. Ticketed excursion, booked through the site or your cruise line.
Boats depart directly from the Icy Strait Point dock · $$$ · $75+ approx.
Source: https://icystraitpoint.com/excursions/, checked Nov 6, 2026
Bear & Wildlife Search (Spasski River Valley)
A guided land-based search for coastal brown bears on Chichagof Island, which Icy Strait Point notes has one of the highest concentrations of coastal brown bears in the world. The tour continues from the whale cruise by bus through Hoonah to viewing platforms over an active salmon stream; bear sightings are common in summer but not guaranteed, and viewing is guided only.
Guided excursion from the site, by bus through Hoonah into the Spasski River Valley · $$$ · $75+ approx.
Source: https://icystraitpoint.com/excursions/whale-wildlife-bear-search/, checked Nov 6, 2026
Restored 1912 Salmon Cannery & Museum
Walk the halls of the century-old salmon cannery that the Hoonah Packing Company built in 1912, now the centrepiece of the site with its museum, shops and restaurants. Icy Strait Point was reborn on this cannery site after Huna Totem Corporation bought it in 1996. No excursion ticket is needed to explore the cannery complex itself.
At the original (Ocean/Adventure) landing, a short walk from the dock · Free approx.
Source: https://icystraitpoint.com/about-us/, checked Nov 6, 2026
Hoonah - Alaska's Largest Tlingit Village
Walk or ride into Hoonah, the working Tlingit fishing village next door to the port, for local life beyond the purpose-built destination. Icy Strait Point also sells a guided exploration of Hoonah, which it calls the largest Tlingit village in the world.
About 1.5 miles from the site; walkable, with guided tours and shuttles available · $ · under ~$25 approx.
Source: https://icystraitpoint.com/excursions/, checked Nov 6, 2026
Kayak Adventure in Port Frederick
A guided kayak journey along the sheltered waters of Port Frederick, launching from the beach at Icy Strait Point (about 2.5 hours). One of more than 30 excursions sold through the site / cruise line at this port.
Launches from the beach at Icy Strait Point · $$ · ~$25–75 approx.
Source: https://icystraitpoint.com/excursions/, checked Nov 6, 2026
Two ways to spend the day
If you have ~4 hours
- Walk the Restored 1912 Salmon Cannery & Museum at the landing — the site's free history anchor
- Ride the Transporter Gondola across to the other landing for the full site layout
- Walk (or shuttle) the 1.5 miles into Hoonah for the village itself, then back
The ZipRider can substitute for the Hoonah walk if thrills beat culture — it is one gondola ride away from the landing.
Full day
- Whale Watching at Point Adolphus in the morning, straight from the site dock
- Sky Peak (Mountain Top) Gondola & Mountaintop Forest Tram for the high view over the strait
- Restored 1912 Salmon Cannery & Museum between excursions
- Hoonah village to finish, if your all-aboard allows the walk back
Everything here is ticketed and timed — book the whale trip and gondola early, and let the cannery fill the gaps rather than the other way round.
Getting around from the ship
Icy Strait Point is a purpose-built, walkable cruise destination: ships dock at its two landing areas beside the restored cannery, and a gondola links the dock areas while the ticketed mountain gondola climbs Hoonah Mountain. Almost everything beyond the site itself - whale watching, bear viewing, Hoonah tours - runs as a ticketed excursion booked through Icy Strait Point or your cruise line; the village of Hoonah is about 1.5 miles away on foot.
| Option | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Walking within the site | The cannery, museum, shops, restaurants and excursion meeting points are laid out around the two dock areas and are walkable once ashore; excursions meet at the site rather than requiring town transport. | |
| Transporter Gondola (between the two landing areas) | A gondola link connects the site's two cruise dock areas, Adventure/Ocean Landing (by the cannery) and Wilderness Landing (excursion hub and mountain-gondola base). This transfer gondola is separate from the ticketed Sky Peak / Mountain Top Gondola that climbs Hoonah Mountain. | |
| Sky Peak / Mountain Top Gondola | Ticketed mountaintop gondola (sold as an excursion through Icy Strait Point / your cruise line); it is also the access ride for the ZipRider launch platform and the mountaintop forest tram. | |
| To Hoonah village - walk, shuttle or guided tour | Hoonah, the Tlingit village next door, is about 1.5 miles from the site and can be reached on foot along the shore road; Icy Strait Point also sells guided Hoonah tours, and its whale/bear tour travels by bus through the village. There is effectively no rental-car or rideshare option for cruise visitors - plan on walking, the gondolas, or a booked excursion/shuttle. |
Source: Getting around: destination tourism / port authority, checked Nov 6, 2026
Cruise-stop questions
Is Icy Strait Point a real place or a built cruise port?
Both. Icy Strait Point is a purpose-built cruise port — gondolas, the ZipRider, the restored 1912 cannery — developed by the Huna Totem Corporation, the local Tlingit Native corporation. The actual community, Hoonah, is about 1.5 miles away and very much a real working fishing town.
Do you have to book excursions at Icy Strait Point?
The headline activities (ZipRider, gondolas, whale and bear trips) are ticketed excursions sold through the site and the cruise lines. What you can do without a ticket: walk the restored 1912 Salmon Cannery & Museum at the landing, and walk or ride into Hoonah itself.
Can you walk to Hoonah from Icy Strait Point?
Yes — it is about 1.5 miles, walkable on the shore road, and there are guided tours and shuttle options too. It is the only genuinely independent exploring available here, and locals run the cafés and shops you will find.
Which is better here — whales or bears?
Whale watching is the reliable one — Point Adolphus, right off the port, is one of Alaska's best-known humpback feeding areas, and boats leave from the site dock. Bear viewing (the Spasski River Valley trip) is guided, seasonal and explicitly not guaranteed: bears do not work to cruise schedules.
Guide sources: Icy Strait Point — official site · Icy Strait Point — excursions · Icy Strait Point — about
Plan around the crowds
Icy Strait Point’s full crowd calendar →
Best time to visit Icy Strait Point on a cruise →
Busiest Icy Strait Point cruise days →
Quietest Icy Strait Point cruise days →
Data & accuracy
- Schedule source: Icy Strait Point (operator ship calendar)
- Data last fetched: Nov 6, 2026
- Estimates are based on published ship capacities, not actual bookings or how many passengers go ashore.