Established in 1980, Kenai Fjords National Park is a spectacular landscape where icy glaciers meet the sea, with majestic fjords and rugged coastlines. The park is home to the massive Harding Icefield, which feeds nearly 40 glaciers. Wildlife is abundant, with unique opportunities to see whales, sea otters, puffins and even bears. Most visitors can explore by boat with Kenai Fjords Tours, though you can also kayak and hike to places that offer breathtaking views of both mountains and marine life.
From the mighty (humpback whales and orcas!) to the tiny (puffins!) you can see them all on our tours. Sea otters, Dall’s porpoises, Steller sea lions, harbor seals and loads of whales, it’s a marine mammal delight out in the waters off Kenai Fjords National Park.
In the sky above, keep an eye out for bird life — like bald eagles, black oystercatchers, graceful murres and those adorable orange-footed and ginger-beaked puffins.
We are passionate about whale watching and wildlife spotting in Kenai Fjords National Park. It’s what gets our hearts pumping each and every day. Our captains take you on a journey full-time search for wildlife and our deckhands come loaded with insights and stories to share. Discover how the Kenai Fjords are alive. And keep your cameras ready!
Alaska whale watching is an adventure in both patience and adrenaline. Our captains and deckhands have a deep passion for and knowledge about these majestic creatures and the clean waters they visit each summer. We frequently spot humpback and orca whales, often in pods. Sometimes they’ll breach. Sometimes they’ll playfully slap their fins, and other times they’ll ever-so-gracefully show their flukes. You may even spot some bubble-net feeding!
Fin whales, humpacks, gray whales, minke and sei whales have also been seen in the waters off the coast of Kenai Fjords National Park.
Whales can be curious and playful. They can gather around our boats, or we can glide to the side of them — always maintaining a safe distance, of course. Sometimes, it’s like they’re smiling for the cameras!
Seeing a tidewater glacier up close is a thrill. Located in the remote and remarkable corners of coastal Kenai Fjords, this is where blue waters meet giant walls of ice.
In Kenai Fjords National Park, over half of the landmass is covered by the enormous Harding Icefield, a thousand-foot block of ice that dates back to the last Ice Age. The Harding spills out in all directions in the form of glaciers. Some stretch northwest into rugged hills of the Kenai Peninsula. Others—five of them, to be exact—reach as far as the sea along the craggy coast of the Gulf of Alaska.
The Northwestern, Holgate and Aialik tidewater glaciers can all be seen with Kenai Fjords Tours.
Looking up from the deck of your boat, you’ll also see the enormous white gems that are the park’s alpine glaciers. They are formed on the many mountainsides and push slowly down, through the valleys.
Valley glaciers are nestled in valleys and don’t reach the sea. Often, they terminate in large, freshwater lagoons. The Bear valley glacier, seen on Kenai Fjords Tours, is the largest glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park.
