Getting into the fjords...

The Kenai Fjords is a road less expanse of seacoast at the apex of the North Pacific Ocean. It's a maritime wilderness with icefields, snow capped mountains, glaciers, granite-walled fjords, old growth forests and scores of coves and bays. The Kenai Fjords include more than 750 nautical miles of intricate shoreline, nearly all inaccessible without a boat, kayak or float airplane. Advance trip planning is essential. Resurrection Bay is the gateway into the Kenai Fjords.

I recommend that kayakers use a WATER TAXI OR CHARTER VESSEL DROP-OFF SERVICE to access the waters outside Resurrection Bay. The upper coastal fjords usually provide partial protection from bad weather on the outer coast. Passenger and cargo carrying landing craft are a practical, efficient, energy saving way to reach sheltered kayaking destinations in lower Resurrection Bay, the Kenai Fjords National Park as well as remote destinations on the Kenai Fjords seacoast.

The Four Best Kayaking Destinations in the Kenai Fjords

• RESURRECTION BAY is convenient and easily accessible, and despite its close proximity to civilization, lower Resurrection Bay is one of the most spectacular areas on the Kenai Fjords seacoast. Places like CAINES HEAD STATE RECREATION AREA, Thumb Cove, Fox Island's Sandspit, the Eldorado Narrows to Cape Resurrection are hard to beat as scenic wonders.
• AIALIK GLACIAL BASIN in upper Aialik Bay is the most popular kayaking destination in the Kenai Fjords National Park, as well it should be. The sheltered waters of upper Aialik Bay is home to hundreds of harbor seals and three tidewater glaciers: Holgate, Pedersen and Aialik.
• NORTHWESTERN FJORD is perhaps the best-kept secret on the Alaska coast. Eight major glaciers flow from the mile-high Harding Icefield into the tributary arms of this steeply-walled glacial basin. When you enter Northwestern Fjord, you enter into a micro-ice age environment.
• NUKA ISLAND is a remote destinations (70 nautical miles from Seward) but well worth the time and effort. The Nuka Bay area is filled with hospitable, rarely visited beaches and places to hike and camp. If you like real wilderness, bald eagles, harbor seals and sea otters, this is the place for you.