Glacier Bay National Park Boat Tour – Wildlife Tips and What to Expect

Glacier Bay National Park is most often visited on a cruise ship without making any stops on land, but that isn’t how it has to be. Did you know that you can actually visit Gustavus, Alaska and explore the area and then do an all day boat tour into Glacier Bay National Park‘s waterways? You can and it’s actually amazing. It’s a similar experience to visiting Kenai Fjords National Park with a bit on land and then the biggest highlights at sea.

We’ve got the full scoop on the Glacier Bay National Park boat tour, how to plan a visit to Bartlett Cove in Gustavus and just why you’re going to want to put together this sort of National Park trip. If you have any questions about the boat tour and exploring Glacier Bay National Park, please leave a comment or send us a note. We’re always happy to share more and help you plan an awesome adventure in Alaska!

What to Expect on the Glacier Bay National Park Boat Tour

Alaska has many tours that go off into the waterways looking for wildlife and showing off the dramatic sights of fjords, waterfalls and tidewater glaciers, but in Glacier Bay National Park it’s a bit different. The boat tour leaving from Bartlett Cove is fully narrated by a park ranger and 100% of the tour happens within the boundary waters of Glacier Bay National Park. On board, there is a floating Visitor Center station with compact exhibits, lots of information about glaciology and the history of Glacier Bay, and even a wide selection of animal pelts and bones. The Glacier Bay National Park boat tour is any other National Park visitor center/ranger talk experience but it’s OUT ON THE WATER. The ranger is talking about the recovering sea otter population… a raft of sea otters floats by. The ranger is explaining the humpback whale migration… a humpback whale spouts off the port side of the ship. The ranger explains retreating and advancing glaciers… you pull up to a tidewater glacier and you watch it calve off into the bay.

The Glacier Bay National Park boat tour offers the most educational experience reinforced with all the nature in the moment. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Kenai Fjords Tours and have spent more days exploring Kenai Fjords National Park than I can count, but the level of learning and engagement on those tours vs the Glacier Bay National Park boat tour is just not the same. Both are amazing, and so are the Prince William Sound tours like the Stephens Cruises from Valdez or the Philips 26 Glacier Cruise from Whittier, but this boat tour is just exceptional for education and conservation angles.

Also, something to know about Glacier Bay National Park as you head out to explore its waters: it’s not called “Glacier Bay” because it has so many tidewater glaciers, but because in the 1700s the entire bay was covered in ice and with its speedy retreat of the next 200+ years the ice sheet became many different glaciers. On you boat tour, you’ll likely visit the Johns Hopkins Glacier as it’s both epic and one of the few advancing glaciers in Alaska.

Book the Glacier Bay National Park boat tour here!

Tips for a Great Glacier Bay Boat Tour

A big difference between visiting Glacier Bay versus Kenai Fjords or Prince William Sound is how calm the waters of Glacier Bay National Park are. As this it the actual end of the Inside Passage, the waves and swells coming off the Gulf of Alaska have basically died by the time the would enter Glacier Bay, so this is the smoothest wildlife and glacier tour I’ve done. The Stephens Cruises from Valdez are a close second, but still not as smooth as the Glacier Bay NP boat tour. Having said that, if you are somebody that gets motion sickness, you can feel quite confident with this trip. Still take the precautions you need, and maybe stay on the lower deck for most of the sailing, but you’ll find that this is the best wildlife and glacier cruise for people that get seasick.

When you first board the catamaran to head from Bartlett Cove into Glacier Bay, you’ll have the option to borrow a pair of binoculars. These are super helpful for watching whales and wildlife on land. Along the way, you’re not just looking for puffins and sea otters, but on land you have the chance to see bears and mountain goats as well. The captain does a great job getting close to the cliffs and shore when they’re able to, but sometimes the binoculars are really helpful.

Food on the Glacier Bay National Park Boat Tour

The Glacier Bay National Park boat tour begins nice and early every day, leaving the dock by 7:30 am. They do provide donuts, coffee, tea and juice on board, so if you want to have a morning snack instead of a full breakfast before boarding that’s an option. Mid-morning there’s a hearty seafood chowder with crackers, and then for lunch there are sandwiches with chips and cookies. There’s also always a selection of snacks and drinks available for purchase. You can buy sodas, candy, beer and wine. If you want or need to bring your own snacks and drinks, that’s totally fine too. You cannot bring your own alcohol, but everything else is allowed.

Being Prepared for the Glacier Bay National Park Boat Tour

Even in the peak of summer or most beautiful, clear day the boat tour in Glacier Bay National Park can be pretty chilly. As you travel through the bay and passages on the catamaran, Baranof Wind, the breeze can be really cold, especially when you come to the face of a glacier or if the boat moves into a shaded area. Dress for the wind, be ready for the rain, and leverage layers for staying warm but flexible. And yes, if you have a rain jacket, bring it along just in case. For photography, go wild!

The wildlife on the Glacier Bay National Park boat tour is awesome and sometimes it’s very close. The puffin rookery has a healthy population of both horned and tufted puffins, there are sea otters EVERYWHERE, bald eagles, mountain goats, and whales near and far. There’s even potential for bears on shore in some of the areas the boat tour visits. One of the functions of the Baranof Wind is to drop off and pick up multi-day kayakers in different parts of the National Park, so during these shore visits there’s a great opportunity to look for wildlife in the coves and on the beaches. If you’re not a photographer but still want to see things up close, you can bring your own binoculars or use the ones provided on board.

If you’re a birder, bring your Birds of Alaska identification guides or books (there are some on board too) as the seabirds and migratory birds you’ll see in Glacier Bay NP are beautiful. The ranger on board is happy to answer questions and help identify birds, but there are so many species they may not have all the answers for you.

Parking for the Boat Tour from Glacier Bay Lodge

If you’re staying at the Glacier Bay Lodge within the park, you can easily walk over to the dock to board the Baranof Wind for the Glacier Bay National Park boat tour. Boarding begins at 6:50 am for each tour unless there is some sort of weather delay. If you’re staying in Gustavus, such as at the Annie Mae Lodge or Gustavus Inn, you can drive to the dock parking area and park for free. There is ample parking, especially since so many people fly into Gustavus and stay directly at the Glacier Bay Lodge.

NOTE: you have to stay in Gustavus or at the Lodge or campground the night before your Glacier Bay National Park boat tour. There are no flights that arrive early enough and the ferry schedule doesn’t align to deliver you to Gustavus in time for the daily boat tour.