Is Icy Strait Point in Hoonah, Alaska on your Alaskan cruise itinerary? Read this post before you go.
If you are still on the fence about whether you want to try cruising, read this post - Cruising - A Budget Friendly Vacation.
This was the first look we got of Chichagof Island as we pulled into port. It made us anxious to leave the ship to explore another beautiful part of Alaska.
We bundled up and headed out.
This life-sized statue of an orca was one of the first things we saw at Icy Strait Point and it got us excited for the Whale Watching Excursion we were doing this day. As we waited for the boat to take us to the whales, we watched two whales swim past the front of the cruise ship.
It was so cold on the boat and it was drizzling. We were very glad we wore our raincoats.
Good To Know: If you are going to Alaska in May, we would highly recommend packing a raincoat big enough to wear over your winter coat.
We saw a good number of whales. Mostly we just got a glimpse of a fin or back after we looked in the direction of a spout coming out of a blowhole.
But it was definitely fun and we did get treated to watching one whale closer up who stayed near the ship and came up a few times so that we could get a good look at him. JT got a great video of it. This was the best shot I got of a whale that day.
When we got back from our excursion we still had enough time to walk the 1.6 miles to downtown Hoonah. We ignored the BE BEAR AWARE sign and headed into town.
We enjoyed gorgeous views as we walked along the waters of Icy Strait.
One of the first things we saw as we reached the town of Hoonah was this very old cemetery just off the side of the road.
We passed a few totem poles as we walked through the very quiet town.
I had read that we could see Tlingit carvers at work carving totem poles in Hoonah. Sadly, they were not working on the day we were here.
But we did find this work in progress which is something we wouldn't see everyday so we were happy about that.
We found a few more totem poles and 2 small gift shops to take a quick look in but not much was happening in this town.
We decided to head back to the ship. I spotted this cute bench along the way.
And asked my brother-in-law JT to pose for a picture with these boats.
We found the brewery, Icy Strait Brewing, that sold tickets for the shuttle bus that would take us back to Icy Strait Point. We thought we would be able to buy a one way ticket for $3 but we were told they only sold round trip tickets so we had to pay $5 each for a 6 minute ride but we were all tired enough to pay the money.
Once we got back to the ship everyone was ready to relax after a long but fun day in Hoonah. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset from our comfortable seats in the Crown Lounge.
And we toasted to another great adventure in Alaska.
After drinking a drink or two it was time to head up to our staterooms to get some sleep before the ship would drop us off in Sitka the next day.
Read about our first stop in Alaska.
Have you been to Hoonah, Alaska? What did you do there? Please let us know in comments!