Fjords & Glaciers

Cruise the glaciers of Southeast Alaska on a small boat.

Alaska Inside Passage cruises include a tour of the spectacular fjords and glaciers of the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness area including Tracy or Endicott Arm. If we can “catch the tide” we may even run the gauntlet into Fords Terror itself to anchor for the evening.

Step into the Ice Age.

Set beneath a panorama of snow-capped mountains the magnitude of the landscape here is humbling as we spend a day exploring spectacular Tracy Arm Fjord (& Sawyer glaciers) or Endicott Arm Fjord (& Dawes glacier).

  • At the head of each fjord a tidewater glacier stretches across the bay and calves into the sea. Tidewater glaciers are valley glaciers that wind through the coastal mountains of southeastern Alaska.
  • Stand on deck as we cruise past vertical rock cliffs and cascading waterfalls that plummet more than 1000ft into aqua colored water dotted with blue icebergs.
  • During the cruise watch for Mountain Goats, Black and Brown Bear, Seals with pups and their nemesis the Orca (Killer) Whale.
  • Southeast Alaska is also a great place for bird watching. Bald Eagle and a variety of sea birds (including Common Merganser, Goldeneye, Surf Scoter, Harlequin Duck, Marbled Murrelets, Sandpiper, Kingfishers) are also commonly seen in these waters.

Fords Terror – Whether it is drizzling and misty or sunny and clear there is something magical about Fords Terror. Guests typically gather on the bow and there is often silence as people reflect on the power of nature and how in a setting such as this we are so insignificant.

  • The benefits of small ship cruising – Remote and inaccessible Fords Terror is striking. It is named after a naval crewman who, in 1889, paddled into a narrow waterway connected to Endicott Arm and was trapped for six terrible hours by surging tidewaters.
  • The fjord itself is uncharted and in addition to the tidal current, shallow reefs make the entrance difficult to navigate. Few small Alaska cruise ships make this journey. It is one of our favorite places in Southeast Alaska when the tide allows and the bay most requested by returning guests.
  • Where possible we like to explore these lesser known, off the beaten track, kinds of places where many of our competitors do not go.

Venture off the beaten path.

  • Entering Fords Terror

  • Waterfalls cascade from the steep walls

  • Dwarfed by the granite cliffs