I'm thinking about taking my wife and college-age kids to Alaska this August. Anybody familiar with the Kenai/Seward area, and if so, could we spend our entire week there and not get bored? Interested in river fishing, hiking, kayaking, etc. (outdoors adventure stuff mainly). I'm not sure if Denali Park offers anything we can't see around Kenai. And if you know of any activities that we must do (chartered flights, overnight cabins, etc.) I'd appreciate the tips. We'll probably get a VRBO home to save some bucks. Not into cruises, we kind of like to plan our own time around several activities.

[This message has been edited by Zigzig (edited 1/31/2010 9:21p).]

we just went a few months ago, fill free to email me, and I will let you know what we did! We had a great time in Seward...one thing we did while we were there, that we would ABOULUTELY reccomend is the EXIT GLACIER hiking/repelling. I would also reccomend taking a trip to Homer...shoot me an email
colinwboyd at yahoo

my wife and i went in august...spent a week on the kenai split between homer and seward. later tonight when i have more time to post i can list out everything we did. one thing off the bat i highly recommend is kayaking with Liquid Adventures in Seward.

Can't wait to hear more. And Herk, I'll try to send you an e-mail but I'm not sure about the address.

The rapelling and kayaking sound very cool, I trust y'alls feedback more than what I can get from guidebook or salespeople. My business parnter has gone fishing twice in that area so I see us doing maybe a couple of days fishing on river, but after that I'm just not sure. I'd also be interested in your thoughts on whether to stay near Seward or closer to Kenai River as a headquarters(Saldotona??)

Alaska is very rainy in August. It's best to go in June or July if at all possible. I spent about 3 nights in Seward and that was enough for me --- how can you go and not go up to Denali and see Mt. McKinley -- it's really not that bad of a drive. Also Talkeetna was a great place for excursions.

We stayed here at Denali and would recommend.
http://www.earthsonglodge.com/

The drive from Anchorage to Denali back down to Kenai is one of the prettiest drives I have ever done. We made it all the way down to Homer as well. If I had spare cash at the time my wife and I would have bought some land on the spot. Denali was awesome.

from my trip report.
http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?forum_id=54&topic_id=1185062

Seward

After breakfast at the lodge, we loaded up and headed for Seward. We stopped in Talkeetna for another excellent halibut sandwich at Wildflower Café. It received my vote for my favorite halibut sandwich. We continued to Seward driving along Route 1 to Route 9. The road along Turnagain Arm is amazing. They say it is the most scenic highway in America, and they certainly aren’t far from wrong. There are numerous pullouts along Turnagain Army where you can watch for sheep, birds, beluga whales, and the bore tide.



If you are going to Seward, it is worth flying into Anchorage and driving the Seward highway.
In Seward, we stayed at the Harborview Inn on 3rd Street. We are in the family suite. It has four bedrooms, two baths, and is a nice place to stay. Also includes a living room, full kitchen, and a dining room. It has wireless internet, but it didn’t work for us. Decent room to stay if you have a large group. The inn also has regular inn sized rooms.

The next morning, I went to rent a bike at Seward Mountain Bike Shop on 4th Street. The bike was $30/day.



I rode out to Miller’s Landing for a kayaking trip. The front office staff of Miller’s was a little overwhelmed, particularly when I wanted to buy a coke, newspaper, AND check-in for my trip. It also seemed a little slow in getting ready for the trip. However, all of my doubts were laid to rest as soon as we hit the water with our guides. We kayaked for 2 hours in Thumb Cove. It was easily the best thing I have done in Alaska. We saw sea otters, sea lions, and dolphins while on the water. The guides were very friendly and helpful. They offer both double and single kayaks. They do allow singles. My kayaking group had 8 total. 4 guys who came together from Montana, a couple from San Francisco, a lady from Chicago, and myself.



We all got along very well and had a great trip.
The 4 guys from Montana were such great guys, I ended up going to dinner with them. We ate at the Crab Pot in Seward. Very expensive, but good food. They have an extensive wine list. They specialize in crabs, obviously, but also have lots of fish and other seafood, along with a decent turf menu. After the meal, they provide hot towels. Several of the wait staff were from Europe and we enjoyed talking with a waiter from Germany and waitress from Lithuania.

The next day we went to the Sealife Center. It is expensive ($20/adult), but a really good aquarium. My favorite part was sea bird exhibit. They had a lot of diving birds and the bird exhibit includes a 20 foot fish tank beneath it. You can go below and watch the birds diving down to get fish. They also have a really neat Salmon life cycle exhibit.

After the Sealife Center was lunch at Marina Restaurant on 4th Street. This place is excellent. I had the halibut sandwich and it has been one of the best. My cousin said his double hamburger with jalapenos and BBQ sauce was easily the best hamburger in the state. A great little dive restaurant in Seward.


If in Seward, I highly recommend Miller’s Landing and Marina Restaurant. Miller’s Landing offers kayak rentals and fishing trips as well.

The kayaking trips range from 3 hours to all day trips. Reasonable price and excellent guides.

Homer

Our final destination was Homer. Homer is known as the Halibut Capitol of the World. We stayed at the Lands End Resort. Amazing place! We had a 3 bedroom condo that was awesome. Great view of the water with bald eagles everywhere. Lands End is located at the end of the Homer Spit.

We spent the day being lazy, making a few scenic drives and walking the spit. It has lots of little gift shops along with fishing charters and restaurants.

We then sadly left, returning on Continental.

Alaska is an awesome place! Let me know if you have any questions.

I travel there about once every 4 to 6 weeks. If all you want to do is hike, fish, kayak you will be fine. I have never been to Denali so I cannot comment. You need to eat at Louie's in Kenai... darn god eating, about all there is really. You should make the drive from Alaska. If you want to fly there your only options are ERA and Grant aviation. If I wear you I would make my car and hotel reservations as soon as possible since that is a busy time of the year. If you get there during the "Dip net" season you will see some crazy SOBs in chest deep water catching some fish as if you were netting goldfish out of an aquarium.

Bock will be working in Kenai this summer and the kids and I are hoping to join him for awhile. Does anyone have recommendations on where to stay/ what to do with kids? We have 3 kids, ranging in ages from 7-13.

Bock's wife

Bockaneer,

Thanks for reviving this post, I thought I'd lost it. Since I first posted, here's what I've planned for our trip in early August.

1) Made reservations for me and my two boys on Continental (cheapest rates, about %529 per ticket). Someone told us to get an Alaska Airlines Visa card because they offer a companion air fare for $99, but that only kicks on each anniversary of your starting.

2) Booked two days of fishing out of Soldotna, one day on middle Kenai (sockeye salmon) and one day on lower Kenai (silvers and pinks).

3) During fishing part of trip, staying at Alaska Redfish Lodge in Sterling. I guess we'll work one day trip to Homer but not sure what we'll do there. Water taxi to nearby island?

4) Will use Holiday Inn Express points for two free nights in Seward. Plan on doing one day of kayaking but not sure which one to do. One trip to Ailak Bay looks awesome but $499 per person. Have to take a deep breath before booking that. Also plan on doing long hike at Exit Glacier (4-6 hours?).

I'm still interested in anybody's feedback on best trip to see whales, sealife, etc., seems like the water taxi and kayaking combo is the best (but expensive) way to go. Also still interested in other hiking/day trips for active people.

And what about the bears? Should we get bear spray or just hang on hikes with other people. I'm pretty fast so I think I can outrun slower tourists :-)

Don't worry about the bear spray.

If you want to go kayaking, I recommend Liquid Adventures in Seward. My wife and I did the full day trip, in which our leader (a gal named Mick...if she's still there request her) made our lunches and brought them along. We made two stops (one to walk up a river where salmon were spawning) and then another to eat lunch and then do a 6 mile round trip hike up to an old abandoned WWII fort (really awesome).

If you go to Homer just for the day, take the water taxi over to Halibut Cove. It's gorgeous over there, and the restaurant that is there is really good.

We saw whales (and bears on the shore) on our halibut charter out of homer and porpoises and seals/walruses on our salmon charter out of Seward.

Let me know if there is anything else you're interested in in Homer or Seward. While in Homer check out Boardwalk Bakery on the spit. The owner is from the San Antonio area and used to work at the OKC Chamber where my wife works (that's how we were told about it). They have awesome food.

Also, on your way back to Anchorage, make time to go over to Portage Glacier and take the boat ride, it takes you right up (about 200 yards...feels closer than that) the glacier.

The tunnel going into Whitier is pretty neat too, just have to time it right (one way traffic, switches every 30 minutes, and the road shares the tunnel with the train!).

Padz,

Great information, thanks. How was the halibut fishing trip? We've already got two days of fishing planned but I'd consider another if it involved seeing whales, etc.

I'll give Liquid Adventures a call, I like the hiking part of the trip. A day of just kayaking sounds boring to me but I've never done it in a place like Alaska. The Holiday Inn Express is already booked for one of our Seward nights so I'm thinking about overnight kayak trip, sounds like it could be fun if you got the right group and good guide.

Puffin Charters out of Seward was fantastic.

Padz,

Talked to Liquid Adventures today and booked the Ailak Bay all-day trip. Seem like nice folsk. Thanks for the tip.

awesome

we did the resurrection by get away, and it took all day and was really neat.

We just got back from our trip abt a week ago. Awesome experience.

We flew into Anchorage then drove along the Seward Hwy to Kenai. Sandy is correct, it is a beautiful drive. I'm so glad we didn't take an Alaska cruise and instead choose to drive around.
We stayed at Salmon Catcher's Lodge in Kenai. Nice place but the wife really would have preferred to stay somewhere in Cooper Landing.

Second full day we went to Ninilchik, an old Russian Village. Ate at a little cafe, pretty good food. On clear days you can see the 3 volcanoes. We then headed to Homer on the spit. Lots of gift shops and great views.

Next day we fished on the Kenai River with a buddy who has a house on the river. Kids didn't enjoy it all that much mainly due to the cold rain that day. The rest of us had a good time though. Ate at Veronica's.

Next day we went on a 6 hr river rafting trip with Alaska Wildlife Adventures out of Cooper Landing. Probably our favorite thing we did in Alaska. Our guide Jarrett was very informative and the views were spectacular. Had lunch on an island about halfway through the trip. The kids (ages 7-13)all agreed that they would do this again (although they would prefer it a little more intense). I think it only got up to a Class II.
Ate at Kingfisher's Roadhouse in Cooper Landing. Very good food, but pricey.

Also drove out to Portage (took the tram), and Whittier. Hiked up to Exit Glacier.

Second week we stayed in Anchorage at Residence Inn. Visited family in Wasilla for a few days.
Downtown Anchorage...ate at Sacks Cafe for brunch and Snow City Cafe. Both were good.

Last day we took the train from Anchorage to Seward and then caught the 6 hr Kenai Fjord Glacier cruise. Would have been gorgeous views except for being overcast, cold & rainy. Food was just ok. We did get to see otters, sea lions, humpback & killer whales. The glaciers were awesome.

We can't wait to go again. Next time we will go up to Denali and spend time up there. Also will plan to go in June or July instead of August. All the locals said August is their rainy month and this was one of the wettest years.

Damn, I was getting chills reading that. It is pretty much what we did last summer, except we spent 3 days at Denali as well. Awesome, awesome, awesome trip. I can't wait to go back and explore some more.

Why stop at denali, keep going on along the Dalton hwy to coldfoot.

Funny story: A pilot dropped some Japanese hikers off and told them to pack bear spray. He did a fly by after dropping them off and saw they were spraying the bear spray like deep woods off. He had to land again and take them back to Anchorage.

We really enjoyed a day trip out of Seward on a catamaran that toured the Kenai Fjords Natl. Park. Wasn't a cruise. Only lasted about 5 hours but saw icebergs calving off glaciers, whales, lost of birds (loved the Puffins!), bald eagles, etc. We just booked it when we got there. Don't remember the name of the outfit, but there are several that do the basic same trip.