This lodging based kayaking trip takes you into the 375,000 acre Kachemak Bay State Park, a photographer and wildlife enthusiast's paradise. Visit the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, tour an oyster farm, explore rich intertidal zones, and hike the surrounding hills. Relax each night in the lap of rustic luxury to enjoy saunas, delicious dinners, and magnificent views bathed in the Alaska twilight of summer solstice. A relaxed itinerary will also allow time to reflect, read, paint, hike, bike, or beach comb. Begins and ends in Homer.

DETAILED ITINERARY:
 

Day 1 - Arrive in Homer, Alaska in time for the pre-trip meeting at 6 p.m. Check into the Lighthouse Village on Homer Spit. We will be staying at this unique converted lighthouse our first night. We will have our meeting during dinner, then we will head back to the lighthouse for a good night's sleep surrounded by the beauty of Kachemak Bay.

Day 2 - We get up early for breakfast, and then head across Kachemak Bay by water taxi. We are dropped off in Tutka Bay. We'll have a picnic lunch on the beach and then begin our first paddling excursion. Our guides will give us a kayak orientation and fill us in on paddling in Alaskan waters. By late afternoon we'll arrive at Tutka Bay Wilderness Lodge.

This will be our home base for the next two days. Get settled in and then gather for a delicious dinner served at the lodge. You can look forward to dining on sumptuous Alaska seafood including halibut, shellfish and wild salmon. Meals at the lodge are casual, served family style. The Tutka Bay lodge has a reputation as one of the best wilderness lodges in Alaska. Each room has a view of the mountains and sea and has a private bath. After dinner, treat yourself to a sauna or drink in the view from a lounge chair on the sundeck, enjoying the long daylight hours.

Day 3 - There are a variety of activities from which to choose. Explore the coves in and around Tutka Bay or kayak and watch for sea lions, porpoise and seals, and perhaps catch a glimpse of sea otter mothers feeding and grooming their fuzzy pups; go hiking up a mountain for a breathtaking panorama of Kachemak Bay and Cook Inlet; stroll on a quiet beach or nature trail; explore the intertidal zone at low tide for sea stars, anemones, chitons and mussels; have a closer look at the resident pair of nesting bald eagles; try your luck fishing for salmon, Dolly Varden, and cod off the lodge dock.

After the day's activities, enjoy a warming sauna in the lodge's hand-crafted wood-fired banya. All meals will come from the lodge today.

Day 4 - Depending on the tides, we will paddle 6-10 miles to our next destination. If tides are not favorable, we will get a water taxi for part of the way. Either way this day is filled with lots of time on the water. On our way to Peterson Bay we will have the opportunity to see Gull Island, a rookery for puffins, murres and black-legged kittiwakes. There is wonderful tide pooling along the way. The clear Alaskan waters are teeming with starfish, anemonies, crab and urchin. A good day to troll behind the kayak, if you are an angler. We will have lunch on the beach en-route.

For the next two nights we make ourselves at home at Peterson Bay Lodge. The lodge features private cabin-tents built on platforms, with an attached, screened porch. Each heated cabin-tent provides a comfortable 12'x14' living area. All cabins are furnished with lights, a table, and chairs. Toilet facilities are traditional Alaskan outhouse style and there is a hot shower facility. Delicious dinners are served outside under the covered deck featuring fresh salmon, halibut, mussels, clams and of course Kachemak Bay oysters! Fall asleep tonight after a relaxing sauna and enjoy the peaceful feeling that spending the day on the water brings.

Day 5 - After a delicious breakfast, we have several activities to choose from today. Explore China Poot looking for eagles, otters, and spawning salmon (you may want to take your fishing pole today!). Always a good place to look for black bear, hike the coalition trail to halibut cove lagoon; tide pool at low tide; paddle to the rookery at Gull Island; or just relax at the lodge and do the short hike to the China Poot overview.

We will have another incredible dinner this evening over-looking Peterson Bay. The sauna will be stoked after dinner or you can go for an evening paddle to Gull Island. There's plenty of light!

Day 6 - After breakfast, we load up the boats and paddle to Halibut Cove. Another day on the water filled with sea arches, eagles nests, and perhaps a glimpse of a glacier. Halibut Cove is accessible only by boat or seaplane, and is home to fishermen and artists. After looking around the art galleries we'll paddle to Halibut Cove Lodge- a fantastic place to spend our last two nights.

The sauna is stoked after dinner and the cabins are all overlooking the water. Tonight, you can listen to the water lapping the shore as you fall asleep.

Day 7 - After breakfast at the lodge, our options are varied. Hiking to the Grewink glacier, paddling in Halibut Cove Lagoon, relaxing at the lodge or beach combing may be on the schedule.

Day 8 - In the late afternoon a water taxi will take us back to the Lighthouse Village in Homer. We hope to view puffins, cormorants, kittiwakes, and other migratory seabirds as we pass by the famous bird rookery at Gull Island. We will spend our last evening together at the Lighthouse.

Day 9 - We'll have breakfast together, and then say our good-byes.

Electronic mail request: kachemakbay@glacierbaytravel.com

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