Planning an Alaska Yacht Charter Itinerary

About this guide

An Alaska charter is the most accessible genuine wilderness in this section. The Inside Passage gives protected water for hundreds of miles, the towns have real infrastructure and US logistics, and the wildlife — humpbacks, orca, brown bears, eagles — is reliable rather than hoped for. Tidewater glaciers calve into the anchorages.

An Alaska yacht charter usually explores the Inside Passage, a sheltered network of channels in Southeast Alaska with glaciers, whales and bears.

The constraint is the permit system, which is a quota rather than a formality. This guide covers it, the season, and where Guest Trip removes the spreadsheet stage.

When to go and what to expect

The season runs May to September. June and July give the longest days and the most settled weather; August and September bring the salmon runs and the best bear viewing, with more rain. Expect rain in any month — southeast Alaska is temperate rainforest — and plan the guest programme around it rather than hoping. Water temperatures are cold throughout; like Norway, this is a drysuit ground rather than a swimming one.

The cruising itself is forgiving. The Inside Passage is sheltered, deep and well-charted, with short passages between anchorages and the option to run outside only where guests want it. Tides are large and currents in the narrows are significant, so passage timing matters more than in most grounds.

The Glacier Bay permit, in detail

Glacier Bay is the centrepiece of most Alaska itineraries and it is rationed. A private vessel permit is required to enter the waters north of Point Gustavus and Point Carolus from 1 June to 31 August, and the regulations allow 25 private vessels per day through the peak months. Applications run through the park's online permit portal, which requires a Login.gov account, and vessels must contact the park by VHF at "KWM20 Bartlett Cove" or by phone between 1 May and 30 September. Boaters must also complete the park's orientation, offered several times daily through the summer.

Inside the park, the whale water rules from 15 May to 30 September are the operational constraint: a maximum of 20 knots through the water, which the superintendent may reduce to 13; a prohibition on operating within a quarter of a nautical mile of a whale; and a requirement in designated whale waters to stay within one nautical mile of shore unless the vessel is under 18 feet, actively fishing, or under sail alone.

In Guest Trip: the permit application window, the confirmed park dates and the orientation requirement sit on the days they belong to, so a quota-limited entry is planned rather than hoped for.

Six steps to planning the charter

1. Apply for Glacier Bay first and build the week around the answer

With 25 vessels a day across the whole of June, July and August, the Glacier Bay date is the fixed point of the itinerary and everything else flexes around it. Apply as early as the portal allows, and design the week so that a refused or shifted date changes which days go where rather than wrecking the charter. Tracy Arm, Endicott Arm and the Sawyer glaciers are the strongest alternative for tidewater ice and need no quota permit.

2. Choose the base for the flights

Juneau is the practical hub for Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm, with good connections to Seattle. Sitka on the outer coast suits itineraries weighted towards wildlife and the open Pacific. Ketchikan is the southern gateway and the natural start for a one-way run north. Most charters run one-way to give guests a change of scene, which means planning the flights before the route.

3. Build the week around the wildlife calendar

Humpbacks arrive through May and are reliable into September, with bubble-net feeding a genuine spectacle when it happens. Brown bears are best at the salmon runs from July into September — Pack Creek on Admiralty Island is permit-controlled and worth arranging. Orca, sea otters, Steller sea lions and eagles are present throughout. Frame the days around where the animals are, not just the scenery.

In Guest Trip: custom saved locations with draggable pins let the crew keep their own anchorage and wildlife-site library, reused each season.

4. Plan the narrows on the tide

Wrangell Narrows, Sergius Narrows and Peril Strait all run hard and are timed rather than simply navigated. Build the passage plan around slack water and accept that it moves the day, which is why an Alaska itinerary should carry more flexibility in departure times than a Mediterranean one.

5. Provision in Juneau or Sitka and plan the cold-water programme

Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan have real supply and US shipping, which makes Alaska far easier to provision than anywhere else in this section. The activity programme is kayaking, hiking ashore with bear awareness, fishing — which is exceptional — flightseeing by float plane, and glacier viewing by tender. Drysuits for anything in the water. Float plane excursions are a highlight and need booking ahead.

6. Publish it as a live page

An Alaska week moves for tide, weather and the permit date. Publish the itinerary as a guest site the crew can edit rather than a PDF.

A sample one-week structure (Juneau to Sitka)

Day 1. Embark Juneau; Mendenhall glacier by float plane or road; short run to a first anchorage. About 2 hours. Day 2. Tracy Arm or Endicott Arm: Sawyer glaciers, ice and seals; night at anchor. About 5 hours. Day 3. Whale waters south of Juneau; humpbacks, kayaking, hiking ashore. Short hops. Day 4. Glacier Bay with the permit: Margerie and Grand Pacific glaciers, ranger aboard. Full day in the bay. Day 5. Second Glacier Bay day or exit west; bear viewing if the season suits. Varies. Day 6. Icy Strait and Peril Strait on the tide towards Sitka; wildlife throughout. About 8 hours. Day 7. Sitka: Russian history, the raptor centre, disembarkation brief. Short

Ten days lets the week include Ketchikan and Misty Fjords in the south, or reach further north-west, and gives the tide-bound narrows more room.

Mistakes worth avoiding

• Treating the Glacier Bay permit as a formality rather than a 25-a-day quota.
• Planning speeds and distances in whale waters without the 20-knot limit and the quarter-mile rule.
• Missing the required park orientation or VHF check-in.
• Promising a swimming and watersports week in single-figure water.
• Running the narrows without planning slack water.

Frequently asked questions

Where the tooling helps

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Build your Alaska itinerary in Guest Trip

Hold the permit date and tide-bound narrows against the day, pin the glacier and wildlife sites, and publish a guest-ready site.