Boaters visit Southeast Alaska each year for the unsurpassed scenery and wildlife. Witnessing and listening to calving glaciers — either from your own boat or with a local tour operator — is a special treat. Glacier Bay National Park is the highlight of Southeast Alaska with LeConte Glacier, Dawes Glacier, and Sawyer Glaciers completing the list of tidal glaciers accessible by pleasure boats. Mining is a huge part of local history and Juneau offers visits to mining sites, ruins, museums, and tours. Visitors will find a rich history of gold prospecting in Haines and Skagway. Plus, the history of the fishing industry is evidenced by cannery ruins found in Taku Harbor, Red Bluff Bay, and elsewhere. Distances in Southeast Alaska are so vast that most pleasure boaters will want to make multiple trips in order to see the many unique sights, towns, and villages.
Top Destinations
Glaciers & Passages
Le Conte • Tracy Arm • Dawes • Marjorie • Grand Pacific • Wrangell Narrows • Rocky Pass • Fords Terror
Clarence Strait & Tongass Narrows
Ketchikan • Metlakatla • Meyers Chuck • Thorne Bay
Juneau, Petersburg & Wrangell
Douglas • Auke Bay • Wrangell Narrows • Anan Bay
Lynn Canal & Icy Strait
Haines • Skagway • Hoonah • Glacier Bay National Park • Bartlett Cove
Chatham Strait
Tenakee Springs • Warm Springs Bay • Red Bluff Bay
Sitka Sound
Sitka • Peril Strait • Goddard Hot Springs
Plan Out Your Trip
Southeast Alaska is fully covered in the latest Waggoner Cruising Guide. It provides all you need about marinas, anchorages, passages, and attractions. Plan your day’s route with the guide’s detailed planning maps. Get your copy of the Waggoner Cruising Guide book!
Plus, there’s more to help you plan a great cruise along the Alaskan coastline. Read on…
Cruise Ship Disembarkation Cap – Juneau
2026 is the first year that the City of Juneau is implementing a cap on the number of daily passengers that come off cruise ships agreed upon between the City and several major cruise lines. In previous years, Juneau saw 21,000 visitors in the peak season. Under a...
Glacier Bay National Park New Permitting Process, 2026
Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park continues to be a “bucket-list destination” for recreational boaters, offering abundant wildlife and scenic vistas and glaciers. As in past years, all vessels operating within the park waters of Glacier Bay are required to have a...
Haulout Development Comes to Sitka
The Borough of Sitka, Alaska and Gary Paxton Industrial Park (GPIP) have announced the arrival of a new Travelift that will service both commercial and recreational vessels. Sitka’s latest 150-ton haulout and boatyard project is an investment in economic growth and...
Make Your Alaska Dream a Reality
Have you been dreaming about cruising to Northern B.C., Haida Gwaii, and Southeast Alaska? Perhaps you have been putting it off due to some unanswered questions or concerns. The six-hour Boat Show University Class, “Cruising Southeast Alaska” is designed to inspire...
Glacier Bay National Park 2025
The following is a NOTICE reprint issued by Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve regarding permits for the 2025 boating season. Friends of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve: For the 2025 boater season, the park will pilot a new private boater permitting...
Mendenhall Glacier – Totem Pole Dedication
A 40-year-old totem, carved by Amos Wallace, was raised in late September 2024 at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center in Juneau, Alaska. The late Amos Wallace (1920-2004) was a Tlingit Master Carver. He created sketches, jewelry, and carvings, including totems and...
Fords Terror, Not so Terrifying
Many boaters have been reluctant to enter Ford’s Terror due to the fact that this 5-mile-long inlet is not well charted. Located about half-way along the north shore of Endicott Arm on the way to Dawes Glacier, this scenic inlet is seldom visited by pleasure boaters,...
Glacier Bay National Park – Planned Rules Delayed
Previously planned changes for the permitting process at Glacier Bay National Park for the 2024 season have been postponed. Changes to the 2024 private boat permits and the permitting process as outlined in the Marine Management Plan for 2024 (and as documented in the...
Moorage Rates Going Up at Alaskan Harbors
Nearly all of the marinas in Alaska are city owned and operated. For recreational boaters, short-term guest moorage is provided in unoccupied tenant slips, a system called Hot Berthing. Fish boats make up the majority of tenants and are now faced with increased...
Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier – Changes Coming
Mendenhall Glacier is the only glacier in Southeast Alaska accessible by road. The Juneau icefield drops over 13 miles and its active face often calves icebergs and brash into its lake. The visitor center overlooking the lake and the scenic trail to Nugget Falls make...
Did You Ever Wonder What Flotilla Life is Like?
Waggoner Flotillas provide the opportunity to learn and build boating skills and confidence. Our focus is getting the group to Alaska so you can jump-start your summer cruise in those magical waters. Traveling to Southeast Alaska in 3 weeks means covering a lot of...
Staying Safe in Southeast Alaska!
Captain Darwin A. Jensen: Greetings fellow boaters! It is my honor to have the opportunity to reach you all. As an avid boater and fisherman myself, I share your excitement in hitting the water this summer. As Commander of Coast Guard Sector Juneau, I am responsible...
New 4th Edition of Exploring Southeast Alaska – Douglass Series
The Exploring Series of guidebooks for boaters authored by Don Douglass & Reanne Hemingway-Douglass are being painstakingly updated by Leonard & Lorena Landon, Managing Editors of the Waggoner Cruising Guide. They have taken great care in preserving the...
Classic Yacht Cruising in Southeast Alaska aboard Gyrfalcon
Southeast Alaska is a wonderful destination for a week’s summer vacation and is conveniently accessible with frequent commercial flights from the Pacific Northwest. The magnificence of the harbors and the stunning wildlife can best be appreciated from a smaller boat...
Loring, the Early Rival to Ketchikan Alaska
The settlement of Loring, located 25 miles north of Ketchikan on Naha Bay, was predicted to become Revillagigedo Island’s major city. Loring’s early 1875 settlement operated a saltery owned by the Salmon Packing & Fur Co. in 1883 and had established a post office...