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Comment by electic | Hacker News Reader

I just went to Alaska. It was my first time and I couldn't believe the amazing beauty I've seen. I would love to go back. You mentioned kayaking, any suggestions on where to go?

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I live in Sitka, and it's a pretty cool place for kayaking. We face the open Pacific, but there are a bunch of small islands just offshore that protect most of our immediate coastline. So the water right next to town is relatively calm. Then there's a larger volcanic island about 7 miles out, which protects us from open ocean swells. The sound in between has moderate seas. If you want big seas, you can head southwest and be on big open ocean swells.

But there's amazing kayaking throughout coastal Alaska. The panhandle has the inside passage, with miles of relatively protected waters. You can kayak in Glacier Bay, or up near Homer, or the Aleutians if you're badass.

If you go with a tour, be careful who you book with. There are operations that take care to bring people to places that are good for beginners to kayak. For example one company here brings their clients to a secluded cove where people won't face big swells or wind or boat wakes. But another company launches people right from downtown, where they immediately face big boat wakes, and the wind can pick up uncomfortably for beginners.

For Gray Whales, Bahia Magdalena, Puerto Vallarta and Laguna Ojo de Liebre all have great whale watching, and in Bahia Magdalena you can pet them from a boat; don't know about restrictions on kayaks there but it should be open in Puerto Vallarta (just don't get in the water, too much bacteria/jellies). There's also Depoe Bay in Oregon and Monterey Bay in California, and Lime Kiln State Park in Washington for Orca watching.

Petting a whale from a boat is an amazing experience -- I did this 23 years ago in Ojo de Liebre. The mother Gray Whales would push their calves up to the boats so that they could receive some petting on the nose. There was no material reward for doing so -- they didn't get food or anything. I got the distinct impression that they understood that having an emotional bond with humans was important, and that they were doing it for that reason.

Gotta say that it worked.

A 2 hour drive south of Anchorage is Seward, where there are several kayaking companies which will take you out into Resurrection Bay. People often see a variety of wildlife on these excursions, such as humpbacks, orcas, sea lions, jellyfish, etc. A cool kayaking trip from Seward is to Caines Head recreation area, where you can hike through boreal forest up to an old abandoned World War 2 fort with beautiful views of the bay. Homer is about 3 hours south of Anchorage and is also a good place for sea kayaking.

I personally have more experience with packrafting, which I highly recommend. High quality lightweight packrafts can easily be carried on/in a day pack. A recent packrafting trip I did: drive 1 hour south of Anchorage to Portage railroad stop, take the train 20 minutes south to the Spencer Glacier stop, paddle around the lagoon adjacent to the glacier (don't get too close, it calves frequently and can be quite dangerous), then paddle all the way back to the car on the Placer River (not a technical river)... about 8 hours total trip time.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

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