Tidewater Adventure 198

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Baba Flores

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Aug 3, 2024, 5:28:49 PM8/3/24

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Wine Tours and Nature Tours set up as Open Public Cruise booked per person but you can choose to buy out the cruise as a Private Tour for your group or corporate event. Private Charters allow you to truly customized your adventure. If you need more information visit the Tours Page. Have questions? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions. Also, click a "Book Now" button to see the current calendar.

Beginning near Atlanta and north of Athens Georgia the Ocmulgee and Oconee Rivers flow through the piedmont past farms, fields, and industry joining in Lumber City to form the Altamaha River. Just south of this point, the Ohoopee River flows into the Altamaha. Running 137 miles from the confluence to the sea, the Altamaha drains of the state of Georgia delivering a major source of freshwater to the Atlantic Coast.

Just north of Darien, nearing the edge of the lower coastal plain, the Altamaha fans out into the Altamaha Delta. There are four major legs to the Altamaha Delta. From the south, the major legs are: the South Altamaha, Champney, Butler and the Darien Rivers respectively. The pulse of the Delta is the constant flow of freshwater meeting the incoming and outgoing tides of the coast. This ever-present pulse has dictated life on the Delta for millennia.

Anchorage, Alaska I woke up with a smile looking forward to the day ahead of us. We were going from Anchorage to Whittier where we would board a small passenger boat and spend the next 5 days exploring Price William Sound. Can it get any better than that?

Even the heavy rain could not kill my good mood this day, I was so excited! We had tidewater glaciers, whale watching, hiking in rain forest, kayaking among iceberg and lots of fun ahead of us! Since this was our honeymoon we wanted to so something we would never forget and had booked a small boat cruise in Prince William Sound with the family run company Discovery Voyages. The boat only takes 12 passengers in addition to the crew, which consists of Captain Dean, two guides and a chef. We would not return to Whitter in 5 days and spend the nights anchored up somewhere in Prince William Sound.

When we depart from Whitter the Captain heads for Harriman Fjord and Cascade, Barry and Cox glaciers. This is the first stop on our boat trip and it is the first time I see a tidewater glacier! What an amazing sight! The blue colour of the glacier is amazing! We go slowly towards the glacier with large ice flakes surrounding the boat. The Captain stops the engine when we are just in front of the glacier and we can enjoy the silence and the view. The only thing that brakes the silence is the cracking and banging of ice calving off the glacier. On the ice flakes under the glacier there is a large colony of harbour seals. It feels like a scene from National Geographic. And the best thing is we are the only ones in the fjord, except from the seals that it. No signs of other people.

I was also amazed over how loud the calving of the glacier actually is. I had heard it was supposed to be loud, but was still surprised. Was fun the try and guess there the next calving would happen:)

We took a kayak mothership cruise out of Sitka for 6 days and really enjoyed the trip. No kayak experience was required. 6 kayakers and 3 crew members. Really a good way to see parts of Alaska. We had 2 whales come up about 20 ft from us on one side, go underneath and come up on the other side about 20 ft again. There was no wake produced by the whale movement and the only sound was the breathing and water dripping off their tails. Experiences that will last a life time. Keep exploring the world.

That sounds like a once in a lifetime experience. We did not get any whales come close to us, I think I am ok with that:) I would feel very vulnerable in a kayak with a enormous whale going under me! But what an experience, I am sure you will never forget it:)

I liked your useful map ? and those close-up shots of the glacier. Hard to believe there was a horrible ecological disaster in Prince William Sound several decades ago. Takes a long time for Nature to recover.

I fully agree, they know all the secrets of the sound! ? And I like supporting the local operators as well. With a small operator like we did you definitely feel like you get to experience the real Alaska!

Beautiful post! Your post perfectly describes the experience of seeing and hearing a glacier calving. And your photos really captured the blue colors perfectly. We took a day cruise out of Seward through the Kenai Fjords National Park in 2013 and I can still remember the sounds of the half mile wide Holgate Glacier as we observed the calving.

Thanks for your generous comment! I was so surprised over hearing the glacier calving. I had seen it on nat geo and all sort of nature programs before, but being there listening to it was different and much stronger! We also went out to the Kenai Fjords NP, what a beautiful national park. We were lucky to see both humpbacks and orcas! Alaska is truly amazing:)

Wow, these pictures are unbelievable! Alaska is on the top of our travel list, so I definitely need to check out your honeymoon post for tips. What a gorgeous place! I love the seals, too. Did you end up seeing any whales? So incredible!

Thank you so much Nicole! Alaska is probably the most unique place I have been to! Maybe it has to share first place with Svalbard which was also a great arctic adventure when we went there about 4-5 year ago. We saw some Orcas in Prince William Sound, but did not get close. And most of the pump backs has moved out of the sound when we were there. But we later travelled to Seward and had a day trip to Kenai Fjords National Park where we saw both hump backs and lost of orcas! Thanks for taking the time to comment!

Very cool its nice to see your travels in Alaska. On June 12 I am heading to Prudoe bay Alaska with my Motorcycle and gives me some ideas on the things i can do. i have 6 weeks to travel there and back. Really enjoying your read. Congratulations on the wedding and honeymoon.Cheers

Happy to see you visiting - welcome! I love exploring off the beaten track destinations, and I often combine it with my passion for nature and travel photography. My life is at 69 degrees north, far above the arctic circle. Would love to have your company following life in the north.