Ask the Pro's: Activities for a 7 Day Alaska Trip

Hey Tammy! Thank you for your question. I'd be happy to help you out.

Most fishing trips you go on, you can simultaneously learn how to fly fish while catching fish. The techniques we employ can be very easy to learn and the fishing can be excellent at times.

I am a firm believer that you can do and see quite a bit in 7 days while in Alaska. You won't have to spend hours and hours driving to get everything accomplished either. Some great fly fishing can be done right here on the Kenai Peninsula and many other activities can be found here as well.

There are also companies that can take you bear viewing, kayaking and whale watching. Often times, you can combine things like Kayaking with whale watching as the boat rides to many ocean kayaking destinations offer you excellent opportunities to spot whales. You also might be lucky enough to spot bears while learning to fly fish as well.

You most likely will have trouble seeing the Northern Lights as the best times to fish, kayak, go bear viewing and whale watching are generally the longest days of the year with June, July and August having up to 18-20 hours of sunlight or more during the day. The Aurora viewing season in Alaska is between mid-September and late April with the peak being in March.

Thank you for your question and I hope you have a great time in Alaska!

Hi Tammy,

Everything you are looking to do is viable in the 7 day window, except the Northern Lights, as they are not typically visible in the summer months. To accomplish all of this, I would recommend flying into Anchorage and driving down to Cooper Landing. There are several outfitters there that can take you on a guided fly fishing day, set up a kayak and whale watching tour out of Seward and take you over to the Russian River for some bear viewing. My recommendation on bear viewing, would be to book a day trip with one of the flight service companies, and go over to the Brooks River in Katmai.

If you want some outfitter and flight company ideas, please just let me know. This will be a VERY BUSY week, but it is doable.

Hi Tammy,

If your visit is during the summer all of those items could be accomplished in a week except the northern lights. It doesn't get dark enough for them to be visible till around the end of September. To accomplish the rest all you would need is a rental car to get yourself to the various locations to do each activity. All could be accomplished with in about an hour and a half drive of the Anchorage area.

Many of our guests have never fly fished, which is good it means they don't have any bad habits to break! We very much enjoy getting folks out for their first time. On our trips we never mix guests. It would just be you and the guide, so lots of helpful personal instruction.

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