With easy access to Kachemak Bay State Park, Homer is a small town but with big fishing that is essential on anyone’s trip to Alaska. Since I’m not a big fisher, we opted to do some sea kayaking to see some aquatic wildlife up close and stroll the iconic Homer Spit!
About Homer
Located on the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula, Homer is a small town along Kachemak Bay and known for the Homer Spit, which is a long, narrow strip of land with anything from cute gift shops to iconic bars to beaches. Homer is well-known for their deep-sea fishing industry and is dubbed the “Halibut Fishing Capital of the World.”
What to Know Before You Go
How to Get There?
Driving from Anchorage to Homer is no easy feat, since is about a 4.5 to 5 hour drive depending on traffic. It’s a 220 mile drive, starting on the Seward Highway from Alaska before changing to the Sterling Highway. Along the way, you’ll pass scenic views of glaciers, mountains, wildlife, and more, so even just the drive itself is worth it!
When is the best time to visit?
Peak time in Alaska is the summer (May-September), so accordingly, these would be the best months to visit Homer. May would specifically bring thinner crowds and king salmon for fishing charters while September would have beautiful fall colors and silver salmon.
Day 1: Drive from Anchorage
We set out as early as we could to make our five hour drive down to Homer. Driving along the Seward and Sterling Highways brings ocean and mountain views that I personally never get tired of. Since we make numerous stops along the way, we easily made the 4-5 hour drive into a longer roadtrip.
Anchor Point
As we approached Homer, we reached Anchor Point, which is North America’s most westernly highway point. Not too much to see other than a beach, a sign, and an overlook of the small town, but it’s a great roadtrip stop to check off the list!
Day 2: Exploring the Spit
The Homer Spit
A 4.5 mile natural sand bar extending in Kachemak Bay, the Homer Spit is filled with shops, bars, restaurants, campgrounds, and more.
It was formed by a glacier approximately 15,000 years ago and the landform is constantly dynamic due to erosion and deposition. Surprisingly, the Spit is actually currently growing due to land rebound from glacier weight loss, so there are plans for construction.
I would recommend strolling the boardwalk and checking out the local boutiques and restaurants!
Homer Boat Harbor
The harbor is home to a variety of boats and vessels, whether it be fishing charters, locals’ boats, and more.
We stopped by to take in the views and this is where we would meet our kayaking tour company on our excursion in the following days.
Must-Eat: Halibut!
You can’t go to the Halibut Fishing Capital of the WORLD and not get some halibut.
We tried two tacos at Swell Taco: halibut and rock fish. It’s a cute little hut that sells a variety of tacos and allowed us to try two different types of fish!
We also tried some fried halibut with fries at Alice’s Champagne Palace. This bar & grill offers live music, and we even had the bartender pull out a guitar and sing to us at the bar!
The Salty Dawg Saloon
Filled with dollar bills and life rings, the Salty Dawg Saloon is one of the few establishments that is older than 50 years in Alaska. Built in 1897, the Salty Dawg started as a post office, turned into railway station, grocery store, coal mining office, and finally into a saloon in 1957.
This iconic bar is shaped like a lighthouse and is well-known for the thousands of dollar bills attached to the walls, ceilings, bar, and anything else you could reach.
If you visit, try to find my dollar bill! 🙂 (Hopefully no one covered it up by now). I had also seen so many people wearing Salty Dawg Saloon sweatshirts multiple times up until this point and the shopaholic in me obviously had to buy one.
Day 3: Kayaking & Glacier Hike
The Tour
We took the Halibut Cove 3/4 Day Sea Kayaking Tour with Kachemak Bay Adventures.
Initially, we were supposed to do the full day Ocean & Ice Tour Glacier Lake Kayaking and Hike. Across our two years of travelling, unexpected things happen, which it unfortunately did this time. We had planned to do the glacier kayaking (because we have always wanted to kayak next to a glacier in a glacier lake), but both tour guides were sick. Therefore, we had the option to cancel or change to the sea kayaking. We would still be going to a glacier but just wouldn’t be kayaking next to it in the lake. On the bright side, kayaking in the ocean allowed us to see more wildlife! (My dream is to see an orca whale while I’m kayaking but that also sounds kind of terrifying).
Kayaking
After a 25 minute taxi ride across the ocean, we arrived to a coastal spot in Kachemak Bay State Park where we will be starting our sea kayaking. We went in a double kayak, so I didn’t need to paddle as much. 🙂 While getting the kayaks ready, there was a large Lion’s Mane jellyfish just floating in water right near the shore! Spoiler alert: this would be the first of many wildlife sightings today.
As we kayaked, we passed by the rocks where we saw numerous starfish in the low tide, either attached to the rock or through the shallow water on the ocean floor. Our guide even grabbed one laying outside the water on a rock for us to hold for a second! (Don’t worry, the starfish was gently placed back on its rock)
It was so cool to kayak with the mountains surrounding us and were always on a lookout for wildlife that might appear at any second.
We even saw a bald eagle in the tree line!
All of a sudden, there were many brown lumps in the distance in the water… sea otters!!
Often times, they were floating on their backs or swimming around, but on occasion, if one of the kayaks got too close, the otter would stand vertically in the water and make a noise to warn the other otters.
Grewingk Glacier
Our end point for kayaking was at Saddle Trailhead in Kachemak Bay State Park, where we would be hiking 3 miles round-trip to Grewingk Glacier. You can opt out of the hike in which the water taxi would take you back to Homer by 3 PM, whereas the tour with the hike ends at 6 PM. You can also opt for this hike to be guided rather than self-guided if you wish.
We warmed up with some hot chocolate before heading out for our hike.
The hike itself consists of some moderate switchbacks in the beginning and then an easy descent to the glacier lake.
Here is where we would have been glacier kayaking! Even just standing at the water’s edge was a breathtaking sight of the glacier though.
On the way back, once you’re at the top, you’re able to see views of Kachemak Bay, Halibut Cove, and the surrounding mountains through the trees.
The tide had come up by this time, so the beach we initially arrived at was completely covered in water. Luckily, the tour guides picked us up by extending a boat platform (I’m not a big fishing or boat person, so I unfortunately have no idea what it’s called).
As we were heading back, we passed through a small town on the water called Halibut Cove, in which many of the homes are on stilts to adjust to the high and low tide. This tiny town is only accessible by boat or floatplane!
All of a sudden, as we were cruising at a moderate speed in the water taxi, my dream from earlier (somewhat) came true and a large orca whale popped up right next to our boat!! Even our boat driver was shocked and he had been doing this for years. We stopped the boat immediately and went outside to wait and see if the orca would come back, but after one quick fin appearance, the whale was gone. What a rush.
On our way back, we took a detour to Gull Island. This little island in the middle of the sea is home to 10,000 nesting seabirds, including puffins, cormorants, and kittiwakes.
We even saw a bald eagle perched on the side of the rock! Definitely the closest I’ve been to a bald eagle, even though it’s one of several I have seen across Alaska.
We got back right as the sun was starting to set and started our somewhat nerve-wrecking five-hour drive back to Anchorage. With our change of plans, we had initially planned to drive home this day’s morning but thought we would risk it so we didn’t have to cancel our kayaking tour. We were on high alert and so scared we would hit a moose, but luckily we made it home safely! Even though this wasn’t the exact itinerary we had planned for, we still had an exciting and unforgettable day! (I still think about that orca whale that appeared next to the boat)
Other Things We Missed
As always, it’s hard to see everything in a town when we’re only visiting for a view days, so here is everything that we missed.
Fishing Charter
I’m not a big fishing person, but I do wish we had time to go on a fishing charter! This area offers multiple options for fishing charters that take you out to catch halibut, rockfish, salmon, and anything else that’ll bite. You would need to get your own local fishing license though.
Katmai National Park and Preserve
Katmai National Park was such a big miss — The photographer in me would have LOVED to see some of the largest brown bears in Alaska hanging out along the river and waiting to feed on spawning salmon. Since Homer is right across the Cook Inlet from Katmai, Homer is a major departure point for trips to the national park. However, since these are usually by air taxi, prices can get expensive and it unfortunately wasn’t in our budget. This is still high up on my travel bucket wishlist!
Museums
It’s hard to fit in seeing everything but Homer is home to many museums dedicated to Alaska’s native culture, wildlife, and more.
- Pratt Museum: cultural center with local art and Alaska Native artifacts
- Carl E. Wynn Nature Center: reserve that features nature interpretive trails
- Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center: historic displays and interactive exhibits on the distant islands and seabird wildlife
Photo Gallery
As always, I like to include a few extra pictures that didn’t fit into the rest of my post! (I’m better with photos than words anyways)
What’s Next?
Although we had already been to Seward once, we would be heading back again to take on the challenge of hiking Harding Icefields. On an easier note, we would also be going dogsledding (but not on snow or ice sadly).
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