Adventure Sixty North — Attraction in Alaska

At the beginning, I want to clarify that I am neither reviewing Aialik Bay nor our guide. My primary focus is on the company, specifically how the company sells its kayak tours. Also I shared this review with the Company first but they never replied, which shows me they are not interested in quality assurance and transparency after they got the money. After much deliberation, we (two people) decided to book a three-day, assisted kayak tour in Aialik Bay. To realize this dream, we contacted the company and informed an office employee about what we envisioned for a multi-day kayak tour in Alaska. We wrote that we already have some experience in multi-day kayak tours, are fit, and enjoy paddling a lot. The price for the tour seemed quite high, but after further consideration, several emails, and a phone call with the office, we decided to go ahead with the tour. Unfortunately, the tour did not meet my high expectations. This was due to various reasons, which I will explain below: We booked a kayak tour for two people and paid accordingly per person. However, on the morning of departure at 7:00 a.m., we were surprised to find that only a tandem kayak was loaded onto the trailer for us. There was no way to replace it with single kayaks. This was not communicated to us in advance.

We were informed in advance that the water taxi ride to Aialik Bay would take about two hours. However, it took almost four hours. After arriving at our camping spot on the beach, we set up our tents and had to do dry exercises about paddling with the guide. This surprised me because we had repeatedly mentioned that we paddle frequently. In the end, it was already 3 p.m., and we were still not in the kayak. I couldn't hide my disappointment about the first day of this tour and addressed it with the guide.

The route planned by the guide for the first day wasn't very far because, according to the guide, most people are already exhausted from the boat ride. Fortunately, our guide was flexible. We were able to extend the route and paddled for about 4.5 hours. Still, in my opinion, it was too little for one day.

On the second day, we had the whole day available for paddling. The guide adapted the route to our preferences. Normally, the second day would have included 8 miles of paddling. In my opinion, this is not a full day of kayaking. We ended up paddling 15.5 miles (about 6 hours) instead of 8 miles. According to the guide, more was not possible.

On the third day, due to poor visibility, we couldn't leave the camp until around 10:30 a.m. The visibility improved quickly. We paddled for a maximum of 3 hours to the spot where the water taxi would pick us up. We had to wait for 2 hours for the water taxi to arrive.

In principle, we ultimately only had one full day of paddling. This was not what was discussed in advance. We followed the description of the tour and assumed it would include three full days of kayaking and two overnight stays. No sample schedule or anything similar was communicated. We should have asked more precise questions, but given the price, we assumed that we would have three full days of paddling and that each person would have their own kayak. Several people advised me to request a partial refund. In my opinion, these companies are a bit of a scam. The employee in the office explained that the price is so high because of the water taxis. According to my research, water taxis are costly but do not align with what we paid, especially since we shared a kayak and the water taxi transported other tourists on both the outbound and return trips. It was certainly not easy for our guide to meet our expectations. The guide was trained differently and has very different experiences with tourists. They tried to adjust the route to our preferences, and for that, I am grateful! On a positive note, Aialik Bay and the wildlife is simply breathtaking! There is so much to discover and see. This is why we would have liked to spend as much time on the water as possible. Our camping spots were...

We booked the half day heli-kayaking at Bear Glacier lagoon with Adventure Sixty North and it was hands down the best adventure our family has ever been on. The office staff answered all of our questions from our first inquiry up until the day of our trip so we felt comfortable and confident with our travel plans. Once we arrived they helped us get the proper gear and transported us to the airport where we boarded our helicopter. We were traveling as a family of four and at first it looked like we would be split up between two helicopters but somehow they managed to keep us all together in a 4 passenger helicopter. We were so incredibly thankful for this as this was our family's first helicopter flight and we were grateful to experience it all together. The flight to the lagoon was breathtaking and the lagoon itself was otherworldly. Our kayaks and guides were waiting for us at the lagoon and from the moment we landed, everything was just incredible. Our guides, Lauren and Stu, were absolutely fantastic. Lauren made our safety presentation fun while also making it very clear that safety was her number one priority- and it quickly became clear that she is a HIGHLY experienced guide. We immediately felt safe and comfortable with her. She is also incredibly educated about the history and science of the glacier and we loved learning all she had to share with us as we paddled through the ice. We are a family of science nerds, so while the paddling alone was one of the coolest things we've ever done, Lauren made the experience that much more special for us! When we returned from our paddling, Stu made us hot chocolate and we all hung out skipping rocks in the water while waiting for our helicopter to come pick us up. It was truly a magical experience and we all wish we would have booked a multi-day paddling trip instead of just a half day trip! Alaska is our family's 50th state- we've seen a lot of beautiful places and done a lot of amazing things, but this heli-kayaking trip with Adventure 60 North is the single most incredible thing we've ever done and we can't recommend it...

The bay was beautiful especially in the morning when we went about 8:30am. The little town of Seward was also very beautiful with its surrounding mountains. However the "tour" wasn't really a tour. The lady who helped us was nice and we liked that they were really good with setting us up with our safety gear and getting us properly situated in our kayaks. Once we got going though we were told to follow the other kayak in front of us (there was only another couple with us, so just two kayaks plus the instructor) and during the trip she was just giving them a tour telling them about the bay and it's different animals. Asking them how their trip was and recommending other things they can do. We were just left paddling behind trying to make out what she was saying and sometimes just listening to their conversations when we were close enough to hear. She would glance back here and there to see we weren't left behind and that's it. We were all asked if we wanted to paddle to a beach nearby or one that was further up. We were told it was worth it if we journeyed further so we all agreed to go the longer route. Once we got there she saw we were running short on time and decided we had to turn back for the bus. So we never got out of the kayaks. It felt like a rushed trip. Get in get out. Paid a lot of money too and also tipped her. She took some pictures and said she had our numbers and would text them, we never received anything. This was on June 26 2024. Don't recommend for the price. You don't get a tour, you pay for a glance at the bay. We spent more time getting ready then actually...