Alaska Coastal Explorer — Local services in Seward

Had a fantastic full day trip with Alaska Coastal Explorers.

We caught fish, listened to glacier grumbling and watched avalanches of ice from high on the face, saw humpbacks, sea lions, otters, puffins.

They provided lunch and had kettle on for fresh tea and coffee the whole trip.

The boat, Hope, is older but "homey", solid, comfortable and everything works. She’s heavy and beamy and felt much more comfortable under way and stable when fishing than a lot of boats I’ve been in. Quirky flashing LED lights directing one to the flush button in the head.

It was billed up front as combo fishing and fjord cruise, not hard core fish killing expedition. We caught fish, but no giant halibut today.

However, they do offer fishing only trips and it is clear they know their stuff.

For example, the halibut reels were serious, heavy duty, high quality AVET Pro X 4/02 all aluminum and stainless. Old and well used, but well maintained and a joy to work with. Classics, Made in the USA, not something you’d expect to find with most charters these days.

Captain was Jason, crewman Garret, office person Debbie. All three were cheerful, competent, respectful but not obsequious, and we felt like friends by the end of trip.

Captain Jason's orientation spiel at the dock was hilarious.

Garret was calm and competent and never made anybody feel stupid for letting reels overrun and getting birds nests.

Debbie was very “can-do” and efficient. We had booked another charter that canceled out at last second and she quickly got us set up, lunches ordered. Asked about special dietary needs.

In retrospect, the other guy’s late cancellation was a blessing, I’ve no doubt a better time was had with ACE than would have been the case with plan A.

They will be my first choice in future and I will be recommending them...

Our experience with the Fish & Fjord tour left much to be desired. While we had a competent captain and first mate, the overall value for the price paid was simply not there.

To start, the trip description on their website proved to be quite exaggerated. It promised a small, uncrowded group experience, but we found ourselves sharing a boat with both yesterday's and today's groups due to a prior weather-related cancellation. This led to a cramped and uncomfortable experience, with 12 people squeezed into a small cabin with limited seating, forcing us to stand. The overcrowding also made fishing a tangled mess, requiring frequent assistance from the first mate, which was less than ideal.

Furthermore, the time management and itinerary were poorly executed. The website indicated a balanced mix of fishing and sightseeing, but in reality, we had a mere one and a half hours dedicated to fishing, with an excessive emphasis on sightseeing. Additionally, they advertised the trip as an 11-hour experience, but our departure at 6:45 am and return at 4:30 pm meant it was only a 10-hour trip.

This tour ended up being the most expensive one we booked during our Alaska trip, and regrettably, it did not live up to our expectations. The only redeeming quality was their assistance with fish filleting.

Seriously rethink booking this tour. And if you do, make sure you grill them about any last-minute changes or group shuffling. It's crucial to confirm if what they promise on their website matches up...

It's a great option to combine fishing and glacier-watching. We were blessed with wonderful weather for our trip, and got to see porpoises, seals, puffins, whales and bald eagles. We caught halibuts and rock fish. Unfortunately no salmon for us but there were others in the group who got some. The crew was amazing, helping us spot wildlife, explaining the geography, and setting up the fishing equipment and baits and guiding us throughout and also cleaning up the fish into neat fillets that we were later able to send back to our home.

My only gripe is that we were quite surprised by the cost of sending the fish back home to California. This part is called processing, where the crew drops us off to another shop with the fish, and the other company takes care of it (vacuum sealing, packaging and sending it with ice-gel packs). We caught about 30 lbs of fish (after filleting!). But sending 30 lbs back home from Alaska to California was crazy expensive (~$320). So we ended up just "donating" 20lbs and sending only 10 lbs, which still cost us around $180. I'll leave the numbers here just so it's not a...