Guide · Day boat

Alaska Glacier Bay tours and cruises: a day on the park's boat

You do not need a cruise ship to see the tidewater glaciers. A catamaran leaves Bartlett Cove on summer mornings and runs deep into the bay and back, and here is how the day works and how to reach the dock.

Check availabilityfrom $2,047 · cancel without a fee

Editorial team, glacierbayalaskacruise.comUpdated October 17, 2026Reading time 6 min27 sources

The matching tour Glacier Bay: High Speed Catamaran Glacier & Wildlife Tour 5.0 (2 reviews) 8 hours from$274per person Check availabilityLive price via GetYourGuide

In short

01The boat: A catamaran day of 8 hours from Bartlett Cove, from $274.
02The route: The park's daily tour boat covers 130 miles of the bay each summer morning.¹
03The ice: Up to four tidewater glaciers, with at least half an hour at one of them.²
04Getting there: No road reaches the park; Bartlett Cove is 10 miles by road from Gustavus.³
05Booking terms: Cancel up to 3 days ahead, with a fee; there is no free cancellation.

A day in the park without a cruise ship

Cruise ships bring more than 95 percent of the park's visitors, and cruise ships do not dock anywhere in the park.⁴ ⁵ The park service says that more than 90 percent of visitors who arrive by cruise ship or tour boat stay on board the whole time.⁶ A smaller group comes the other way: they fly or sail to Gustavus, sleep near the shore, and board a boat that starts its day at the park's own front door.

That boat is the most direct of the Alaska Glacier Bay tours and cruises, and the one that does not tie you to a cruise itinerary. There is one daily tour boat that departs from Glacier Bay Lodge in Bartlett Cove during the summer months.⁷ Each summer morning it travels 130 miles through the bay, up to the glaciers and back.¹

The listing booked on this page is a high-speed catamaran day of 8 hours with a live guide in English, starting from $274. It departs from the dock at Glacier Bay Lodge in Bartlett Cove. It is rated 5.00 from 2 reviews, a very small sample, and its cancellation policy allows you to cancel up to 3 days in advance with a fee. Plan your dates before you book rather than after.

The day

From the dock to the ice and back

The evening before

Sleep near the dock

Most day boat passengers stay in Gustavus or at the lodge.⁸
Morning

Leave Bartlett Cove

The boat sets out from the lodge dock for 130 miles of bay.¹
Early stop

South Marble Island

Sea lions crowd the rocks, with over 300 at times.⁹
After lunch

The tidewater glaciers

Up to four glaciers, with half an hour or more at one.²
Afternoon

Back down the bay

Watch for whales in the lower bay on the way home.¹⁰

What the day on the water looks like

The park describes the route in some detail. Early on, the boat stops close to South Marble Island, where there may be over 300 sea lions crowded on the rocks.⁹ Puffins, murres and kittiwakes nest there too, and on a calm morning the noise and the smell reach the deck long before you are level with the island.

Further up the bay, the shoreline changes. The closer you get to the ice, the younger and barer the land looks, and the bigger the gaps between trees. A park ranger is aboard the daily tour boat to spot wildlife and give commentary and programs, which turns a long boat ride into a guided lesson in how a landscape grows back after a glacier.¹¹

The highlight comes after lunch. The tour boat visits up to four tidewater glaciers and waits at least half an hour at one of them, long enough to see and hear the ice fall into the sea.² All boats must stay at least a quarter-mile from the glaciers.¹² Binoculars bring the detail closer without breaking that rule. Warm layers and rain gear matter more on the open deck than any camera.

Getting there

Juneau to Gustavus, by ferry or by plane

Way	Time	In summer	Good to know
Ferry LeConte	4 to 6 hrs	Twice a week	Scenic, can carry a car
Flight	About 30 min	Scheduled and charter	Weather-dependent
Gustavus to Bartlett Cove	10 miles	By road	Shuttle, taxi or car

Times and schedule as the National Park Service gives them for the summer season.¹³ ¹⁴ ³

Three ways to the ice

Day boat, glacier flight or a full cruise

This page

Day boat

Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay

Duration: 8 hrs
Cancel: Up to 3 days, with a fee
Price: from $274

See details

Juneau: 5-Glacier Flightseeing Discovery by Seaplane

Short

Five-glacier seaplane

From Juneau

Duration: 40 min
Rating: 4.95
Price: from $383

See details

9 Day Alaska Cruise with FlyOver Canada Experience

Whole voyage

9-day cruise trip

Vancouver round trip

Duration: 9 days
Glacier Bay: Day 6
Price: from $2,047

See details

Decision helper

Is the day boat right for your trip?

Match your plans to a way into the bay

I am traveling Alaska by ferry I have one cruise port day in Juneau I want the deepest part of the bay I want a ranger close by I want a week at sea

The day boat

The LeConte links Juneau and Gustavus twice a week in summer.¹³

A Juneau outing

A five-glacier flight lasts 40 minutes.

The day boat

Margerie Glacier is about 55 nautical miles from Bartlett Cove.¹⁵

The day boat

A ranger rides the park's daily tour boat.¹¹

The cruise trip

Nine days from Vancouver with Glacier Bay on day 6.

A National Park Ranger will be onboard to help spot wildlife, provide commentary and programs to help passengers understand and appreciate Glacier Bay National Park.

National Park Service (Glacier Bay)Source 11

Getting to Gustavus and Bartlett Cove

There are no roads that lead to Glacier Bay; the park's headquarters, visitor center and lodge sit at Bartlett Cove, 10 miles by road from the small town of Gustavus.³ Gustavus itself is about 65 miles northwest of Juneau.¹⁶ Every trip to the day boat therefore starts with a flight or a ferry from Juneau, and that leg decides how relaxed your morning will be.

In summer the ferry LeConte runs from Juneau to Gustavus twice a week.¹³ The crossing takes 4 to 6 hours, while the flight takes about 30 minutes and depends on the weather.¹⁴ The ferry is slow and scenic and can carry a car; the plane is quick but can be held on the ground by low cloud.

The park's own advice is to arrive early. Passengers on the day boat usually stay at least the night before in Gustavus or at Glacier Bay Lodge, though flying from Juneau that morning is possible, weather permitting.⁸ A night at the lodge or in town also gives you an evening on the beach at Bartlett Cove and a chance to walk the short forest trails before the boat leaves.

Map

From Vancouver up the coast into Glacier Bay

The route of the 9-day trip along the coast, then a closer look at the bay itself, from Bartlett Cove up to the glaciers at its head.

Map of the coast from Vancouver past Vancouver Island and Ketchikan to Juneau and Glacier Bay — Vancouver to Glacier Bay

Map of Glacier Bay from Bartlett Cove and Gustavus up the West Arm to Johns Hopkins and Margerie glaciers — Inside Glacier Bay

1
Vancouver
Where the 9-day trip begins and ends, with FlyOver Canada and Capilano Suspension Bridge Park before you board.
In Google Maps ↗
2
Johnstone Strait
A channel on the sheltered Inside Passage, the waterway the listing's day 3 and day 8 are spent cruising; the listing does not name the exact channels.
In Google Maps ↗
3
Ketchikan
The port of day 7 on the listing.
In Google Maps ↗
4
Juneau
The port of day 5; Glacier Bay lies about 60 miles to the west.¹⁷
In Google Maps ↗
5
Glacier Bay
Day 6 of the listing; no more than two cruise ships may enter in a day.¹⁸
In Google Maps ↗
6
Bartlett Cove
Park headquarters and Glacier Bay Lodge, 10 miles by road from Gustavus; the daily tour boat leaves from here.³ ⁷
In Google Maps ↗
7
Gustavus
The small town with the airport, about 65 miles northwest of Juneau.¹⁶
In Google Maps ↗
8
South Marble Island
There may be over 300 sea lions on its rocks.⁹
In Google Maps ↗
9
Johns Hopkins Glacier
Its inlet is closed to all vessels from May 1 to June 30, and most ships view it from 7 miles away.¹⁹ ²⁰
In Google Maps ↗
10
Margerie Glacier
About 21 miles long, at the northern end of Tarr Inlet.²¹ ²²
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

Checklist

Packing for a long day on the bay

On the deck

Warm layers and a hat, even in July
Rain jacket and waterproof trousers
Binoculars for wildlife and the ice

Before the day

A night booked in Gustavus or at the lodge
A spare day in case a flight is held by weather
Your booking terms, which charge a fee to cancel

Cost calculator

What a day at the ice costs your group

Set the outing and your group size for a starting total.

Day boat8 hoursfrom $274 Five-glacier seaplane40 minutesfrom $383 Glacier and whales5 hoursfrom $199

People 2

Total from$548

per participant from $274

Check availability

Totals use each listing's lowest per-traveler price on GetYourGuide, turned into your currency with the euro reference rate; you see the exact sum when you book.

Video

Glacier Bay by Boat: Day Trip! (Feat. Ranger Bekah)

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Glacier Bay excursions from Juneau compared

If you are staying in Juneau, the question is how far to go for the ice. Glacier Bay excursions from Juneau come in two kinds: a long day that adds a flight to Gustavus and the boat, or a shorter outing that stays near town. The bay lies about 60 miles west of Juneau, at the northern end of the Inside Passage.¹⁷ Most day boat passengers stay the night before in Gustavus or at the lodge.⁸

Shorter outings from Juneau trade the national park for convenience. A seaplane flight over five glaciers lasts 40 minutes and starts from $383. A combined Mendenhall Glacier and whale watching tour runs 5 hours and starts from $199. Both fit into a single cruise port day, and both come back to Juneau the same afternoon.

Neither replaces the bay itself. Margerie Glacier is about 55 nautical miles from Bartlett Cove, and Johns Hopkins Glacier about 63.¹⁵ A boat inside the park takes you to those faces of ice, within the quarter-mile the rules allow. Choose the day boat when the park is the point of the trip, and the Juneau outings when you only have the hours between boarding calls.

What to do in Glacier Bay, Alaska, around the boat day

Most travelers ask what to do in Glacier Bay, Alaska, once they have booked the boat. The answer is simple and slow. The visitor center is upstairs in the lodge, rangers lead walks through the rain forest, and the shoreline at Bartlett Cove changes completely between high and low tide. A day before or after the boat is time well spent rather than time wasted.

Wildlife does not wait for the boat either. Humpback whales are most often seen in the lower bay, in Sitakaday Narrows, Whidbey Passage and around South Marble Island.¹⁰ Brown bears are commonly seen north of Tidal Inlet in the West Arm and north of Adams Inlet in the East Arm.²³ Keep your distance on foot, and carry the advice the rangers give you.

The season is short. The park's main visitor season runs from late May to early September, with July as the peak.²⁴ The day boat itself runs in the summer months.⁷ If your dates are fixed, book the boat and the nights in Gustavus together, and keep a spare day in case weather delays a flight.

The day boat or a cruise ship day?

A cruise ship and the day boat show you the same glaciers from very different decks. Cruise ships usually spend a full day of 9 to 10 hours in the bay and stop in front of a tidewater glacier for about an hour.²⁵ ²⁶ Rangers come aboard to narrate and staff a desk.²⁷ You do nothing but find a spot at the rail, and the bay comes to you as part of a longer voyage.

The day boat asks more of you and gives you more in return. You plan the flight or ferry, the night in Gustavus and the boat, and you get a smaller vessel, a ranger close at hand and a day that starts and ends inside the park. It suits travelers who are already exploring Southeast Alaska by ferry, or who want the park without a week at sea.

If you want the whole voyage, the cruise trip this site books goes from Vancouver through the Inside Passage to Juneau, Glacier Bay on day 6 and Ketchikan, and back. It starts from $2,047, it has a no-cost cancellation window that closes 24 hours ahead, and the listing is new with no reviews yet. Both routes end in front of the same wall of ice.

Plan the voyage