The Inside Passage

Between 1 June and 31 August, every vessel in Glacier Bay must hold a permit, and the daily ceiling allows two cruise ships, three tour vessels, six charter boats and 25 private vessels. Fifteen of the private permits are advance-notice, allocated through lottery windows from 1 to 31 January and 1 to 15 March, with a standard stay of five days and four nights. Every skipper must also complete the park's annual orientation at Bartlett Cove.

No. A private vessel in the Inside Passage follows the same rules as a tour boat: stay at least a quarter of a nautical mile from a humpback and never pursue one within half a nautical mile. In Glacier Bay's lower-bay whale waters, motor vessels over 18 feet are held to 20 knots, reduced to 13 when whales concentrate. What a private boat offers is time and position: being where the whales already are, at first light, with the engine off.

The Inside Passage has two capped, permit-only bear observatories. Anan, thirty miles southeast of Wrangell and reached only by floatplane or boat, needs a day-use pass from 5 July to 25 August; it is chiefly a black bear site, with a half-mile boardwalk to a covered platform above the falls and a visit of two to four hours. Pack Creek on Admiralty Island requires permits from 1 June to 10 September, for 24 people a day. Neither can be bought late.

Yes. At Bartlett Cove in Glacier Bay stands Xunaa Shuká Hít, the Huna Ancestors' House, dedicated in 2016 as the first permanent clan house in the bay in more than 250 years, with four totems for the four clans. Glacier Bay is the ancestral homeland of the Huna Łingít. Time there and in Hoonah is arranged with Huna hosts on their calendar, which sometimes means a different day than the traveler wanted.

The Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska is temperate rainforest, and rain is part of the journey: Ketchikan averages some 150 inches a year and Juneau more than 90. The glacier ice actually looks best under cloud. Travelers who count rain as a spoiled day, or who are in a hurry, should think again, because permits, tides and whale waters set the pace here.

June and July are the best months for the Inside Passage if you want to see humpbacks bubble-net feeding in Frederick Sound and Stephens Passage, though the whales are present spring through autumn. Glacier Bay requires vessel permits between 1 June and 31 August. For bears, Anan near Wrangell needs a day-use pass between 5 July and 25 August, and Pack Creek on Admiralty Island requires permits from 1 June to 10 September.

Plan on 5 to 7 days for the Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska. The Inside Passage by yacht runs 7 days through glacier fjords and whale waters on a chartered vessel of your own. Glacier Bay and the whales, and the Living Coast of Tlingit culture and small ports, each run 5 days. In Glacier Bay itself, the standard stay on a private vessel permit is five days and four nights. Permits, tides and whale waters set the pace.

Yes. Forest Travel plans the Inside Passage by private small ship or yacht, on a route written around the ice and the tides rather than a cruise schedule. Glacier Bay can be seen with a park ranger aboard your own boat, and the route follows where bubble-net feeding humpbacks are being seen that week. Time with Huna Tlingit hosts at Bartlett Cove and in Hoonah is arranged on their calendar, and the plan is built around the park's permit rules.

A private Inside Passage journey starts from around US$1,850 per person per night. Forest Travel's Inside Passage journeys start from US$11,000 per traveler, and a chartered yacht of your own through the passage from US$15,000 per traveler. The figure rises with the vessel, the length of the voyage and the floatplanes or bear-viewing permits added on shore. The planning fee is US$250 per itinerary, and your advisor confirms the total once dates and vessel are settled.

For a private trip, the best way to cruise the Inside Passage is a small ship or a chartered yacht, on a route set by the ice, the tides and where the whales are feeding that week rather than by a port schedule. Glacier Bay is rationed by the day: between 1 June and 31 August it admits two cruise ships, three tour vessels, six charter boats and 25 private vessels. A small vessel also leaves time for Huna Tlingit hosts at Bartlett Cove and in Hoonah.

Yes, for travellers who accept rain and a pace set by permits, tides and whales. In June and July humpbacks bubble-net feed in Frederick Sound, Glacier Bay's calving ice can be seen with a park ranger aboard your own boat, and Anan and Pack Creek add bears by permit. It is the wrong trip for anyone who counts rain as a spoiled day: Ketchikan averages some 150 inches a year, Juneau more than 90, and the ice looks best under cloud.