Icy Strait Point

Icy Strait Point is privately owned and operated by Huna Totem Corporation, the Alaska Native corporation for Hoonah's Huna Tlingit people — not a municipal or federal port authority, which shapes how deliberately built-out the whole site is. It now has two piers, Ocean Landing (2016) and the newer Wilderness Landing (2021), which between them have essentially eliminated tender operations for most calls.

The port site itself is compact and walkable — restored cannery buildings, cultural performance space, and the base of the SkyGlider gondola and ZipRider (billed as one of the world's longest ziplines) are all close together. The actual village of Hoonah is about a mile and a half away, connected by a trail and sidewalk; most passengers experience the port site itself rather than making that walk.

This is a purpose-built cruise stop more than a town you're passing through — plan it more like a resort day than a port-of-call wander.

Icy Strait Point plays more like a self-contained activity park than a town stop — the ZipRider and wildlife tours are the actual draw, not a wander through Hoonah itself.

Nearly every tour here books through your ship, which makes the port sound closed to independent booking — and it isn’t. The full guide covers the locally owned operators that meet passengers inside the gates, and which of them is worth the switch. This page stays at the port-identity level; that one goes deep. Booking a tour yourself? Our comparison of Shore Excursions Group and Viator covers which of the two suits which kind of port day — and when the ship’s own tour is still the better buy.